Motivations
In “100 Things” Susan Weinschenk states that “The dopamine system is most powerfully stimulated when information comes in small amounts so that it doesn’t fully satisfy the desire for information”, which is something I’ve noticed too; a good example of this is a game like My Singing Monsters. Many people are drawn to the lore of the game because info about the game’s story is sprinkled in small amounts throughout the game’s bios and visual hints; that kind of storytelling makes people want to engage with it more and inspires thought and creativity. Although I have personally never created art for the purpose of encouragement towards others, I see lots of other artists do it and historically there have been many inspirational forms of art and political comics in the past. A ridiculous example of this is the Minecraft Mob Vote Boycott (Though modern) fans would create artworks pushing back against the votes because it was splitting the community, similar to the kind of artworks and comics that were made during the Industrial Revolution.
Humans are Driven by Emotion
Adding onto this, according to Susan (100 Things) people process information when it is presented in the form of a story rather than in the form of data put in front of them. The show “Wild Kratts” is a show known for being highly informative because it teaches about what the animals are and how they interact with their ecosystem; this information is incorporated into the story through the “Creature Power Suits” that allow the cast to save the day using the unique abilities of the animals that each episode revolves around. Most kid’s shows on channels like PBS Kids were made with the idea that children will learn something from them, and it works.
What Inspired Me
I’ve always been into making weird creature designs. I’d make them at home, at school, anywhere that I had access to drawing equipment. Every day I see things that inspire me to keep pushing forward in my art journey even when it gets tough. I love watching videos of concept art, interviews, and behind the scenes videos of what it takes to create so many of my favorite games and shows. One’s that I think about a lot are The Making of My Singing Monsters (A satirical video of their design process) and The Art of Reanimating Plants Vs Zombies 2.