Sourced_25-04: Immersive Environments

The public domain assets I’ve collected this month for a creatively rainy day – my version of digital thrifting.

An unexpected strength I’ve discovered in my creative career is my ability to find source material. Art searches? Fantastic. Looking through infinite digital piles of photography, illustrations, and public domain materials is my form of meditation. It’s also the purest example, in my day-to-day at least, of the purely subjective phenomenon of having — and honing — your creative eye.

I like to paperclip imagery in monthly collections, so it’s a little easier to both recollect and track any potential themes or trends within my work based on what I’ve been inspired by recently. It’s because of this habitual assembly that I get to see when and how my ideas change course; sometimes, I even see my work in a broader lens — the larger motifs of my personal style and vision coming to life. Public domain is my unexpected secret weapon.

Here’s the best, most captivating, most moving elements I’ve found lately. If they inspire you too, I’ll be glad.

OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER: All of the images in this post are Public Domain (CC0). I do my due diligence to check usage rights, but you should always do your own research when browsing imagery. Don’t be a dingus and steal others’ art without permission.

Blad met strooipatroon van bloemen (1900 - 1985) by anonymous; from the Rijksmuseum

The Wave (1917) vintage illustration by C. R. W. Nevinson. Original public domain image from Yale Center for British Art.

Internal view of the O'Neill cylinder (2015) painting by Donald Davis

I couldn’t find any info on this image, but wow. The colors, depth, positions of the child and…porpoise? What is that? Either way, a captivating image with a gorgeously unexpected crop.

Samuel Harrison House and Garden (1936) by Meyer Goldbaum. Original from The National Gallery of Art.

Deer from Momoyogusa–Flowers of a Hundred Generations (1909) by Kamisaka Sekka. 

Vintage geranium flower, ukiyo e artwork

A princess walking in a forest with birds. Pen and ink drawing by H. Macfall.

Stained-glass window at Louisiana's Old State Capitol Building in Baton Rouge, dating back to 1852

Welcome to Studio Ago

Welcome to the most special place — my not-so-new, but recently-revived little digital studio.

I’ve come to realize that the endless oscillation between craving to make something of my own versus the sheer terror of being perceived over the last ten years has been slowly directing me to what’s now coming into focus with Studio Ago. Woo!

About time, too.

It’s taken me ten (10!!!) deeply frustrating years to fully settle into being a creative, to calibrate my eye, and to realize that what I want to build does not have a tried-and-true blueprint for success — un/fortunately. But instead of seeing that as a reason to freeze, only recently did I realize it’s the perfect reason to try.

So I’m going to try to do something new. New to me, and hopefully new to you: A portfolio of creative exploration, a journal of inspiration and resources, a little shop of my favorite creations, a personal living document of my existence, an obsessive need to capture how I see the world, in whatever medium feels right at the time. All here. Illustration, photography, curated materials, reviews, process, videos, and a thousand other things I can’t envision.

I am afraid of facing myself this fully, but I’m more curious to see what each little puzzle piece reveals.

If you’re a stranger reading this, welcome.