Animator Bob Kurtz apparently coined the phrase “Joyous Jealousy”, and it’s a phrase that’s so useful I think it should be in widespread usage. Here’s why:
The feeling you have when you experience someone else’s work and think: “I wish I’d made that!” followed by the thought “Well, what can I learn from that?”
I hear people trying to describe that exact feeling quite a lot, and I know it works for me as a great way to sum up where my inspiration comes from. And I experience joyous jealousy from all sorts of creative media: TV, film, books, music, architecture and games. [Aside: I think this is just as important no matter what your main field is: look at - and study - other forms.]
Some things that have made me jealous in the best possible way are Portal, Everyday Shooter, The Walworth Farce, everything by Pixar (but you knew that already), The IT Crowd and 30 Rock.
So now that I’ve shown you mine, what makes you feel joyous jealousy?
-David (@dwlt)
Honestly? Most of the stuff that comes out of Bioware and Blizzard! Bookswise, there’s Mark Chadbourn’s “Age Of Misrule” collection, and lots of artwork from comics and Imagine FX editions.
…Don’t get me started on movies, or else I’ll never shut up =S
Awesome – I’ll have to check out the Age of Misrule series.
And I had to keep my list short – I could go on at length about inspirations, but that would detract from making things.
-D
Heh… Then you’re out of luck… The Age Of Misrule collection is followed by other two trilogies:
- The Dark Age
- The Kingdom Of The Serpent
I’ve gobbled the 9 books in 4 months lol
Oh, what have I done?! I’ll just have to set aside some reading time from when I normally sleep.
-D