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If memory serves, I was playing guitar for some friends on the first night of a conference in college when it dawned on me that most of the principles and techniques that human beings respond to in one artistic medium also apply to every other artistic medium. Repetition, for example, lends strength to a song (repeated notes or beats), a painting (multiple visual instances), a building (patterns in relief or structure), or a performance (dancers in unison or character consistency). The same commonality applies to contrast, variety, spontaneity, simplicity, and texture -- any successful artistic piece will generally include the skilled use of most or all of those elements. I had realized years before, after learning to play the guitar, that all artistic abilities and sensibilities benefit from other developed artistic muscles (in my case, playing drums gave me a wide range of rhythmic options in playing guitar or writing music), but it wasn't until the aforementioned concept hit me that I understood why: all art is stimulating the same fundamental sensibilities using different tools. What I took away from my epiphany is a recognition of the power contained in all of those elements, and what each of them can lend to my work when I'm able to consider their individual use from within a cohesive whole. Inspiration is the core from which all great art emanates, but real artists are slaves to their own details, and those details live in the same places no matter what form your inspiration takes.
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