1. Practice your craft 5 hours a day to 12 hours a day.

Remember, practicing concept artists, draw 8 to 14 hours a day.  You need to put the hours and practice in, in order to retain a spot on the curve.  I would say 5 hours is light.  If you think that is a lot, then concept art may not be for you.

2. Treat every opportunity as a job interview.

Freelancing is pretty common for concept artists.  Every job is an interview for the next.  Always treat it so.  Treat co-workers and clients well.  Find the professional moment in each job however large, or small.

3. Seek and enjoy feedback from people better than you.

Some artists hate changing stuff..  I never understood that.  Feedback, and change is an opportunity to make the image or design better.  The earlier you see things this way, the better off you will be.  Do not be a smarmy egotistical kook.. it will not take long for rumors to spread about your vast greatness, and your career will suffer for it in the long run.

4. Get an education, formal or informal, from someone in the field.

There are a lot of educations to get out there... Get a good one.  Get one from a person who has actually done the work you are looking to do.  Accept no less.  Do well, and inevitably that person will introduce you to a person who can help you along after you are done.  This does not have to be an expensive university.  I have had interns that have done extremely well, with minimal education.  They got their education on the job, and treated every moment as a learning moment.

5. Work on what intrinsically motivates you.

Find what you love and work towards that.  If you are not intrinsically motivated you will fail as an concept artist.  Ideas and design are moments that occupy our minds all day and all night.  If your task leaves you blank as soon as you leave your desk, it will never be enough motivation to move you towards an outstanding result.

6. Prioritize quality over money.

If one job pays little, but is awesome content, take that job.  Getting better at your craft is value added to your career.  This added value is way more important over the years than a minor bump in pay.

7. Return better value than you are paid.

Always try to give more than what is asked.  The most valuable artist is the artist that returns the most frequently.  They are also the artist who is exposed to the most opportunity and opportunity will free you to seek projects that you will love.

8. Be consistent and reliable.

A lot of artists can't even work 9-5 consistently.. Much less on demand on two or three projects all night for a week.  Be consistent, don't over stretch, but always deliver.  Your consistency will keep your quality high and high quality pays off towards more opportunity again.

9. Network.

Prepare to save email, and contacts.  Each contact is another source for an opportunity.  Not that you need to be a salesperson, but you do need to be able to send someone an image, if you think it may inspire them to have you contribute on a project.

10. Love what you do.

Don't do concept art for the fame, credit, or the money.. Do it because you have to design and draw. Do it because it's the best thing you can think of to do, and you would do it for free anyway.  If this is true, you will lead an amazing and fulfilling career.

There you go!

I've tried several different ways to tap into creativity and I have perspectives on many others I have yet to try.  First and foremost I belive creative inspiration can be uniqe for each artist.  Muses range from joy, to lust to fear and all spectrums between.  I'm not talking as much about your muse than I am talking about the ability to have the clarity to communicate between your muse clearly and efficiently.  Sorry, there great exercises to enhance the discovery of design, but there are no tricks to 'getting' good ideas.

Meditation:

Meditation was the first tool I used to tap the muse.  When I started on my own, my mind was clouded with running a business, and being on my own with no safety net.  I spent much of my time designing also worrying about the future.  The anxiety of being an upstart was clouding my clarity for the task at hand.   Meditation saved me.. It's powerful. Clear your head, lose the noise, and watch for the slightest sparks of information.  Although, I'll admit most meditation is about clearing all thought, so I the term is a bit of a misnomer in this case, but if you can use the same skill to clear all noise around your idea the resulting clarity helps.  Use it to relieve or silence the stress of the moment so you can move forward.

Drugs:

I know a lot of guys who smoke or 'other' to 'get ideas'.   The notion is not for me for professional efforts.  I personally, don't want to get myself into a spot where I think something else 'tells' me ideas.  Frankly the ideas are already there, they are just very quiet..    My opinion is that if you let your guard down and silence the mental noise you will hear the idea.  Smoking is just a shortcut to to let your guard down.  Also, what happens when your in the middle of the board room, and the CEO asks you for a new idea.. might be tough to light up to get ideas real quick.  I'm very wary of changing my motivation to anything that is not intrinsic.  Heavy reliance on other stuff in my opinion is using a crutch.  ..not that it's totally off the table as an exercise, but it should not be the 'way' you work. 

Booze and drinking. I know a lot of guys who ideate over a few beers with folks.  I've personally done it a ton of times.  Lots of early stages for projects are born in the pub.  In some cases it works, although it's most likely a shortcut for 'guardless collaboration' that gets the job done in this case.  Fostering an environment that rewards open collaboration is as good as a few pints, and when your done, you can actually go back to work with some motivation.

Nutrition:

My latest observations have been while watching my nutrition.  I've been eating paleo style and I found the ability to see how each type of food effects my energy and mood very powerful.  You would be amazed at how much of a hangover a slice of cake can give you, if you do not eat sugar for a month.  I'm not a nutritionist, and most of my info is gleaned from CrossFit forums or various Podcasts. I can say this, good nutrition has given me better clarity, energy and has slightly improved my cognitive ability.

Pass on Sharp Mind, but try Carlson Cod Liver Oil.

Don't get me wrong, It's not so much that good nutrition is making my individual designs better, but it is giving me the clarity and energy to keep a focus and do better and longer design sessions.  For me, what works, is cutting out carbs, eating A LOT more greens than I have ever eaten before (generally in the form of kale shakes), cutting down portions, and exercise.  As far as supplements I've taken a few.. vit C, vit D, vit E, Sharp Mind, Fish Oil, Protein, and probiotics.  I found Probiotics (via Kombucha) and the Fish Oil to be most beneficial.  Kombucha is a great mood improver, and Fish Oil has helped with general joint wellness.  The other stuff seemed like fluff or seemed like they were just duplicating what a decent diet would do.

Exercise:

More a general wellness statement than a 'trick' to getting ideas..  A good fitness program helps tremendously with energy levels and clarity.  I personally do Crossfit, and found it to have relieved a lot of the annoyances while sitting at a desk all day drawing.  Amazingly my wrists feel better.  I imagine the bit of Olympic lifting we do that stretches wrist tendons helps a lot.  My posture is much better now too.  I can sit at my desk, and not suffer the pain from years of slouching.  If you have a poor level of fitness and wellness, don't bother with any of the minor changes people suggest.  Taking Vit D, may add a drop to the bucket, but switching to a nutritious diet and fitness program will fill the bucket.

Environment:

Do your best to love your environment..  I've worked in warehouses with folding chairs, to the latest and greatest studios with Aeron Chairs for everyone.. I have the most amazing headphone collection.. hahah..  For me I find a distraction free environment of neutral colors 3-4 monitors, dark'ish lighting with loud music works best.  Others I know, need to work among images and toy collections. Some need the womb of darkness and silence.  The point being that if you can feel like you fit well in your environment, you don't need to think about it allowing more focus to remain on task.

Proof:

Need proof that you are capable of the most amazing and peerless imagery and storytelling on demand?  Just look back at your last nightmare, or remarkable dream..  Your brain is capable of filling a convincing, fantastic, environment with all the detail in the world 'on demand' while you sleep.  It's amazing we have the ability to see the muse at night while we sleep, but can barely hear it during the day.  It's my thought that clarity and the ability to reduce noise will get you closer. 

My nightmare is a dreams of amazing space ships I wished I had the ability to design..  then I realize, I did, and smile.. 

Then I forget what it looked like, hahaha.. but that is another post.