Benedict Brain searches his archives for the inspiration to escape winter’s creative doldrum

This month: Improve composition Compose yourself for photographs that are worth looking at more than once

Explore ideas to pay homage to your favourite characters while making sure your own unique style shines through

ImagineFX takes a bigger-picture look at fan art and the challenges and possibilities that it poses for creativity

Apply these simple principles to your plot for dazzling results!

John P. Murphy New Deal Art 336pp. Thames and Hudson. Paperback, £19.99. Seymour Fogel’s “Wealth of the Nation”, installed in 1942 in a federal building in Washington DC, depicts a group of workers en