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if you want to make things that are unique you have to look at things that other people arent looking at. for this reason i highly recommend checking out a lesser known artistic movement usually called “symbolism” or “the symbolists” from around 1890 - 1910s. 
theres some overlap with a group called the pre-raphaelites as well. there are also poets from this time (like rilke) who partake of the vibe but are not usually grouped in with these people. basically i recommend anything from this time period for a specific reason.
art by the symbolists is (in my controversial opinion) the last real stab western painting took at a non-abstract theological and mystical art movement. there are some others but this is kind of the last big organized push. theres a distinct mythological theological flavor.
a lot of the art is characterized by a feeling of timelessness, its usually a snapshot of some intense and mythopoetic moment. a lot of it is dark but, not all of it, usually its more like there is a slight melancholy energy running through it, sometimes.
i recommend any art from this time actually because imo we have a special kinship with this time period. we and people from the 1890s - the 1910s exist in what i call a “pre-future state” and you can feel the energy of this in the art, imo this is why it speaks to people today
basically, people in that time could see that technology and “progress” in general was about to explode and make things completely different but they couldnt exactly predict or anticipate how theyd be catapulted into a world that was soon to be completely unlike their own
sound familiar? its basically exactly whats happening now. a guy back then could see a small piece of tech and think “wow things are about to get nuts”, in the same way we see certain emerging tech and think the same thing but, neither of us can predict exactly what will change
you can feel this energy in the art. thats why its looking backwards into mythology and symbols from the past, gripping onto a genuine theological impulse for something higher, while also having one eye towards the future because its coming like a truck out of the darkness, fast
you can also feel this energy strongly in rilkes poems (gotta get a good translation like edward snow). for some reason (people are dumb) this time period of art is largely neglected by scholars and normal people so, its an extremely fecund world to dive into for creative people
all the time, like for real all the time, i see people take things from this world (from extremely popular to underground stuff) and no one even knows about it. theres lots of low hanging fruit or, more importantly, deeper themes and ideas that can affect your work positively
im not talking about copying stuff, its more that, when u see how a certain group from the past captured a particular feeling and energy that is now omnipresent (pre future longing for a higher aspect to life) u can then get ideas about how to express this now omnipresent feeling
everyone with a brain can feel it, imo we need for art of all kinds (not just images) that taps into this feeling + manifests it for people who may not understand why they feel this way or that its a larger societal thing, its not just them, to think about what we can do about it
this is obviously a huge part of my own work. lots of cool stuff for you to check out that is thankfully overlooked by people running art schools and writing books about paintings of nothing instead. i think you will find something that speaks to you in this folder, if u open it
