Enjoy another one of my refurbished posts from 2017.
What does it mean to be creative?
When you have made something that has not yet existed, you have created. There is a mistaken idea that for a work of art to be
creative, it must be far out, illusive, mind-blowing, beyond comprehension. Don't be misled by these grandiose ideas of creativity.
When you create a painting, that piece was done by you--YOU, an individual on this earth, unique in that YOU are YOU.
And if YOU did it, then it hasn't been done before. Whether it's a painting of a barn or the planet Uranus, if it's done by your hand, guided by your muse, your point of view, it is a new creation.
In all fields, there are phases of learning the ropes. Each phase has within it new ways to explore, new opportunities for discovery. A new
baseball pitcher learning the mechanics of pitching finds ways those mechanics work best for him. As he masters each one at a time, often he will discover new ways of pitching that knowing the mechanics gives him. The process is no different for artists: as step by step we master the skills, practicing the skills themselves can give us creative ideas about how to use
them.
With that in mind, there are fun exercises that can stimulate our creative juices and often give us new ideas about how WE go about expressing ourselves visually. Here's one I
enjoy.
ONE WAY TO GO THROUGH THE DOOR
My personal experience is that doing practice exercises is where most often I get new ideas. An excellent practice exercise is to choose a simple image, then
render it in color with a limited number of strokes.
Here's one I'll play with.
1. To get started, do a quick sketch of your subject. (Here's mine done digitally.)
2. Do a study of this subject using just 12 brushstrokes. (A brushstroke is defined as from the time the brush hits the surface
until the time it leaves the surface.)
Here's mine done digitally with my painting app.
Being creative doesn't require having to think up a new idea. Sometimes new ways of working can be generated by something as simple as this. THAT can
go a long ways towards stimulating your creativity.
Enjoy a joyfully, creative weekend!
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