I came upon this article on creativity via True Up. A bit long, but definitely worth it for all you creatives out there. Here are a few of my favorite excerpts:
"The more interesting and diverse the things and the people around you, the more interesting your own ideas become."
"..failure actually stimulates creativity directly."
"..you’ve got to capture now and evaluate later. A big mistake people make is to start visualizing the criticism or the feedback while they’re still generating."
The last two really speak to me since I'm a perfectionist and hesitate to try new things for fear of failure. I've been working on being okay with failing and simply taking it as an opportunity to learn and to grow. One thing I learned in one of my graphic design classes is to sketch out ideas and to not cross them off, but to just move quickly from one idea to the next. Even now I tend to pre-reject ideas in my head rather than just jotting it down. There's definitely value in just getting it all down in my sketchbook, even if I'm crinkling my nose as I do it. I want to get better at doodling in my sketchbook.
Also, I just received this beautiful print from Seasprayblue! I've been eyeing it for a long time and finally decided just to get it. I love the little drawings on the wrapping.
June 26, 2008
Creativity
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7 comments:
I read that article- very good, very informative. I can attest to a lot of what they say! Some things propel me, other things hold me back. Sketching is good. It's like a snapshot of your ideas. Even if you don't like the way it looks on paper, the image in your head is usually much more vivid.
I'm the same way too - I do a lot of self-editing, maybe too much. It hinders me from letting the creativity flow freely, because of my fear of making mistakes. I started a mini sketchbook too, but its so hard to let my hand sketch crap. I hate seeing crap on my page. I have to learn to be OK with my crap, because maybe something beautiful will come out of it! =)
Michelle - so true. The sketches can just be a memory jogger for the image in my head.
Ruth - I'm glad I'm not the only one!
Hi! i just got here via flickr.
I read the article and it is indeed a very good read. Lots of interesting things to ponder on.
I think many of us, as artists are always weary of what criticism might come our way. Im trying hard to just let go of it, and not care. Feedback is always good, one learns from it, but can not depend on it, right??
Love your shop and blog.
Good luck!
I'm going to check this out right now! I'm the same way-- I talk myself out of an idea before I even trying, thinking it'll just turn out badly. I've also been trying to get better at just playing in my sketchbook-- and mine looks sort-of like yours! Lots of little doodles on a page. :) It's fun once you can let go a little bit, huh?
What a great article, thanks for sharing it! The things you are talking about are so true for me too at the moment and I have just blogged about it today! Just do something, anything, and stop thinking about it all is what my bo says to me, if only it was that easy?
"..failure actually stimulates creativity directly."
how very true that is. it just makes you want to keep going, keep improving, and keep growing.
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