Unleash Creativity for $9.99
I get asked a lot how to start the creative process. How can I be more creative? My advice- A great place to start is buy a sketch/note book. Buy a cheap one for $5-10. It will be the best investment for your creative process. We all know that the creative process is a messy, chaotic, and unpredictable. Creativity seems to invade at the most inconvenient times- while you are driving, in the shower, or sleeping. I would be shocked to hear an artist say his/her best work comes on cue when they sit down in front of a blank page, music sheet, or canvas. Most of our work is an evolution or continuity of ideas strung together with seemingly random musings. I heard a great quote once:
“Every project you are going to do, you have already started in your past”
(Pics from my latest sketch book)
Every day and every moment of you day, you must be prepared to capture the spontaneous generating ideas down in your book. It might be drawings, phrases, a chorus, names, an activity, patterns, a verse, a color, or quotes. I know it sounds inconvenient but get used to it! You won’t regret it. Regularly recording your randomness does two things:
- Helps remove the ‘self filter’ that we impose on ourselves. Like ‘that will never work’ or ‘no-one will like that’. You can unashamedly put down your thoughts no matter how purposeless they seem. It's a place where good and bad ideas can live together with no reprocussions. When you later review them, you will probably discover the real building blocks to a future project, endeavor, or a new way to do things.
- It loosens the ‘creative cogs’ of your innovation machine. The more you get out of your head the more room you have for new creative ideas. When it comes down to ‘real’ creating, you will be ready because of the constant rush of new ideas.
So when I do get asked ‘what can I do to be more creative’, I usually respond with, ‘do you have a sketch book?’ All of the successful writers, artist, and musicians I know have developed some form of this discipline (and I mean discipline!) of the sketch or note book. Your sketch book is not a Bible or a holy relic. Buy cheap ones, go through them quickly, wear them out, and keep it raw. Why? It keeps you from protecting your ideas and allows for malleability in your work.
And finally, my appreciation of a sketch book goes beyond art- it’s personal. I think it is a great symbol of the unfinished work God has done (and is doing) in our lives. Within the on-going pages of my life are beautiful, inspirational, raw, selfish, and world changing ideas. I keep those pages of my experiences all together. It’s what makes me unique. It keeps me humble. It’s what makes me an artist.
OK, in overview, a sketch book is about:
- Quantity not quality
- Having fun
- Spontaneity
- Reflections
This is a GREAT book called “The Illustrative Life” by Danny Gregory. It is a collection of artist, designers, and authors sketches from their sketch book. Their creative process is described- beautiful stuff. An excerpt from the book:
"I like a cheap, nonprecious books. I don't like them to be precious objects. I like them to get dirty and beaten up. It's what they contain that's more important. Small is good for sneaking around. It's hard to do secret drawings of people in a huge , leather-bound book."Peter Arkle (PRINT Magazine)
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