Creativity Complex

[celldss]

I posed this question on Eyeball - but I'll give it a shot here as well, as I'm rather curious:

I feel as though I tend to be inclined *much* more to the side of logic than creativity (opposing sides of the brain I've been informed). Having said thus, I find it rather difficult to see original pictures in my mind. I think I could somewhat easily replicate some of the pictures I've seen on the different PS tutorial sites (not all!) , but that's a matter of skill, not design. I can sit all day long and think of different things to do with a circle for instance, but at the end of the day I come back to a few basic answers - cut in half, quarters. It's always very black and white to me. I posed that quandry to my wife & she said what if I cut a squiggly line through it. <blink blink> . I was dumfounded - having never even considered that. Is this just something that I'm going to have to deal with for the rest of my life or can creativity be learned (or at least cultivated)? How did you guys start out? Did you just wake up one morning having thoughts of original masterpiece paintings or did it grow with time? If so - what got you started? I joke that I see things in 16 colors, but sometimes (often), I want to be able to imagine something totally on my own. All the tutorials are great, but they show me someone else's pretty picture. I can follow the steps, but when I'm done, I still have their pretty picture, and I'm left going "Wow - I wish I thought of that". I can hear "EXPERIMENT" being screamed at me, but my experiments look like paint tossed through a fan at a canvas (my apologies for all those who make their living doing that).

I suppose I'm being dangerously vulnerable being this open to a crowd of strangers, but you all seem like a nice bunch. I'm sure you have plenty of ideas to spark that mysteriously elusive bit of inspiration I'm craving.

For all you bursting at the seams with creative energy, tell me - What's the deal?

Take care,
Celldss

 

[sfm]

hmmmmmm I guess I would have to answer that through playing to see what this and that does

also looking to other things for inspiration........ a walk with my kids helps me to see their world......... or "visualising" a photograph to see how it can be changed........ for the fodder thread he he he

so yes through experimenting and not limiting your self to a square box is going to improve your situation

many years ago I was a mum who thought that I was stuck at home with a new born......... a friend said to me you can go out [stuned] damn she was right ;\ I had kept myself in the box! from here I went to some craft classes and quickly picked up their techniques never having done anything before....... I soon became a teacher as I had gone beyond their abbilities because I played to see what would happen and wondered what if I did this...... or can this be done........ so I learnt by playing and pushing myself and introduced my imagination to myself

to this day I am truely grateful to my friend for opening my eyes 8}
sfm

 

[wbiss]

Welcome celldss!

[confused] Firstly, I'm confused as to why you ask this question! You're obviously playing/learning Photoshop and I've never heard of anybody buying the software just to keep up with the Jones'! Therefore, I assume that you, obviously, have a desire (whether you want to call it artistic or not...) to 'create'? [confused]

My fellow gurette, Sue is "bang on"... creative release and inspiration are all that one needs for ' inner expression' to take flight.

My advice... buy yourself a copy of "Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain" and do some of the mental/physical training exercises. Gifted artists don't need this kind of technical guidance, but for anyone with an "inkling" or a "desire" to create who feels 'inadequate' or 'unskilled', I can tell you that this book is a good intro to exercise and "release" your creative/artistic right hemisphere!

Our society (upbringing/training-school) emphasises our analytical "left side"... if you're out of school, it's time to exercise your creative/right side!

 

[celldss]

"Firstly, I'm confused as to why you ask this question! You're obviously playing/learning Photoshop and I've never heard of anybody buying the software just to keep up with the Jones'! Therefore, I assume that you, obviously, have a desire (whether you want to call it artistic or not...) to 'create'? "

Yes, I do have the desire - but desire does not equal ability. For instance, I might have the desire to play the cello, but without ability - it would sound like a dying mule. With creativity, it seems as though people either have it or they don't. My question is - for those who don't - can it be learned?

Thank you, by the way, for the book suggestion & advice. Please to meet you.

 

[theKeeper]

Oh no no no... i've been saying this for years now... creativity is very much a learned thing. How much time/effort one puts into doing this will dictate the rate at which they progress.

It would appear that you're simply spending too much time "opening the watch", and not enough time studying it from the outlside.

Gauss is right too... buy a copy of "Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain". It'll help move you along in a good direction.

PS: the work you've posted to date shows that you're being creative... just more so in a verbal/intellectually artistic way than a "graphically" artistic manner.

 

[celldss]

"PS: the work you've posted to date shows that you're being creative... just more so in a verbal/intellectually artistic way than a "graphically" artistic manner."

Hmmm, I guess I never thought of it like that. Thanks for pointing that out. Also, thank you kindly for the classy glass button tutorial. I took some of the principles & here's what I came up with. I probably made it way more complicated than it needs to be though. I tried to only reference the tutorial when I was somewhat desperate. Any comments?

 

[wbiss]

Marvelous work celldss! That's one pretty, shiny, button!

Yep, I agree with Mark... you can "train" the right (creative) hemisphere of your brain!

 

[sfm]

well done Celldss
sfm

 

[Tioem]

This subject is very interesting to me. I'm ALWAYS looking for ways to jumpstart my creativity, and take me in different directions, or sometimes, any direction at all.

You're right about how it can be difficult finding your own creative 'voice' while trying to avoid doing things that have been done a thousand times by more creative people.

One trick I use is to flip everything upside down. If I start making an original image and I start to bog down. I go >image>rotate canvas>flip canvas vertically, then begin anew!

In my daily life, I try to find uniquity in the mundane, it can be sort of a game. Look for that which is 'boring', and invent a new story for it. **This may look like an ordinary mailbox....but, [insert photoshop here]**

Good luck!

Tioem

Tioem com

 

[theKeeper]

Looks good celldss. Appears you got through all the steps just fine.

And thanks for the creative thought ideas Tioem. That's a unique method of "jolting" your creativity. So much so that i'm sure it would work well. [excited]

 

[wbiss]

Hee!Hee!Hee! Tioem! Good exercise there - upside down - to gain a new perspective. I'll stop standing on my head to do that!

 

[docilebob]

The Keeper made a very important point about your creativity.
You just need to focus it.You`re apparently an orderly person. So do orderly stuff creatively. (MC Escher did this very well).
Don`t focus on *other peoples pretty pictures*. Do the images in your head that you enjoy, and if you`re passionate about it, others will see their beauty, too.

Does that make any sense ?

 

[Stroker]

I think an important thing is to first find what you are creative at. Once you figure that out, let it flow, then gently nudge it.

I'm a rather logical person. Turns out my creativity is taking logical bits-n-pieces and putting them together in new ways.

Consider a programmer for a moment. Very logical and structured. Yet a programmer has to be creative to create new algorithms. Zork's predecessor, Adventure, was a very creative creation, yet from the logical mind of a programmer. Truly a work of art from several stand-points.

Once you find that, nudging your mind to be creative for other things is easier.

One thing that really helped me was the Hills-n-Valleys model of the mind. This model comes from trying to teach a computer how to be creative. Imagine everything you know on a 2d plane. The plane has hills and valleys and is in constant flux. Toss a ball into the mix. Where ever the ball is, that is what you are thinking of. One moment, the ball is on a memory of kite flying, and that is what you are thinking of. Then the landscape changes, the ball rolls to another memory, and that is your new thought.

(Then there is what I call Accidental Zen. If you ever visit that place, you'll know it.)

Find what you are already creative at. Learn the "feeling". Then slowly... ever so gently... apply it to other things.

Another thing to consider: what is art or a form of art?
You just might be surprised at the answer. You might even discover that you are already an artist, but of a different colour. Remember: a work of art isn't always on a canvas or chiseled out of stone.

Me? I've embraced certain logical things. Then I turned them into a form of art in their own right. I still can't do a finished piece of traditional (or digital) art to save my life, but I can create a work of art.