Creativity and ideas in art and stories

Creativity and ideas in art and stories This tutorial will be about expressing ideas and being more creative artistically. Looking at some of my art, you might wonder how I'm able to think up some of it. Here, i'll try to explain how to get into the frame of mind for making art that is original, creative, and interesting. Hopefully, this will help you reach untapped creative potential and reach new insight within your art and maybe even yourself. Drawing on the right side of the brain If you are having trouble drawing or leaning to draw in general, I suggest the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. This book will give you alot of help and insight into drawing and artwork in general. A must-have for beginners and experts alike. Boundries and your personal style When most people start off making a piece of artwork, they like to make it look like a defined piece of art that can go into a defined category (Realistic, abstract, anime, marvel-style, etc.). Most people don't attempt to do anything but what's already been defined for them. This is the first mistake. You have to rid yourself of the boundries you've placed on yourself and others have placed around you as well. Get rid of your precodnition of what a certian type of art is, and start making your own material. If you feel uncomfortable straying from the norm from fear of alienation, try to remember that people who really support you will accept your ability to change and draw different material. Drawing in a predefined state isn't all bad. You can find your own personal style by experimenting and finding variations that you are comfortable with. The goal is to eventually define your own personal style. Creativity in art Here I'll try to explain some ways of opening your imagination and getting ideas of some different things to draw. These are mostly methods of visualization, where your mind comes up with ideas almost spontaneosly. With practice, these methods can be used to create ideas at will. 1. Blind association: While comfortable, attempt to simply let go of thoughts, and let your mind wander and come up with different things. 2. Music: Lie down somewhere comfortable with music playing in the background. Turn off all lights. Have it loud enough to be hearable, but not too loud as to disturb you. Close your eyes, and attempt to visualize objects and such. They will come naturally after practice. Depending on the type of music you listen to, you can get all sorts of different visions. This one takes some practice. 3. Random thought patterns: Go wild, pull a bunch of random stuff and words out of your head, slap it together, and see what you come up with. Very good for coming up with material for goofy stories and comedy, or if you're just stumped for something weird to draw :) 4. Staring O.O : Look at a blank wall or tiled pattern and let your eyes loose focus. Try to think of different ideas from life, different situations that people would be in. A single piece of art decipting a situation can be very interesting, and have alot of feeling behind it. There are plenty of these you can do. Artwork based on geometric shapes and patterns can also be interesting. Try experimenting with symmetry and reflectiveness. One problem many people have is trying to "force" ideas to life. This simply cannot happen. It is best to try to let them occur naturally, and not "force" yourself to come up with ideas. You have to "let go" of your mind and let your thoughts flow more freely. Don't try to take it so seriously, like some sort of life-or-death mission. Relax and be comfortable when you think up ideas for art. Short on time Not all of us have the time of day to just sit around and draw and think about art. If you have a very busy, stressful life, you may want to think about getting that calmed down too :) Try to set aside some amount time during the day to draw or reflect on ideas. Ideas in art This will deal with ideas embedded in art. This kind of art is made to show a paticular idea or image symbolically. Many ideas can be expressed this way. Basically, you have to think of an idea or concept and express it in symbolic images, in a way that the image can be interepreted to mean that idea, much like a dream. These meanings can be shown in a single picture, but also, you could go ahead and make a series of images, like a wordless manga, to express more complicated ideas. Multiple meanings in a single picture are also good, but hard to come by. Stories and character design Characters should be designed to fit the story, not the other way around. When you write a story, you should try to base it on an idea or thought that is interesting and makes you think. Your story will then be able to inspire thoughts in the minds of your readers. Feedback It's always good to hear feedback from other artists about your developing style. They can help you along the way if you're stuck, or give you pointers as to what you should focus on. Remember to take all criticism with a grain of salt - if someone is downright slamming your art, they are probabally just bashing it to help inflate their own pathetic ego. In the end.. It's all about being able to express creative, interesting ideas and feeling into art and stories. You'd be surprised how much more depth and thought you can give your artwork by infusing good drawing skills and interesting ideas/imagery. I hope this short tutorial will help someone out there :)