12 Ways to Tap Into an Endless Well of Creativity

8/14/2019 12 Ways to Tap Into an Endless Well of Creativity

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12 WAYS TO TAP INTO AN ENDLESSWELL OF CREATIVITY

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INTRODUCTION

There is no reason to ever run out of ideas. The world, our minds, history, and the Internet

offer an infinite realm of artistic exploration. Consider the impact your habits, approach,

organization, and internal rhythms have on your finished work. Find out some approachesprofessional artists use to continuously wave a wand of endless creativity.

1. MINE YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS AND DREAMS

Your subconscious mind is an unlimited source of creativity. Consider keeping adreamjournalbeside your bed to capture those surreal fantastic episodes while they are still freshin your mind. This is a great way to bring some of yourself into your work. It's a sure path tomaking your artwork unique.

2. KEEP A DRAWING JOURNAL AND DOODLEREGULARLY

Successful artists record their ideas regularly. For visual artists, this means keeping adrawing journal. Though it can double as an idea journal, I tend to write down my ideas asmuch as I draw themprobably because I can't draw that well. So if I want to capture anidea I have, thoroughly, I need to mix in some writing. I use a hybrid of drawing and writingtogether to clarify and get the whole idea down. Depending on your skills and interests, yourjournal will take on a different form.

I remember in design school seeing some students keep journals that were bits of design,ads, or photos they had found, pasted into their notebooks with lots of detailed notesbreaking down the process behind each piece or what they found interesting about it.

Moleskineis a popular drawing and writing journal. They have a project calledDetour. Itfeatures some inspirational artist's journals. There are videos available that show the artistsflip though their Moleskine journal pages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamloghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamloghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamloghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamloghttp://www.moleskine.com/index_eng.phphttp://www.moleskine.com/index_eng.phphttp://detour.moleskinecity.com/http://detour.moleskinecity.com/http://detour.moleskinecity.com/http://detour.moleskinecity.com/http://www.moleskine.com/index_eng.phphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamloghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamloghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamlog


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Bearskinrughas sketchbooks on display. They are filled with doodles, cartoons, and all kindof fun work. Visit thesketchbook 1of Kevin Cornell. He illustrates regularly forA List Apart.

3. STUDY ARTISTS YOU ADMIRE

If you like an artist's work, then study their work. Try to find out their process and how theygo about their craft. You can also look at their work and try to figure out how to recreatesomething similar. Set out with the goal that your going to make something similar or in thatstyle and then learn by emulation.

There is nothing wrong with this kind of copying. It's just one practice piece of work and notall the work you'll be outputting in your career. This practice is a formal part of art trainingin universities. So it's actually encouraged in art and design school. Even master painters

emulate previous masters as they were building their craft.

Over atAbduzeedoFabio has some good posts where he shows artists he admires or drawsinspiration from. In the article titledLighting Effects Inspirationhe shows the sources ofinspiration behind some of the great tutorials he's been making lately.
http://www.bearskinrug.co.uk/http://www.bearskinrug.co.uk/http://www.bearskinrug.co.uk/_work/sketchbook1/launch/http://www.bearskinrug.co.uk/_work/sketchbook1/launch/http://www.bearskinrug.co.uk/_work/sketchbook1/launch/http://alistapart.com/http://alistapart.com/http://alistapart.com/http://abduzeedo.com/http://abduzeedo.com/http://abduzeedo.com/http://abduzeedo.com/lighting-effects-inspirationhttp://abduzeedo.com/lighting-effects-inspirationhttp://abduzeedo.com/lighting-effects-inspirationhttp://abduzeedo.com/lighting-effects-inspirationhttp://abduzeedo.com/http://alistapart.com/http://www.bearskinrug.co.uk/_work/sketchbook1/launch/http://www.bearskinrug.co.uk/


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4. LOOK AT THE NATURAL WORLD AROUND YOU

Nature is an infinite source of inspiration. Try shooting a bird with your camera. Capture itin motion. Draw it. Understand its architecture and anatomy. Consider the rhythm of nature

and try to capture the concept in your work. Try to recreate the realism of water inPhotoshop with bubbles, drops, splashes, rain, or waterfalls. These are just a few examplesto get you thinking in this direction.

5. LOOK TO OTHER DISCIPLINES

Look to areas outside of graphics for ideas and then bring them back to your work. Goodareas to look at are architecture, product design, vehicle design, and many more. Forexample, looking at modern architecture could inspire a whole series of illustrations for youto work on. Or you may find a detail that you could expand on in the 2009 concept cars thatare being showcased. Veerle has a series on outdoor furniture that is inspiring. See the posttitledOutdoor Furniture part 3.

6. LOOK TO ART AND DESIGN HISTORY

You can study whole movements. Consider the work done today. How will it be interpreted ahundred years from now? Philip Meggs has a great book titledA History of Graphic Designthat has significantly improved the curriculum across the Graphic Design discipline. It's wellworth checking out.

In any visual art history, there are seminal works that make up the principles behinddifferent periods. Everything is classified and gives us a common background to discuss anddraw inspiration from. History never sits still as well. The past sits still, but ourinterpretation of it continues to change. It does so because every individual finds differentplaces to shine a spotlight on. Maybe you'll find inspiration from a lesser-known art or designmovement and help make it known through your work. Below are some design history imagesfromWikipedia.
http://veerle.duoh.com/blog/comments/outdoor_furniture_part_3/http://veerle.duoh.com/blog/comments/outdoor_furniture_part_3/http://veerle.duoh.com/blog/comments/outdoor_furniture_part_3/http://search.barnesandnoble.com/A-History-of-Graphic-Design/Philip-B-B-Meggs/e/9780471291985http://search.barnesandnoble.com/A-History-of-Graphic-Design/Philip-B-B-Meggs/e/9780471291985http://search.barnesandnoble.com/A-History-of-Graphic-Design/Philip-B-B-Meggs/e/9780471291985http://www.wikipedia.org/http://www.wikipedia.org/http://www.wikipedia.org/http://www.wikipedia.org/http://search.barnesandnoble.com/A-History-of-Graphic-Design/Philip-B-B-Meggs/e/9780471291985http://veerle.duoh.com/blog/comments/outdoor_furniture_part_3/


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7. EXPERIMENT WITH COMBINING CONCEPTS

AND STYLES

Take elements from one style and then combine it with another style. This merges the stylestogether and creates something new. This is known as fusion. It's popular in all arts.Considerfusion cuisine, where food from different regions or countries are mixed togetherto create new culinary delights. It's the same kind of concept only we're mixing elementstogether to create new visual delights. You can follow the same approach with mixingconcepts together as well.

8. SHOOT LOTS OF PICTURES

Any artist, especially all of us that use Photoshop, will benefit by shooting photographs. Ithelps tremendously with developing your eye for composition. Its a great way to bring yourworld around you into your work. Its also a good way to find out what interests you.Consider keeping a digital camera on you all the time. They have gotten so small andpowerful that this isn't a burden. That way, you're always seeing things and shootingimagesart infused with life, though for some of you that may feel like overkill.

If you really get into photography you might find interest in shooting with certain film orlenses to achieve effects. Polaroids are also a lot of fun to shoot with. Or purchase an oldLoma and start participating in theLomography community.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_cuisinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_cuisinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_cuisinehttp://www.lomography.com/http://www.lomography.com/http://www.lomography.com/http://www.lomography.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_cuisine


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9. LOOK AT OLD ADVERTISEMENTS, KITCHE, OR

EPHEMERA

Artistic inspiration can really come from anywhere. Sometimes reinterpreting ugly things canplace them in a new context that makes them beautiful. Retro styling is commonplace in artand design. The next time you're at a junk sale, look through the old albums, board gamecovers, or purchase that taxidermy squirrel pen holder. You can also set off on the Webspecifically looking for this type of inspiration. Try searching Flickr. Usermaraidhas someCzechoslovakian Matchbox Labelsthat are a good example.

10. FIND INSPIRATION ONLINE

There is so much on the Web. Anything you can think of you can find. Just do the visualresearch. If you're inspired by science fiction technology, then keep a folder about it on yourdesktop. Any time you see something you like copy it into the folder. I have folders for logodesign, Web site interface elements, business cards, Photoshop artwork, vector artwork,illustrations, posters, vintage categories, and many more. A good Web site for random visualinspiration isffffound. It's updated regularly with random user-submitted visual inspiration.

Below are some recent finds.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/maraid/http://www.flickr.com/photos/maraid/http://www.flickr.com/photos/maraid/http://www.flickr.com/photos/maraid/sets/72157594234429063/http://www.flickr.com/photos/maraid/sets/72157594234429063/http://ffffound.com/http://ffffound.com/http://ffffound.com/http://ffffound.com/http://www.flickr.com/photos/maraid/sets/72157594234429063/http://www.flickr.com/photos/maraid/


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There are thousands of images on my hard drive that make up both whimsical and seriouscollections. Some are ongoing inspiration for the work that I do on a regular basis. Some areproject-based like all the Constructivist images I collected when researching for the tutorialCreate a Constructivist Inspired Poster. If you're not collecting visual inspiration, you shouldget started. Try building collections of visual inspiration. Looking through them helps spark

the creative juices.

11. SET REGULAR HABITS

Make creativity a fixture of your daily routine. If you get most of your inspiration fromphotography, then go for a walk in the morning and shoot cars, people, birds, zoom in oninsects, buildings, anything you find interesting.

Consider setting aside even ten minutes a day for sketching. Or keep a doodle pad next toyou. Make sure to have some scribbles on it by the end of the day. Got a phone call with a

client? Excellent time to doodle. Above all else, practice your craft every day. If you're aWeb designer, then make sure every workday you're creating a Web site or at least planninga design, reviewing other sites, or practicing your craft.

There are some habits that anyone can benefit from. Scheduling helps tremendously withhaving a regular, steady creative output. It's really hard to keep up the creativity if youoverdo it and don't get enough sleep. Admittedly, I do this a lot thoughtoo much caffeine,too little sleep. Saturday I usually sleep on the beach or lie in bed and snooze with the TV inthe background to recover.

Find a rhythm within yourself that gives you the best long-term creative output. Consider

yourcircadian rhythm. We all have an optimal schedule and need to find a balance with ourbody's natural tendencies. Find out the time of day you think the best during and do yourmost creative work at that time every day. If you need help finding this kind of balance,check out the blogzen habits. Its a great resource for scheduling, finding balance, andgetting things done without overdoing it.

12. DEVELOP YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS

Create a formula for success. Any design or art project can be broken down into phases.Let's walk through an example process.

Conceptualization is the phase where you brainstorm, mindmap, and come up with theinitial ideas for the project. At this stage, you may want to look for inspiration fromdifferent sources mentioned above to get going. Often, fusing your ideas with something elsecan be a good combination. Then you move onto research.Google Imagesis useful whensearching for reference images.
http://psdtuts.com/designing-tutorials/create-a-constructivist-inspired-poster/http://psdtuts.com/designing-tutorials/create-a-constructivist-inspired-poster/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythmhttp://zenhabits.net/http://zenhabits.net/http://zenhabits.net/http://images.google.co.ve/imghp?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&btnG=Search+Imageshttp://images.google.co.ve/imghp?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&btnG=Search+Imageshttp://images.google.co.ve/imghp?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&btnG=Search+Imageshttp://images.google.co.ve/imghp?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&btnG=Search+Imageshttp://zenhabits.net/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythmhttp://psdtuts.com/designing-tutorials/create-a-constructivist-inspired-poster/


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Sketching is the next step. It can involve pencil and paper, though there are many forms ofsketching. Consider using mood boards for Web design. Or with Photoshop, jump in and startexperimenting with cutting photos and working on composition. You can clean it up later.Find a groove that works for you and that can be repeated on another project.

After drafting, you continue to work on the image or design until its polished. Continuallywork on improving your process. Pay attention to how much time on average each phase ofthe process takes. This will help tremendously when you talk with clients and work onsetting your project or hourly rates. A good process is a reliable and successful workpath foryou to follow time and time again.

CONCLUSION

Tapping into an endless well of creativity involves finding constant sources of inspiration,continually growing as an artist, developing regular habits, and refining your processes. Inthe comments, share with us any tips you have on how you tap into creativity continuously.

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12 Ways to Tap Into an Endless Well of Creativity

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