While I'm waiting for the mediums to dry--I'm working in acrylics on one of my ubiquitous art journals at the moment--I'm thinking about what it takes to be creative in the sense of quality, and perhaps quantity, also.
There are lots of prompts out there to get you in the mood. Lots of advice to get you up from a funk, or beyond the blank paper staring you in the face. Short-term cures and band-aids for little cuts and bruises are good. But what about a cure? Is there anything that you can do to prevent a funk? To keep your mojo working all the time? Or at least, most of the time?
(if you got here by clicking a link in the post, this is where you begin. . .)
The Family Of The Arts
First you need to know that I firmly believe that all the arts are related. They're not all the same, and you don't need to be interested in all of them, but they are related in the way that Aunt Nancy is related to Uncle Bob, but different from him. You may like Aunt Nancy and think Uncle Bob is creepy. But they are related, and with a blood tie, at that! This is important so you can see the connection I'm about to make, and validate its application.
Now think about theater arts. Acting and actors. Wouldn't it be silly to think that you could just hand a person a script and tell him to read the lines without any knowledge of the plot or the characters? NO?? Did I hear you say that you don't think that's silly? Well, maybe as an exercise, or as a test, cold reads have their place. But on opening night, on stage? Yes! That would be ridiculous. What would be ridiculous about it is that it probably--most probably--would be far from the best it could be. Most likely, it would be awful. An actor needs not only to study lines, but study them in the context of the story, the plot, and in relation to the other characters in the play...and more than that, too. An actor needs to get into character...get into the head and the habits of his character, in order to play his role convincingly. And by convincingly, I must clarify that he must first convince himself that he is the character, before he'll feel confident enough to believe he can convince an audience. And it follows that if he believes he will convince an audience, he will be able to stay focused and in character without the gnawing, annoying and destructive voices of worry that whisper from the far-reaches of the mind when one is unsure of himself.
Mixed-Media, Or Whatever It Is That You Do
I do mixed-media, which for me, means that I make lots of different things in lots of different styles using lots of different stuff. I'm not a blender, just a cookbook with lots of different recipes using lots of different ingredients. So whatever it is that you do, this will apply to you as well. Are you listening? Good, because this is really important to you. Whatever you do, if it's important, you need to get in character for it! once again: Whatever you do, if it's important, you need to get in character for it!
Cold-Reads vs. In Character Performances
If it's just an exercise, or a quick little something to dash off for a friend, or something to fill an extra hour, then a cold-read is probably OK. In fact, a few cold reads are a good way to get you going, and every project begins as a cold read....so when we're no longer talking about the theater, but about art, what's the difference? The difference between a cold read and an "in character" performance is the degree of mental preparation. To best understand what a cold-read would be in making art, it's easiest to begin with an understanding of what it means to be "in character" for making art. I'll use an analogy from what I'm working on right now.
At the moment, my biggest project (as defined by me) is an art journal which has a very colorful, light, and carefree feel to it. It's uplifting and liberating. For me personally, the concepts of "uplifting" and "liberating" are rooted in child-like and youthful themes and metaphors. It's not that these things are cute and colorful, although they can be, it's that when they are dark and serious, the dank and the foreboding are meaningful, spiritual, and beautiful, if only in the sense that they give added meaning and dimension to the light, or sometimes just to add a spot of humor, or an exclamation point, if you can understand my metaphor. So, to do justice to this, and to be able to convincingly portray the character of this in the pages of my journal, I want to get myself to a point where I believe I understand the character of my pages completely. If I slap-down a bunch of kid's images and quickly slather on some primary colors and call it quits, I may still have something to look at. But I will not have something that communicates to an audience.
Communication In Art, As In Theater
Why is this important? You say you don't care about this because you aren't doing this for an audience? Wrong! Very wrong! YOU are the premiere member of the audience! You may not have to live with your work forever--you can sell it, give it, or throw it away--but for forever and a day, the fact that you created it will live with you, even if you cease to remember it consciously. In that sense, we are never, ever, able to get rid of what we've made. What we communicate to ourselves is very important. Remember the actor? He worked at getting into character because he had to believe that he could convince an audience in order to liberate himself from gnawing and destructive self-doubt. It's the same in art-on-paper (or canvas, or fabric. . .). If it's a warm-up, a practice, or an exercise, do it cold if you like. But if it's more important than that--and not all of what we do can remain exercises--then take some time and seriously, get into your work, from the inside out!
The How-Tos Of It
Fortunately, doing it is almost as easy as telling someone to do it. You just have to have an idea of how. I"ll go back to my art journal for an example. At present, I'm using some children's images and bright colors. I could just pick what I like, arrange it on a page, step back, take a look, and decide if it was finished or if it needed more. It might even be great looking. But it would have no meaning other than it was made with a theme in mind, according to my tastes and my recipe. Is this not enough? No, it isn't.
Consider this quote by Mark Rothko: "It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one paints as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academicism. There is no such thing as a good painting about nothing."
Amen! It has to be more than something "technically proficient". A great work of art is a communication device. Whether it is a novel, a theater play, a painting, a ballet, an art quilt, or a collage, it must convey a message that is in turn, received. Further, the receiver must send back a response--some form of feedback, a comment, a look in the eye, a bit of advice, applause, a frown--anything that lets the artist know that he has been heard, or viewed. In this way, art becomes organic. When it communicates something of the artist, it is brought to life. There are lots and lots of technically proficient artists, dancers, actors...but if their art is not a conduit for conversation, if it just makes a statement without initializing and participating in a dialog, the work is devoid of heart and soul.
How does a work of art initiate a dialog? It begins with the artist's answers to a few basic questions, such as, "How does what I'm working on relate to me, personally"? If you begin with a prompt to make "something green", for example, you can dash about finding your green paints, pencils, and supplies and start arranging things on a page. Depending on your skill level, it might look OK, or it might look great. But unless you also answered the question: "What does green mean to me personally?" your well painted piece will not be a good painting. It's so easy. Green means a lot of things to everyone. If you think of trees, then carry it further and think of that specific tree...the one you can put yourself in front of in your memory. What was the day like? Where were you? Were you alone? Who was with you? What were you doing? What were you thinking? How do you feel about it now? I guarantee that the tree you draw, paint, collage, quilt, act, sing about, or sway like in a dance, will be much richer and full of life, simply because you have related (turned it into a relative of) an actual occurrence in your life. It's that simple.
For the pages in my journal with child-like images, I simply spend a minute or two thinking about my own childhood, remembering a toy, where I was when I played with it, who I played with, recalling the experience and thinking about how I feel about that today. Then I work on the book. I am a hundred times more likely now to think about using things in a child-like fashion than I would have been if I had not gotten into character--if I had not brought the child to the forefront. And by first getting into character, it now will not occur to me throughout my work to stop and analyze it from a child's point of view. I am already working from a child's vantage point! I won't hear the voices of question and doubt, because for just a few minutes before I started, I was a child again, and it was only minutes ago!
You can carry it further if you like, but it's probably not necessary. I've been re-reading a couple of mid-level children's books that I liked as a kid. They have brought out all sorts of memories that I had pushed to the back of my mind to make room for newer, adult experiences. So fun to dust them off and visit them again, and I'm sure it helps the pages in my art journal. But really, it was only necessary to conjure up a thought or two for a few minutes to activate the mindset.
Now Try This
Try this the next time you're prompted to make something with a given theme. If the challenge is to make something with a car in it, instead of rushing around looking for car images, think about a car you had that you liked..or hated..or drove your kids to school in...or whatever! Think of color, smells, other people involved, how you felt, etc....carry it further. When you're finished with your mind run, then think again about what you could make. You may still grab a car image, or draw one, but what you do with it will communicate something that it wouldn't have been able to communicate before. It will come alive.
After just a time or two of doing this, you'll probably find that it has become second nature. You probably won't be able to consider a subject for art without thinking about how it somehow relates to you and your personal experiences. When this happens, your cup runneth over! Every piece of art you make will be like playing. It will no longer be about some arbitrary prompt, whether that prompt came from inside you or from another source. Everything piece of art you make will be converted into something personal. Remember how you played when you were little? How you'd start with something in mind, and make up the story about it as you played it out? When you get to the point where you're doing this with your art...when it's no longer a question of what you're going to do or use just to make it look better, but what you're going to do or use to tell it's story...then you're playing! And the more creative your art play gets, the more successful the outcome, not just in terms of the finished product, but in terms of you as an artist. You will have grown by leaps and bounds, and you will not be able to wait to tackle the next "story" to work on!
In a nutshell, getting in character and playing out your artistic process not only results in great art, it cures blank-page syndrome, artist's block, petite and grand funks, and all sorts of malaise that gets in the way of doing what you really want to be doing.
And now we're back where we started. Thinking about what it takes to be creative in the sense of quality, and maybe quantity, too. But now we've answered the question. We have to get in character, and play it out as it unfolds as it we were telling a story. Maybe we could even tweak it a bit. Add some fantasy and make it a little bit different...oh, the possibilities...
Thanks for this. I think I do this already in my scrapbooking because the moment to consider is there in front of me, captured in a photo with all its related memories. For what ever reason I had never thought of approaching my other creations in this way. I am certainly going to give it a try x
Posted by: elliemook | July 03, 2008 at 10:11 AM