You have no creative idea

Have you ever been to a small town and visited an amateur art show? Every time I do, I cringe at the distortions in many of the works. Faces that are out of proportion, animals that come from another planet and nature that conforms to the artists fantasies and not to natural laws. Of course, there are always the few good works and don’t they stand out?

It takes time when you are practicing to be able to see. When I was learning to draw portraits, I would be happy with what I did, until the next day, when I looked with fresh eyes. Suddenly I could see that I had actually drawn alien lifeforms. Faces were twisted and bodies were in unnatural positions. These distortions were subtle, but the overall effect was not comfortable.What’s wrong with me? Am I blind?

A beginner cannot see the overall picture. They are too busy focusing on the details. When you learn to see, you learn to look in an detached manner. You become the observer instead of being emotionally involved in the work, you can see it as it is. Often you will leave a project… or a problem and return the next day with new eyes and immediately know what to do next. Detachment is important for clear seeing.

It is like being a learner driver. Usually they are so busy with the mechanics of driving that they fail to look ahead 3 or 4 cars to get an overall picture of the traffic flow. Not only that, they are excited about driving and nervous about making a mistake, not a good combination. After many miles they learn to relax and start to understand the big picture.

It is the same regardless of what art, sport or skill you are trying to learn. It takes time to see and it takes practice to relax. Practice overcomes many of your problems.

Try to detach yourself from your work, relax and realize that you are doing this because you want to have fun. Don’t try to be clever, that will result in a rigid work that is contrived and not creative.

Relax, look at your attempts as play while you experiment and learn. It takes time to learn to see.

Creativity takes effort

If you want to be imaginative, creative and expressive then you need to be able to translate your ideas into form. Whether it be to paper or clay or the written word, unless you have the skills to translate your idea accurately, you will be frustrated.

An artist needs to be able to draw well.
A potter needs to be able to feel the clay and know its value.
A writer needs to be able to type quickly and accurately.

You do not want your lack of basic skills throttling the expression of your creative ideas. Every art has its basic requirements. You are an apprentice when you start. You have to learn the basic skills. Even if you want to paint you should still take the time to become a competent drawer first.

So many artists claim that there work is an abstract, simply because they do not have the skill to express their imaginative ideas properly. Take the time to learn your basics. It is no good being in a hurry to produce a great work. That is as funny as a 5 year old being in a hurry to be a teenager. It takes time to become clever. It takes effort to become skilled. It takes practice to become an artist. It takes time to release the creative artist within.

You need to learn a whole range of artistic skills so that you can call upon this diversity to enhance your creativity. You may not directly use a lot of the skills you learn but they all add up to make you more versatile and expressive.

When I was drawing quick portraits for a living, I used to practice other skills at the same time. For example, I learned calligraphy. I would write pages of different fancy styles simply for the joy of learning a new art. It gave me finer control over my hand and as a bonus I improved my general writing skills. Even now, a million years later, people still comment on the clarity of my handwriting.

If you want to draw, practice drawing your own hand. Place it in different positions, experiment with different styles of drawing. Keep a small notebook with you and sketch random scenes. Sit in front of a mirror and draw your eyes, your nose, get to know the proportions of a face. (If you are ugly, sit in front of someone else!)

Your hands need to become a free expression of your imagination. You need to practice until you have the confidence to discard your eraser!