Watching Johnson's video about where good ideas come from, was thought provoking. In my own personal experience good ideas have come from various places, including a spark from places I've been, books I've read or experiences I've had, to brainstorming ideas, starting from mind maps and mood boards.
I think some ideas can take time to develop. In my last assignment for Illustration 2, my washi tape designs took several different styles before things started to click into place. It was only by trying different options that I got closer to what I wanted to achieve, but it was chatting to a friend that helped me to really piece my ideas together and finally come up with the designs I was happy with.
Johnson's theories can be relevant at different times, I wouldn't say they are equally applicable but certainly elements are true during different creative projects. I don't believe you can put a theory or formula on how creative ideas work, it's a mix of different influences, both internal and external that define how an idea is developed. Some ideas might be sparked in the middle of the night and some may take months or even years to come together. Some could be from a sketch you did a year ago that you suddenly know what you want to do with and others you might be sketching for a brief and it's the culmination of sketches through trial and error that you get to the best one. Sometimes you just know what you want to create and it comes together beautifully and other times it turns out totally different to what you first imagined.
Collaboration can be an important part of creativity but it's not essential. By participating in a collaboration you can develop ideas that you might not have thought about before. Trying different things and also merging different skill sets together.
If I could collaborate with another creative it would be a writer. I love to journal and read, it would be wonderful to combine a writers imagination with my own. Equally a musician would be amazing too. I have a passion for listening to different types of music so that would be an amazing collaboration as well.
From the student quotes listed, there were a few I resonated with. Sometimes I do start with an idea and think I know how it should look and then when it comes to putting it into practice it can go either way. Sometimes it's just as I imagined and other times it takes on a life of it's own.
Like one of the other quotes, sometimes I find it helpful to draw from life, several different sketches on the same subject and then I will take those sketches to the next stage and develop from there. I do enjoy observational drawing and quite often start my illustrations this way.
I used to have a more spontaneous approach, especially to my paintings. It would be quite an intuitive process, which I really enjoyed. I wouldn't know how the painting was going to evolve and most of the time that went to my advantage but sometimes it didn't.
Whilst doing this degree I've learnt the value of planning projects more thoroughly before diving right in but I have to say that does take the fun and excitement out of it for me quite a bit. I do miss the intuitive approach and would like to find a middle ground between the two.
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