ITAP lecture – 2 : Creative Thought

Principle 1 : Overcoming Mindsets

 

Overcoming mindsets is essential for a person to fully express his or her creativity. Mindsets are a road block in the path to true creativity and genius. They prevent us from looking at things from a different perspective, making us stick to just one approach on a given subject. Therefore it is imperative that we overcome these mindsets, and broaden our field of vision and thought.

 

There are many ways by which we can overcome mindsets. The first most common way to do this is to break out of habits and routines. Habits make us look at everyday issues in a very singular way, thus breaking out of habits allows us to look at problems with fresh eyes. To overcome mindsets we sometimes have to break or bend the rules, thinking outside the box and looking for unconventional solutions to a given problem. It is also essential that we try to work outside our comfort zones, by which we become more versatile and able to adapt to given situations.

 

 

 

 

The first picture here, shows us how the artist, David Allen Reeves, has innovatively portrayed a small zombie scene using paper cut-outs. The next picture shows us how the artist Ben Heine has used a combination of a pencil sketch and a photograph to bring out this stunning picture. It gives the image a sort of 3-D effect that is quite unique. Both these artists have used unique methods that most people are unfamiliar with, to portray their artwork. Therefore they make their work stand out even more in the eyes of their viewers.

 

Principle 5 : Managing a Creative Environment

 

Creativity extends beyond just ideas in your head to your surroundings. An innovative and creative workspace can help foster and inspire new ideas, whether you’re an illustrator, animator, photographer, painter or involved in any other creative work. A comfortable and inspiring workspace not only helps us generate new ideas but also helps us in putting those ideas down and following through with the rest of the work allowing the idea to fully develop. Moreover, our workspace should be a place that we’re comfortable working in and a place that helps inspire us and motivate us.

 

Everyone should have their own custom workspaces, as different set-ups work for different people. But basically, it should contain all the required tools needed for your work. It can also contain some of your work for reference or review. Preferably,  one should collect work from artists that inspire them to help further motivate them. Keeping in mind the kind of work you will be doing, one should customise his or her workplace creatively in a way that inspires them.

 

 

 

The first picture by S. Britt shows a workplace common to that of an illustrator. Everything is neatly arranged and easily accessible and has a pleasant look. The next picture shows the  workplace of a sculptor and how everything is arranged to best suit his or her needs.

 

Bibliography: 

 

http://davidallenreeves.tumblr.com

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/pencil-vs-camera-ii-new-843741

ITAP lecture – 1 : Reflective Visual Journal (RVJ)

Principle 1 : Draw. Work by hand.

This is the first principle I want to concentrate my attention to, as it is the basis for the subsequent principles that follow. Greater emphasis should be placed on drawing by hand as it helps us to visually illustrate our thoughts on paper. Helping us  to break down relatively complex problems and analysing its different components it results in a simpler understanding of what is before us.

Drawing gives us a broader view of the task at hand, therefore making it much easier and faster for one to draw conclusions from it. Apart from simplifying  a problem, drawing also helps in showing one’s entire work process. Analysing work becomes immensely easier when you have an easily understandable and well maintained record of your work. Drawing also helps us to look at different approaches to a given problem, thus giving rise to unique and different ideas. Drawing as an activity can also include illustration through different materials that can be used to better describe an idea. It isn’t limited in any sense, leaving your imagination as the only barrier in its path.

 

As seen in the two sketches above, the first one is a great example of thinking by drawing as the artist has drawn the house from different angles and has also supported his sketch with a few annotations to help further understand his illustration. The next image shows the different elements of a sketch of two people, but apart from being just a drawing the annotations help to further understand the picture and the story.

Principle 2 : Utilise Your Creative Brain

The second principle I would like to emphasise on is utilising one’s creative brain. The creative class of people would find that utilising their brain to overcome problems could be the deadliest weapon in their arsenal.

The brain essentially is divided into two parts, the left brain and the right brain. The right brain symbolises the mind of a child at play, i.e. the creative side. It allows you to experiment and explore the creative recesses of the mind, letting you fully develop your ideas on paper. The left brain symbolises the mind of a businessman or analyst, that interrogates and comes to rational conclusions. The left brain allows you to fully assess your work, seeing whether it meets the required standards. For a creative person, the ability to consciously switch between the two brain modes would help immensely with their work.

For example, we can use the right brain to experiment with our ideas till we come up with something substantial and then use the left brain to critically analyse it, to see if it fits its intended purpose and to also check if we can improve it. It must be kept  in mind that while experimenting with the right brain, we do so around a particular theme to prevent us from straying from the topic.

The first picture is a is a painting by Denton Loomis that shows us the working of the right brain as he shows us his description of love through this painting. The second picture is an art piece done by Mathew James Taylor, that shows us the use of both left and right hemispheres of the brain to bring out an artistic watercolour illustration of his friend, Sai.

 Bibliography 

 

Resurgence

Resurgence is our school’s annual commerce festival. For two years during high school I had the unique opportunity to design for this grand event. The festival got its name from the fact that the students always managed to better their last years performance regardless of the hurdles they faced, similar to a phoenix that rises from its own ashes. The phoenix then became our main focus of design. The phoenix was used as the logo, the magazine cover, the watermark for the certificates, etc.

The logo was a phoenix designed by me. I decided to make it look a bit more serious rather than focusing on intricate design and beauty. At the same time the phoenix is still portrayed in all its elegance and splendour. The fiery golden colour that the phoenix is laid in signifies fierceness and its rising from the ashes.

The idea for the text design came up when I decided to customise the word “Resurgence” and make it unique and not just a word put together from internet fonts. I then designed wings for the word to make it look like the word had wings attached to it. Keeping in mind that the theme revolved around the phoenix, I kept the feathers sharp and small and avoided making them fluffy. To finish off I gave the lettering and the wings a yellowish glow to make the word stand out a little.

Introduction

I have always been fascinated from a very young age in recreating the vivid images in my head, giving those ideas that were just a blur in my mind a definition on paper. Exploring and pushing the boundaries of my imagination, I enjoy creating art that is unique to me.

I would like to share some of my work, taking you through everything that inspired and motivated me.