Creative processes

[JohnD]

Recently, I was asked if something I had made had turned out how I had envisioned it. I responded that I never have a complete vision of exactly how the finished product will look, just an idea. This lead to a discussion of how this person has a detailed idea of exactly how his projects will turn out. I thought how nice that must be to have such a gift.

When I got home I revisited the topic with my wife, who claims to have no artistic abilities herself, She agrees that when she starts a project she has a detailed idea of the finished product. This actually started to disturb me me a little.

I feel, to be honest, that I have some artistic talent. I like to draw, paint, play guitar, I've built furniture, motorcycles and I do leather work. I feel I have the ability to get a project from idea to reality with some degree of competence.

My problem is that I have never had a complete vision of something I was making. Most things i do start with the notion of what is needed and end up what they are by putting the necessary components together. I never see the detailed version of the finished product until I,m holding it in my hand. I can visualize an object, but no details or specifics. When i draw things, say, a floral tooling pattern, I start with the space I need to fill and start drawing lines and curves. If it looks right I go with it, if not I erase it. I don't see a specific pattern of flowers and leaves until they are on the paper. I spend a lot of time looking at blank pieces of paper and I waste a bit of leather cutting out things that don't look right after all.

My wife say that she believes most people have a pretty specific idea of what their finished projects will look like and that its no wonder it takes me so long to finish things. I basically stumble through things, making it up as I go along.

I apologize for being long winded, but This has me kind of bothered and I wanted to see how the creative process works in other folks who work ideas out to physical things. So , if any of you don't mind sharing, I would be interested in hearing how it happens for you.

Thanks for any responses

John

[TwinOaks]

From the start of your post, I could see exactly where you were going with this.........

I kinda fall between the two extremes. I have an idea of what I want it to look like, and sometimes my projects actually turn out that way. Usually, I start a project with a notion, and allow ........creativity to flourish, yeah, that's it. Quite simply, I am happy to let an idea evolve as I go. A perfect example is a small ladies wallet I'm working on. I was browsing this site and my wife said " I like that, can you make one?" Well, NO, I'm not stealing someone's idea. Develop my own, sure. So I did, and made some changes along the way because 1. I decided (with help) that the original design wasn't what she wanted, and 2. Because that decision was made after some pieces were cut, that it'd be easier to modify than start over.

Then again, often times I'll start a project and get sidetracked on another one. My wife's purse is sitting in a box, pieces cut, partially carved, waiting for assembly and finishing. And it has been there for about 3 months . I was experiencing a little creativity block with it. Today's a good day though, because I found my inspiration to get around/over the block......She pulled out a catalog and started pointing at $200 purses! All cured!

So, rest easy, you're not the only one that doesn't envision everything before you get started. And the next time she criticizes you for it, just remind her that us folks that "think outside the box" are responsible for lots of innovations! Example: Somebody got tired of sore thumbs and decided it be better to have a machine that could stitch things together. Now look where we are!

[budd4766]

For me, it often winds up differently from what I originally envision as well. Logistics, physics, all sorts of problems arise that I have to navigate around to get the end product. But more often than not, it starts out with a sleepless night, turning an idea over and over in my head trying to figure it out...then the next (drowsy) day at work itchin' to get home and get started on it.

I'm a drafter by trade, so I have a "need" to get all the technicalities sorted out before I get started. That often winds up being a pattern laid out on an old manila folder and cut out for a dry fit first, then adjustments before I start on the leather. I have to have an idea in my head of color, tooling, braiding, conchos...whatever I'm going to do in the end before I start. I hate surprises, though they do often pop up. With a good plan, I can sort of minimize those.

Sometimes things work out and I get what I lay awake thinking up in the beginning, but sometimes it just works out differently. Best thing is start with a "vision" and be flexible along the journey. It works out pretty well most times.

[kevinhopkins]

Hi... I'm kinda with twin oaks... Sometimes (rarely) I get this flash of what I want... then I can go from there, and usually end up with something pretty darned close, with maybe some modifications along the way. Other times, I guess I find myself in blind stumbling mode... and it does take longer when I'm in that phase...

Kevin

[MADMAX22]

It usually takes me a while but I can piece together what I want as a end result however it I can never really envision what the end result is gonna be. I use to be really into art and that allways plagued me. Alot of my buddies who were really good artist could tell you every single detail of what was to come of the project they were working on.

Even new one guy that had such a hard time finishing projects because he got so bored "seeing" his finished project he started thinking about the next and would move on and ditch his current one.

I have spurts of creative energy and I gotta take full advantage of them because they arent allways available for me.

[jbird]

When I was 4 years old I built a Lego ship the box said 10 and up, when I was 10 I built a football field in a box and my

Uncle wanted to sell them said it was gold it was kick football type game but I could see it in my head before I built it every piece and part coming in to play, I would dream of building a barn and I saw the beams how they fit the floor how it was done in my mind like a drafting program clear and easy to my mind , when I design furniture I see it I feel it first I fix the mistakes in my mind. When I write my music it plays in my head and I go over it and over it, and my poems and my book I am writing it's all in my mind first just how I want it I don't sleep some nights I think I should move this buckle down here and I move it in my head,

The leather is the same I know just what I need to do before I build it, know I am tired but this is what I think like and my prosses

Josh

PS bad spelling I am on my iPhone

[whinewine]

I never really know what the final outcome will be, although I can 'see' in my head as to what I'd like to do- but they may not end up that way. Projects/concepts roll around in my head, more often than not in the subconscious, mulled over & mentally masticated, till they pop out, generally at a later time. I create as I go along & don't know where I'll end up until I'm there. If, for instance, I'm stamping an item, I'll pick up a tool, then another tool, and another, & incorporate them all into a very different design, all the while letting my subconscious take over & my mind just flow without being totally conscious of exactly where I'm going (the subconscious is doing the driving, the conscious is along for the ride). It was always that way for me- whether it was writing an article, writing poetry, doing photography for myself (rather than for others)... I've been told I have the 'eye'- I can 'see' things that others don't (even though I may not recognize it on a conscious level myself)- I once won a Nikon SLR in competition with a shot of my son at the beach- but it had that 'something' that appealed to the judges. When I spell, I can actually picture the word in my mind (although occasionally I may need to physically write 2 or 3 variations just to be sure) & people will often ask me "how do you spell...?"

Edited June 15, 2009 by whinewine

[HorsehairBraider]

I'm one of those "I can see it in my mind" type of people. I can visualize three-dimensional objects, turn them around in my mind to see every angle, and that' usually how I design.

However, sometimes you have to change. For instance I'm making a stampede string for a hat. It's braided leather, with horsehair tassels. I planned to put a "pass" of horsehair in the leather knots and that all worked out well and good, it looks really cool. All except for that last knot... the one that ties to the two pieces together and slides up and down. As I was braiding it, it started to get a little too tight. So I had to change for that knot, and now the stampede string has a horsehair pass in the knots all except for that one. If the person I'm making it for does not mind that sliding knot being so tight (it *will* loosen up over time) I may end up putting that extra pass in the knot. But for right now, I think it would tend to make the piece not work well so I had to change a little from my original idea.

No one should feel bad if they don't design like others, though! As the old saying goes, there is more than one way to skin a cat. Also, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. If what you do works for you, why, that's the best way for you to do it.

[JohnD]

Thanks for all the replies.

I guess I feel better knowing some other folks go about it the same way. I thought maybe something was wrong with me.

Although I can't picture specific designs in my head, I do spell words in my head, sometimes, even as I'm talking. ( not that I spell them correctly)

I also don't have a problem thinking mechanically. I can figure out how things work pretty well. And when I'm planning a project I am able to figure the different joints and methods of putting things together fairly well in my head. It's just when it comes to the overall designing and coming up with the artistic parts that my vision becomes blurry and I need a piece of paper, a pencil and a few days of staring at them before things work themselves out.

I really appreciate all the different points of view (point of views?). I think its interesting to see. Thanks again.

John

Also, I hope I didn't come off like my wife was criticizing me. It's a well known fact around here that I take a long time with most of my projects. Some things I bang out pretty quick, when the designing is done by someone else. It's when you say "just do something cool" or "surprise me" that things tend to drag on. staring takes time. Pondering, I guess you could call it.

[Denise]

John,

Interesting topic. I wonder how many different types of "thinking" there really are out there. I doubt anyone knows. I was hearing on the radio lately about some people who hear or think in color. Apparently some people always see certain numbers or letters as certain colors, but since they get odd reactions when they are kids to their statements about "Isn't that a pretty yellow 6?", they quit talking about it. And some people hear music as certain colors. There apparently was a conductor who explained what colors he was hearing in terms of tone or volume (I guess) to his orchestra so they would understand when he told them "More red!! I need more red in this passage!!" The radio announcer gave a name for this way of thinking, but I don't remember what it was.

And some people apparently think in pictures, not words. Temple Grandin is a professor in animal science who has done amazing work in creating animal handling systems that work so the cattle etc. walk through more quietly and without balking. She is also autistic. In her autobiography, she says that she never thinks in words, but only in pictures. (She was into her teens before she figured out that everyone didn't think this way.) She is one who can turn things around in her mind in 3D and never has to draw anything out to know what it will look like finished. She feels animals think the same way, and that is why she has been able to do what she has done. She believes she sees/reacts/feels what an animal will going through a loading chute, for example, and that is why she knows that the shadow we might not even notice is something that a cow will be afraid of and balk at. Remove the shadow, remove the clog in the system. Her designs are used all over the world now.

So I find this topic really fascinating. I'm not at all creative, so I can't add anything to it. But I can make the books work out to the last penny and analyse data in charts, sometimes even making sense of it. Everyone has their own skills.

[Bree]

Who has time to be creative any more?? Steal what works for someone else.

[JohnD]

Denise,

I saw a TV show about "superhuman" abilities and they did a segment on a woman who could see and taste sounds. They called it synesthesia (they spelled it out on the screen too). You also mentioned books , I have no interest at all in novels, but I read how-to books and manuals pretty regularly.

My brother in law, who was the one who asked me if my bike came out the way I envisioned it, said that he can picture a detailed 3d image that he can turn and see from any angle. He also said he can add or remove parts to see how they look. He builds motorcycles for a living and uses this method too build each one from start to finish.

He did admit that sometimes he has issues with the scale of some components and doesn't realize until he is building the bike and has to make some adjustments. I have to admit that I am jealous of that ability.

John

Edited June 16, 2009 by JohnD