Craft / Creative Process
Drawing on that experience, Kent would later formulate the closest thing to a personal credo:
Often I think that however much I draw or paint, or however well, I am not an artist as art is generally understood. The abstract is meaningless to me save as a fragment of the whole, which is life itself… It is the ultimate which concerns me, and all physi... See more
Often I think that however much I draw or paint, or however well, I am not an artist as art is generally understood. The abstract is meaningless to me save as a fragment of the whole, which is life itself… It is the ultimate which concerns me, and all physi... See more
I have felt this compulsion, that my creativity of late has not channeled my true pain and truth. It has made me look at my own work with some disdain, because I am not being honest enough, or something. But I don’t want to share everything and every part of me. Alas, it’s a battle.
- Use your tools to make things, don't make things about your tools. Technology and the end result are in a dance, one can never lead the other too long.
MANIFESTO
Writer and illustrator A. Kendra Greene on becoming an artist by listening – The Creative Independent
A. Kendra Greenethecreativeindependent.com
A poet asked me to illustrate a book, and I realized I don’t think I’m an illustrator—I think I’m a bookmaker.
I can relate. Since illustrating my own book, I’ve spent a lot more time drawing, and this has brought up opportunities to illustrate other peoples’ books. But it just didn’t feel right. I want to tell stories, and often they come to me in words as well as drawings, and I like to show both. I think that makes me more of a multimedia storyteller, than what we might think of as an illustrator.
I love the thoughtfulness and transparency here with iA’s icon design. You learn as much from their process as their product.
Creativity requires connecting the dots, and connecting the dots requires allowing time for my subconscious to consolidate my ideas and make associations. This means that, from time to time, I need to just stare out the window and do nothing.
This doesn’t feel productive, even though it is.
This doesn’t feel productive, even though it is.
Ozan Varol • You’re doing better than you think. Here’s why. - Ozan Varol
But busyness has a way of stealing creativity from you. Generative work, like art and writing, requires long periods of nothingness: it’s only in that wide empty space that ideas emerge. Long runs, hot showers, commutes that don’t involve harried Slack messages and listening to podcasts at 2x speed. Sitting at the edge of a dock, listening to the o... See more
Jasmine Sun • the scenic route
"Be regular and orderly in your life so that you may be violent and original in your work." - Gustave Flaubert
Quoted this in my piece on the value of routine: Rewards of Routine
