Creative expression is free from any form of structure or compulsion. It is a personal choice how you manifest your creativity. If you struggle to fully utilize your creativity, it can be valuable to understand which steps are important. This can help you actually complete projects and realize your ideas.
If it is truly your goal to realize an idea, it is good to know that this is a process that is divided into several stages.
The core principles of the creative process are:
Preparation > incubation > illumination > evaluation > verification
In this article, you will read why creativity as a process is important in order to fully develop your inspiration to its maximum potential. It is often the case that artists have more unfinished projects than completed works, partly due to a lack of a good plan.
These 8 steps often overlap with each other and are not equally important for every work of art. It does not mean that you have to be able to explain everything in a ‘concept’ for yourself first.
Creativity as a process: 8 crucial steps
It is important that you do not impose an unpleasant structure on yourself, resulting in you feeling less comfortable in your artistic process.
1. The spark
Inspiration is the life force that drives your creativity, propelling it forward with unwavering energy and vigor. It serves as the engine that powers your imaginative pursuits, allowing you to explore uncharted territories of ideas and artistic expression.
Watching a movie or hearing a captivating life story has the remarkable ability to ignite the spark of inspiration within you, causing it to flourish and bloom like a vibrant flower in full bloom.
At the beginning of any creative endeavor lies the inception of a concept, whether grand in scale or seemingly minuscule.
However, there are instances where the concept materializes instantaneously, forming a crystal-clear image within the corridors of your mind.
The more you tirelessly searches and strains to conjure these ideas, the more elusive they become. The key lies in finding the delicate balance between actively seeking inspiration and allowing it to flow organically, unimpeded by the constraints of forceful pursuit.
2. Weighing ideas
Next comes the judging process. Often unconsciously, you filter out all the ideas that do not meet your artistic standards.
It’s not about inventing, but about sculpting an idea.
This happens in a fairly early stage of the development process. In your enthusiasm, many insights come up that inspire you. After that comes the period of separation, where the less good ideas are filtered out.
During the execution, which comes later, your conceived visions become even clearer because you can immediately visualize them. The same judging process also plays a role here.
3. Developing concepts
After the first dose of ‘inspiration,’ your head is filled with ideas on how to work it out. At this stage, you are actually developing the concept.
‘What is the story, and which direction is it going?’
‘What kind of atmosphere does it evoke in people?’
‘How much do I leave to the imagination of others in this piece of art?’
It completely depends on your art form and your personality how you bring this to fruition. Authors and composers write down their ideas faster than designers and painters do.
You don’t have to write it down, but it gives you a clear picture of your concept and whether you want to make any adjustments.
In this part of the process, you will also experiment and make selections. The best thing to do is to do what feels right for you while keeping the steps of the process in mind.
4. A great artist steals
All the inspiration you have for creating your own work comes from an unconscious soup of experiences and situations from your life. Everything that has impressed you determines your taste and style as an artist. You are a product of your environment and the art you have seen and admired.
Therefore, do not be afraid to use aspects of other people’s art to improvise and implement them in your own work. Artists have always drawn from the works of others to develop new ideas.
It only becomes a problem when your own contribution plays a smaller role compared to a borrowed idea. The goal is to let your own voice and vision resonate in the work you create, even if you use elements from other artists.
It is interesting to know that even renowned original artists like Picasso used other people’s art as inspiration or research for their own work.
‘Good artists copy, great artists steal.‘
By this, he meant that it is not just about copying others, but about stealing the essence and transforming it into something new and personal.
So, don’t be afraid to show where your inspiration comes from, but make sure to use it as a springboard to develop your own creativity and create unique artworks.
5. Experimentation: new perspectives
Developed plans and ideas that still need some improvements benefit greatly from experimentation.
Here are a few possibilities for experimenting in your artistic process:
- create variations of one or more ideas
- experiment with new techniques
- limit yourself to using a minimum of colors/techniques/details
- improvise without a fixed plan or direction
- place your work in a style or space to gain a new perspective
Experimentation leads to a smooth flow of new ideas because you think outside the box. It will remove your artistic block and open a door to much more inspiration.
6. For the sake of originality: selecting
Selecting your best ideas ensures that your work maintains the power of originality and value. Less is more, which applies to almost all forms of art. This is not about removing details, but about weighing what gives your artwork the most significance.
To reconsider your context and ideas from a distance, make yourself aware again of what makes this specific work important and unique.
It also helps to take some extra time to choose the most potential aspects. This can be a day or longer, going over everything on paper or in your mind.
‘Does revealing too much of the plot give away the beginning of the story?’
‘Which details and aspects detract more from the essence of the work?’
‘Do these building blocks leave enough to the viewer’s imagination, if that’s my goal?’
- Selecting ideas can occur at any point in your creative process and arises when you feel it’s necessary. It is essential to address this at some point in the process so that you reconsider and weigh what makes your artwork as good as possible.
7. Execution: the heart of the process
During the execution, you translate all your ideas into reality. This is the heart of the creative process because it leads directly to the final result. Good preparation ensures that you can let your creativity flow with as few obstacles as possible. The ‘framework’ of your idea, where all the most important aspects are clear, is already in place.
You can also choose to start executing right away. Then you’re more into improvisation, immersing yourself fully in your feelings and techniques.
A flow of inspiration that unexpectedly comes to you also gives you the opportunity to make the most of every precious second.
But without preparation or a plan, you are more likely to leave it or not come back to it after the inspiration is gone. Additionally, the amount of preparatory work needed also varies depending on the art form and personal preference.
The majority of great artists used a variety of preparations before developing the artwork.
- Leonardo da Vinci – Known for his detailed studies and preparatory sketches before painting his masterpieces, such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.
- J.R.R. Tolkien – Spent years developing the world, characters, languages, and mythologies before he began writing his epic fantasy novels, including “The Lord of the Rings.”
- Stanley Kubrick – Famous for his extensive preparation for film productions, including detailed storyboards, set designs, and extensive research. He often took ample time to meticulously plan every aspect of his films.
But once you have good preparation, the execution becomes much smoother than starting haphazardly. This is the key to a successful end result of your creative ideas.
The execution is also where you, as an artist, look forward to the most because you are actively engaging in the creative process.
8. Evaluation: It’s never finished
Stepping back from a work is the best way to evaluate the complete picture.
During the process, you are hyper-focused on certain aspects of the work, and you may not pay much attention to the overall composition.
Taking a walk or doing something else makes it easier to gain inspiration for further improvements. Often, we come up with good ideas while taking a shower or when we are on the go because our brains have the space to provide insights from the subconscious.
There will always be possibilities for additions, and this is also one of the most challenging moments for an artist. Admitting that it is finished and ready to be published or exhibited.
Therefore, it is important to take the time to perfect the final details. And know that your original idea is the guiding factor in determining when the work is complete. Adding new elements can actually work against the significance of your artwork.
Every creative process is different.
The beauty and also the scary part of artistic expression is that there are no fixed formulas to point out. There is no definitive blueprint for the creative process. Although it is possible to determine rules and guidelines that work well for you, it will always unfold differently than you initially thought.
However, this unpredictability and variation in the creative process actually contribute to diversity and originality in your own works. Every artwork you create contributes to your growth and development as an artist.
One work may inspire you to create something new, while another work challenges you to try out new techniques or materials.
Final thoughts
As you engage more in creating new things, you will notice that you develop your own style and vision more quickly. You will discover which elements, themes, and techniques suit you best, which you can further refine and explore.
The process of experimenting and going through different artistic phases will help you develop your own unique signature.
It is important to be open to the unpredictability and versatility of creativity as a process. Embrace the opportunity to experiment, to take new paths, and to challenge yourself.
It is precisely this flexibility and ability to adapt to changing circumstances that allow you to grow and flourish as an artist. Enjoy the journey and let your creativity flow freely as you leave more and more of your own mark on the world of art and expression.
