Thursday, August 11, 2016

Planning versus Intuition

My Creative Pulse column in the July/August issue of Cloth Paper Scissors focuses on two approaches to the creative process: planning versus intuition.


Some excerpts:

When you create art, do you set out to make something specific, or is where the piece ends up a surprise each and every time? Your answer to this question will no doubt be influenced by many factors, including your chosen art form, creative process, and even your personality.

Creativity can seem mysterious. If you ask 10 artists to describe their creative processes, you are likely to hear 10 different responses. In general, creative people can be divided into two broad categories: artists whose creative output is the result of rigorous planning and foresight, and artists who create from intuition and spontaneity. Both groups are creative, but they approach are making from a different perspective.

Much of my love for mixed media comes from the fact that I believe it naturally lends itself to a more intuitive approach. I rarely start a new work with any idea of what it might look like when it's completed. For me, that would be frustrating, as part of the pleasure of working in mixd media is the unexpected twists and turns that a piece takes along the way.

And how about you? Do you create through planning, intuition or both?

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You can read the entire column in the magazine, available for purchase on newsstands or online here,  or in the downloadable version here.

9 comments:

Anne Marie - Toronto said...

I'm on the "intuitive" team!! The only planning would be my choice of the first materials and substrate to use. After that, anything goes!!!

Jo Murray said...

For me the beginning is intuitive. But final 'tweaking' requires more thought.

Sharon Y said...

Team Intuitive here too. I let each layer guide me to the next.

Sharmon Davidson said...

Having been originally trained as a graphic designer, I was firmly in the "plan it out" camp. Over the many years since, I have learned to let go of some of the control, allowing chance and intuition to play a part. Now I may start with an idea, but it rarely if ever turns out the way I thought it would. If I'm not happy with it, I keep going, maybe tearing parts off before adding more layers, until it satisfies me and I feel I've pushed beyond my boundaries. Far more than you wanted to know, I'm sure... (blah, blah, blah...)

Jenny Marples said...

Thought and a basic plan, followed by action, reaction, intuition and as it gets to the finish breathing space to consider if it's finished/if it needs more etc.

Alison said...

I don't think I've ever been a planner, in art or life. Perhaps that's why I started leaning towards mixed media. I love the randomness of it.

Karen The Adventuours Art Teacher said...

I was trained as an illustrator so I started as a planner, years later when I became an International Baccalaureate high school Art Teacher it all became about the process and listening to that little voice. We now have to write about the process so knowing how the Elements of Art and Principles of Design work seems to pull everything together. I seem to do a little of everything these days;)

Robert said...

For me creating and intuition go hand in hand. I love a process that allows room for the unexpected, and am constantly amazed that the "right" piece or image seems to show up at precisely the right time in the creation of a particular collage or mixed media piece. It sometimes feels almost like something outside of myself is directing the entire process. That said, I do frequently get to a point in the creation of a piece where I am aware that something is lacking, or that a new, very specific, direction is needed in order for the piece to be successful. At that point, some at least minimal planning comes into play. Often, for me, this takes the form of "stepping back" from a work--maybe even putting it out of sight for awhile--and coming back to it later with a fresh perspective. Intuition, however, for me is the key that begins and guides the entire creative process.

elle said...

I think I start with a plan. Well, maybe an idea. But then it evolves and I begin to use intuition that surely is influenced by the basics I've learned. I think if intuition is left out of the plan then the end result can be flat.