It is said that art imitates life. To be able to express oneself
creatively is both powerful and fulfilling. True creativity resides
within all of us, but because of the power of creativity those that
aren’t ‘naturally gifted’ feel intimidated to even try. By breaking down
the fundamental layers of creativity, we see that the process of
creating art is not only simple, but can be applied to all activities of
your life – whether you are organizing a file cabinet or painting a
self portrait, these 7 steps will help you find art in all that you do
in life.
Imagine you’re painting a picture. You find a nice spot, on the
beach. You find an appropriate angle, where you will have an interesting
view of the sea, with the beach and a palm tree coming in on one side.
In the distance, there is a city skyline. It’s a perfect scene.
Now, many would assume that the creative process involves simply
transferring this beautiful image onto a canvas, that this is what it
takes to be creative. I’m here to tell you that creativity is in fact a
much deeper process than this. It involves many layers of thought and
meaning. The good news, is that this in fact makes it easier for anyone to get in touch with their creative side.
The Subject Matter Layer
In this example, nature has already given you a piece of art that
anyone with a camera can share. Nobody should have a problem finding
this layer. It is simply an observation, something interesting in the
world around you. For a story teller, it could be an event that
happened, or is imagined. It’s what your piece represents.
The Creation Technique Layer
In a painting, the next layer is the artist’s personal brush
technique. A professional photographer will add this layer in a similar
way with their choice of lens, filters, exposure etc. A writer will use
their practiced techniques of arranging sentences and paragraphs. Any
artist’s use of their tool of choice makes their work different from
anyone else’s interpretation. This is a special layer of the piece that
requires a lot of attention and is developed over an artist’s entire
life.
Style is a very important part of this layer. The same image can be
drawn in watercolor, charcoal, or pencil. Shading can be rendered in
various ways, even the choice of paper is part of the creation
technique. In all forms of creativity, including writing and music,
there are infinite possibilities for style.
The Perspective Layer
Painting or photographing a picture is only the beginning of a
creative exercise. What turns a generic photo into a piece of art, is
perspective. The human holding the camera will always be an integral
part of the piece.
In the case of our painting, it is the artist with the brush that provides this layer. They can chose how to present the picture. The audience should be forced to ask themselves, even if it is subconsciously, why has the artist chosen this perspective?
The Interpretation Layer
This is the layer where a piece will really begin to stand out. While
the artist’s perspective gives a lot of depth and personality, their
interpretation is where they have the opportunity to show something that
might not be visible at first. Remember our painting. Well, the artist
could see the city in the background as tarnishing the beautiful natural
scene, and paint it in a way that makes it look grey, dull, maybe even
sinister.
In this layer there is much scope to represent the scene in a way
that is based on what it means to the artist, and the confines of
reality need not be a limitation.
The Depth Layer
Your view of a cityscape from a beach has a lot more to it than meets
the eye. Why is that city there? Who lives there? What are their lives
like? What is their history? What does the future hold for them? Any of
these factors can be brought into the painting if the artist wants to.
As a very simple example, if the artists feels that the people of the
city have been mistreated, he can draw something into the picture (or
emphasize something that is already there) that represents this, such as
a person looking sad.
Another way to represent depth is to think about the ways certain
parts of the painting interact with each other. For example, the palm
tree that frames the city brings shade to the beach, but it is still
brighter than the city. Perhaps this illustrates how nature is more
forgiving than the hand of man.
The Emotion Layer
All of the other layers will mean nothing, if your piece doesn’t
provoke emotion from your audience. Quite often, your other layers will
provide this simply with the story they tell, but perhaps they won’t.
You should make sure that whatever else is going on with your creation,
you think about how your audience is going to feel when
enjoying it. It doesn’t matter if they’re happy, sad, angry, or shocked,
just as long as they’re not disappointed. The emotion layer is so
important it can almost stand on its own without the other layers.
Connecting with your audience emotionally is an art form in itself
that takes a lot to master. There are many ways to press people’s
buttons so I recommend you research this topic further. Ultimately, you
must relate to their hopes and fears. Learn what makes people have
certain emotions and incorporate this into your creations in whatever
measure you see fit.
You could probably stop here, and you will still have a phenomenal,
multi-layered piece of art that stands out to its audience. However,
there is one more layer that you can add to your creations. This
powerful layer can turn you from a hobbyist into a respected
professional.
The Focus Layer
When you feel like you have enough layers to your piece, add one more. This layer does not add to the creation, but actually takes away.
It hides many of the details, but those details are still present,
underneath. They still affect the characters in our story. We have just
focused in on what is important.
Poets understand this layer better than anyone. It is the metaphorical layer – the images they use to hide raw emotions.
Add this layer either by hiding the creation’s true meaning behind a
metaphor, or by telling it from a perspective that does not give
everything away. Your audience will still see the meaning, but it will
give your piece even more depth. This is the magical layer, the layer
that transforms an idea into a story.
Anyone can be creative
Although I used a painting as an example, these techniques can be
applied to any and every kind of creative outlet. If you’re a writer,
take an interesting event and write about it in your own unique style,
using the perspectives of your characters. Give your characters history,
emotions, and needs, and guide them using your interpretation
of the story. Connect to your readers emotionally by relating to their
hopes, fears, and dreams. Finally take this story and express it through
a metaphorical veil, refining and clarifying the main points of your
story.
Never again will you be able to use the excuses “I can’t draw”, or “I
can’t play a musical instrument”. Even if you find yourself held back
by your lack of creation technique skills, you can now create powerful
pieces of art with your utilization of all the other layers. Learn how
to bring perspective, meaning and depth to what you see, and you will
become a true artist.
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