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Style & Creativity

okay so this segment I really want to talk about creativity creative energy this is the first time I'm just going to mit right now this is the first time I'm teaching this content so I am a little bit nervous about it and I think the biggest reason is because creativity is such an elusive topic and trying to teach someone to be creative is quite the challenge for me eh so I'm really hoping accomplished maybe a little bit uh I just want to make sure I just I just hope that I can take what's in my head and try to put it in yours um sometimes that's easier said eh so I'm gonna try creativity is something that we all that I struggle with on it on a daily basis um creativity is this elusive thing like how do you be creative creating is just thinking uniquely right it's coming what up with a solution to a problem correct you could be creative and science you could be creative and art you can be creative in mechanics you can be creative and chemistry it's coming up with a solution to a proble...

m our problem happens to just be art okay so thinking uniquely are you creative I'm seeing little nod do you think you're creative come on speak up yeah alan when you're inspired okay if I'm not into it yeah I hear ya I hear ya what about you emily you creative find I'm often very very creative with consequences and discipline and marshal six children into a car all by myself that's very very stuck with my art sometimes you're very creative is that like sometimes my brain just turns into mush by the end of the day I I can't think and sometimes that is true the external factors of life really squash that inner vision and inter inspiration doesn't it you're so tired and exhausted you just don't have the energy to be creative well creativity is something that the more you practice the more you get maya angelou it's a wonderful author said that she basically said creativity is not something that you expend that leaves you the more you use it the more you get it's just like exercising the more you lift weights the stronger you get the more times you practice being creative the more creative you're going to be and for some reason artists don't understand that especially beginning artists I think it's important to really kind of examine what creativity means because there is creativity is this big thing now in our society are you so creative I mean also put him up on a pedestal you're so creative right these artists who do this amazing work we look at them and we're like in awe I look at some of my mentors and I'm just like oh I'll never be able to do that you know it's almost disheartening a little bit kind of shoved you down on your whole um do you think differently are you a little bit of a nutjob you know are you nod like we all are teo think a lot you ponder the world do you sit there on a lazy saturday afternoon looking out your window and kind of just thinking about stuff okay we all do it right we all day dream we all are thinkers is your mind full of ideas that you want to make sometimes sometimes not right sometimes you feel like there's not enough there and you beat yourself up for not having enough do you copy the ideas of others and add your own spin I do it all the time all the time okay is your inner critic hard on you emily left I think everybody can one percent say no matter what endeavor you're in that your inner critic is hard on you we are a very self critical bunch and being creative or growing her creativity is in part understanding what that inner critics job and mission is and externalizing it um do you get paralyzed by fear are you afraid to be creative you afraid your weren't work won't measure up are you afraid you can't charge because people won't like it are you afraid that what you create is going to be crap yeah you two why is it that others in the art and that others you know like you want to be a photographer aren't you afraid you're never going to get any work aren't you afraid you won't make anything better this print scored one hundred at western district print competition at p p a and someone asked me all right you're afraid you'll never get a hundred again yeah I am there's a little exercise for you pull out your piece of paper and your pencil you guys all have one susan and um christy you guys could do this too pull out a piece of your pencil pen I don't care whatever it is now I want you look at your neighbor I want you to look at your neighbor you have thirty seconds to draw them starting starting now just draw what you see be quick about it draw draw draw draw your neighbor color them in extricate the features right don't have much time draw draw draw keep going you guys are doing great I can't stop that was thirty seconds I hear some laughter I hear you I hear some apologies I'm sorry oh this is so funny isn't it the short amount of time the saris adults fear peer to peer judgment okay oh sorry okay I think david kelly his name is psychologist is this does this exercise and he's a studies studies creativity I'm not sure I'm getting that name right but this is a common exercise when children do this exercise they probably show up there piece of paper there is no apology nothing where do we lose that childlike effervescence to create where did we lose it it happens to all of us I mean emily has six children here I'm sure you see your children create and they probably come home and go mommy look what is it what okay people ask you people adults fear judgment and so that question of aren't you afraid you'll never succeed aren't you afraid you'll never get a hundred again why on earth should anyone be asked if they are afraid to do what they're meant to do my dad's an organic chemist do you think anyone asked him all phil are you afraid to be an organic chemists were you afraid that you'll never create another organic chemist reaction again no it doesn't happen okay for some reason artists are a tormented bunch how do you think there's all these alcoholic artists out there I mean we're all just the tormented group of people who are constantly living in the hope of that next creative enlightenment thunder strike I've got an idea okay we all are waiting for that and we expected to just come out of thin air and happen artistry is anguished elizabeth gilbert who wrote the book eat pray love I'm kind of repeating a lot of what she said in her ted talks thing I'm paraphrasing it but it's a wonderful talk if you want to go look at it she talks about the creative elusive genius okay artistry is anguish we are a tormented bunch okay we are very hard on ourselves when we don't create things that are up to our standards and if the world doesn't look at our art with appreciation and joy it's very hard on us we take it very personally and somehow from the point of being a child where creating was just that the process of creating and not about the result we took joy in it and our creativity was blocked blossomed because all we cared about was creating it didn't matter if my stick figure did not look like you the fact that I got to create android was all that mattered okay so as we you guys also have some plato in your little gift bags and you don't necessarily have to work on it now but maybe if you get bored when I'm talking here you can even start creating a little bit I'm don't know all about that I mean please you've got to get that creative energy out um make something just make don't worry about the result just make you got all kinds of colors and they're all kinds of shapes start creating okay become that child again and doing it with plato is something that will bring you back to that childlike spirit when creating for the fun of creating was pure joy while I give you a little bit of a history lesson okay in the days of the greco roman empire creativity was thought to be some divine entity some external source that came and just blasted you with inspiration that's what creativity wass the ancient artists was protected by their creative spirit so if they did great work oh look what you you and your protector did fantastic if it sucks it wasn't entirely your fault you know someone else some other guy's fault what a genius way to consider creativity okay the greeks called this external being damon where's that word sound like demon the romans called it genius then something happened the renaissance period came in art the enlightenment and all of a sudden creativity is humanity focused you are the genius you are possessed by demons do you see what I'm saying that kind of self wait I mean the bricks on your shoulder tohave to create are enormous it's that kind of pressure no normal human being should have to endure the fact that I am all my creativity yes in essence I am but I kind of like the way historical figures thought of it and I'm sure there's a lot of people out there who would argue that there's some weird person sprinkling goodness on you to make you creative is a little bit far fetched but you know I mean it's it's it's an interesting psychological concept to help you understand how to harness your creativity does that make sense that follow so let me introduce you something around two for those of you who watched the last class you will become very familiar with this man meet george I love the yellow tooth it's just you know george is this guy on your shoulder telling you stock telling you you can't do it telling you you're a piece of you know what that you'll never amount to anything and that you should quit your job okay look at him sitting on his pillow and his wife beater going uh jack you can't do it okay the hashtag say donut and say no to george took off last time so we're going to go ahead and take it off again but I think this really applies to anything in your life anything whether it's parenting or your day job or your art or your ability to just drive down the street without having road rage at the guy who's tailgating you mean you know it's about the voice in your head that wants to berate you george's mission is to beat you up toe lower your self esteem to focus on the negative to distract you from your dream and to give you quote imposter syndrome you're an impostor there's no way that you're a professional photographer what do you thinking a professional photographer george not no you're not you're not you say that to someone what do you do for a living I'm a professional photographer no you're not no you're not I mean you've heard it a thousand times haven't you yeah okay why on earth does he do that hey let me tell you why does it survival okay in the days of prehistoric man negative thinking is what kept us alive if you are always wary of what's coming of the danger you would stay alive okay do any of you know the movie I mentioned before the crude's yeah the the cruise I had an image of the movie poster but I guess we're not allowed to show it unfortunately but the cruise is a very popular children's movie by dreamworks and it's about a prehistoric family and drug is the dad okay drugs motto is anything new is dangerous he's very negative father he's very overly protective and this young man named guy comes into their life and it's all full of new ideas but those new ideas are what help them progress and survive and find a better place to live okay so this movie is a children's movie but it has a wonderful message my son is addicted to it right now every morning mommy crude's mommy crude's mommy crude's I'm sure all you have parents know what I'm talking about like strolling arrives at me yeah it's it's a darling movie and it really I think what I love about it most is that it give that message that negative thinking hurts you to think negatively about yourself or about anything does nothing but hurt you okay and here's what I want oh make that final point in saying that there's another fact about jorge that you should know you are the only one who can slay him okay you are the only one who can get your george off your shoulder simple is that no one else is gonna do it for you external praise oh your work is so pretty I love it bubble up put on the internet let all the moms say we love it that will never ever get rid of george on ly you and your feelings about yourself will change georges mindset okay creative driven passionate our artists who managed to shove a stick in georgia's mouth okay you have to be driven and passionate in everything that you do and understand that creativity is just an ever evolving process it really is just a journey okay creativity is just like a child for the sake of doing it creative people who turn out really good work there are a thousand other projects in their hard dry file that are crap just know that the reason they created one good work is because there was a bunch of junk behind it okay no I'm serious I mean I know you're laughing at me but I'm dead serious is you know how many messed up pieces I have in my hard drive I mean stuff that I've just abandoned that isn't good I don't like it it's not going to like it but I don't get rid of it no no no don't trash it shelve it put it away because so often and tom rouse like I said my mentor one of my mentors very creative beautiful work amanda's just stunning photography and photoshopped come how's it work very kind kind person too he uh told he told me not to throw things out because a year later you'll come back to it with a fresh look and a fresh idea and it will evolve into something new it will turn into something new so creativity is about this evolution it's a journey not a result okay so make sure you focus on the fact that when you're being creative and doing things that it's just that process everybody can be creative of course george is gonna go but you're not a very good creative that's your problem you got to flick him off okay joy for the sake of creating just like a child was do you think child has george two of my three year old son dean have georgiana shoulder not at all he isn't care and the works he's creating their brilliant for who he is and what his age is and what his ability is because he's constantly creating okay look at you all making your stuff I'm so proud of you and I love to see the different what we're doing this is awesome isn't it like liberating it's just just just to create it's just who cares what the result is we don't care I'm not even gonna look at your results because I don't want to know what you're creating I just want you to create okay and if you're home and you have some playdate with your kids pull it out and just start creating it's amazing what it does to free your heart in your soul into seeing things differently okay so that is the question how do you be creative krista's like yeah how do you be creative how do you do it I call it the five piece of creativity remember the five piece of sales well the five piece of creativity passion what is passion answer me what's passion raise your hand let's go come on get out of your shell try being excited tunnel vision about something that you love everybody get out of my way because I'm doing this that's passion unbridled unconditional low for something right perseverance get up off the ground every single time you fall period and a statement you fall down you get up you fall down you get up I don't care how many times you fall down you keep getting up the faster you get up the faster it'll get behind you you know I used to date the wrong kind of guy in high school you know like I you know you're not supposed to be dating the guy who's not marriage material his kind of jerk but you stay with him anyway like why am I doing this and then later after you've left him like a year later like why did I waste all that time with him he was such a juror okay it's the same thing with falling and failing the more you dwell on it the more time you are wasting not creating something new okay practice this is the one most photographers have a hard time with practiced with obsession practice practice practice practice do you think a great pianist does not becomes a great genius pianist by not practicing say that five times really fast you have to keep going you have to keep doing it and I know time is hard you know it was six and a half children time is a challenge but carve out that time put it on your calendar as your creative day every month you have a day for accounting you have a day for creativity a friday every month to a model called do a concept shoot workin photo shop just create for the sake of creating and who cares what the results are okay if you practice on a consistent basis and give yourself that time to do that in a safe environment your creativity will grow it's just exercising that part of your mind opening up your mind unique ideas have you ever noticed that when you travel you come back with kind of a refreshed renewed view of the world you come back and you see your home in a whole different light you know I mean you you you you see things new and fresh and that's creative people are constantly looking for new entity and new inspiration and new things to see experience feel smell do touch okay so explore look at the world from all different angles and try to think to yourself who how could I change that how could I make that difference okay patience be patient with yourself it's okay to make mistakes it's ok to not have time it's ok to hate your results it's okay do not get george off your shoulder right away patients we'll get you further than frustration frustration is your enemy and finally permission give yourself permission to create so many times people are like oh I'm not creative it's the classic george syndrome it's that thing on your shoulder saying you're not able you are the only one who says you're not able look at all you're creating you got plato and you're creating this is awesome okay so fun to see creative people relish new discovery possibilities challenges and the belief that another fantastic adventure is just around the corner okay they live for that newness creative people hate routine routine is the kiss of death so where do you get ideas you steal them really steal them austin clan is a genius in my opinion he wrote the book steel liken artist it's a very quick read highly recommend it it took me about an hour and a half to read and I devoured every single word and you're gonna hear hear some of his ideas here okay steal those ideas oh it was kind of controversial thing to say wasn't it just go steal from other people julia yeah I know it sounds a little farfetched but it really is true pablo picasso said good artists copy great artists steal think about that for a second pablo picasso one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century said good artists copy and great artists steal do you think that's true you're like well he needs to find stealing and copying for me jules okay let's talk about it let's figure out what's what's worse stealing because then you're just gonna make with it okay really there are no original ideas are there nothing's new all new ideas new ideas are just old ones that have made it ideas making whoopee okay macon idea babies okay that's really all this so how do you steal make a pinterest board and you guys all did this is your homework and I'm so proud of you and I looked at almost all of your boards and it's so fun to see you come out I know so much more about each and every one of you just by looking at your pinterest board okay the classic thing to do is to make a swipe file and pinterest is great for this asswipe file are all around the internet and this is it's for personally it's just for you I mean you're not like tryingto make this art pass it off as your own you're just getting ideas it's like ripping pages out of a magazine you know when back in the analog days when we would get inspired by photography and ads and stuff we'd rip it out and put it in a folder or whatever this is what interests genius pinterest is for its your file folder to have ideas okay make a pinterest board with a swipe file google art project dot com is one of my favorite websites ever google has amassed art collections from around the world from all from touch not all of them but a lot of museums all over the world you can see works in the high resolution from artists that you would never ever dreamed possible of seeing it's fantastic it is like walking in for an artist it is like walking into a candy store and I am in there constantly getting inspiration go in there look at images I go to the museum door say and just like in france and just look at all the beautiful paintings of the impressionist period and all screenshot one and put it my swipe falcon I love that color scheme I love that texture I want to emulate that texture in a painting in my photography why not I'm stealing all I'm doing is I'm stealing okay keep an idea book this one I just actually got yesterday dick blick our supply and I just started feeling it but I'm it's a moleskine book moleskin another tom rouse idea here comes in lots of different colors and mole skin moleskin you never know how how you pronounce it but draw stick figures mean right your ideas down if you have a vision for an image in your head write it down I have a book at home filled with just visions of images that I want to create my head some of them I'm not even technically capable of creating it okay I will get there but I need to put them down roost own is a poet a great american poet she died two thousand eleven but elizabeth gilbert who wrote repay love talked about her and she talked about her creative inspiration being this elusive thing and when she was a child out in the fields on her dad's farm she would hear and feel and see the train of inspiration a poem like coming at her like she could feel that inspiration barreling towards her and she knew she had to do one thing run like hell to a house shook she could get a pencil and write that poem down before it left her she would run back to the house knowing the train was coming behind her do anything to grab a pencil and sometimes that inspiration would move right through her and leave to go find another poet and other times she write it down perfectly and then other times the train would be right through her and she would grab it by its tail and pull it in inch by inch by inch while transcribing it down on the paper and it came out perfectly intact every word but backwards first word toe last her last word to first okay so we've all had that you know and that's pretty amazing inspiration you know most of us aren't like that but we've all had that moment yes I want to create that image or all I should do this or that lightning bolt that we think is creativity right and those are amazing moments and we know we have to grab them ok but what if you instead of saying oh it's mean if I don't get it I suck what if you took that creative energy and went it's out there and talk to it as if it was something else if if if if it was that elusive part of you that just wasn't quite you yet you know elizabeth said that tom waits who is a music famous musician did the same thing he would drive in the a and all of a sudden the he this little piece of a melody would come to him and he knew he needed to write it down and sow and he couldn't and so instead of getting that anxiety that comes with oh my gosh I'm not gonna get this I'm not going to capture this he would he talked to it he said can't you see I'm busy here I'm driving I can't exactly write this down right now if you really want to exist you'll come back at a better time okay so an entry what if you did that with your creative ideas if you can't quite get to them they come to me in the most modest places they come to be one of the shower when I'm you know driving down the road when I'm in some place where I can't write them down you know what if you did kind of externalize it and say to yourself to that thing that's not quite you yet hey come back later then it doesn't put so much pressure on yourself to take an idea and do something with it right away or you'll lose it do you know what I mean and so um elizabeth gilbert tried this when she was reading it when she was writing a pray love and she was ready to dump the project because she was in one of those moments where george was attacking her from all angles and saying she sucked and she literally turned to the corner of the room and said you know if this is going to be any good you got to kind of show up and help you do this with me and I'm gonna keep showing up I'm gonna keep writing here because that's my job and I'm gonna keep writing but I want the record to note that I showed up you know so if you're not going to come then then that's okay but I need the record to reflect that I showed up here and I did my job so keep doing your job and the creative inspiration will come as you keep doing and the more pressure you put on yourself and the more you let george take control the less you're going to get ideas so it's about being open to them does that make sense you guys used to feel that way okay okay so make a job jar little mason jar right a job a creative job that you want to do and drop in the jar and just pull it out it's a great way to just come up with a little creative exercise classic what you're doing here is a job your thing okay with the plato I read study wonder and start copying okay so what is the difference between good theft and bad theft good theft is to honor the artist you're taking from to study them and multiple like them to study all of their work not just one piece okay stealing from many getting lots of ideas from different people rather than just one crediting crediting credited visiting those whom you stole from okay transforming what they what you're what you're taking into something new that reflects your uniqueness instead of just blackout copying it okay remixing bad theft instead of honoring your degrading their work mashing it up not doing something new with it picking it apart okay study is good skimming not so good you're not gonna learn anything by skimming stealing for many stealing from one is bad theft because then that's not really making unique is it just making you a copy of them crediting versus plagiarizing okay bad theft is to imitate good theft is to transform bad step is to rip off good theft is to remix does that follow do you see what I'm saying that's what picasso meant when he said good artists copy and great artists steal jim jarmusch said steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination devour old films music books paintings photos poems dreams random conversations architecture bridges street signs trees clouds body's water light and shadows select on ly the things to steal from that speak directly to your soul if you do this your work and theft will be authentic that resonate resonates doesn't it need a leland said where do you find your ideas in familiar places such a supermarket's libraries malls flea markets and parks at the beach at work in the newspaper try the classified section for a change you never know at museums galleries and art fairs in short everywhere you go you will find something to inspire your creativity it won't jump out at you you have to be looking for it okay how do you look for it first you need to know yourself you need to know what do you love okay you need to know how you work best are you an outdoor person are you an indoor person do you like an office too like a craft room do you like your space need do you like your space dirty I'm a messy tiffany's and eat I drive tiffany crazy because I'm a messy my creative energy needs a little bit of clutter okay what time of day are you best what frame of mind some people work best when they're very emotional or distraught they come up with the best ideas when they're angry or or betrayed or something bad has happened to that fuels their creative fire and some people have to be happy some people have to be very benign and in the middle okay so you have to ask yourself these things about your own process what triggers your mind you all are thinking about this and I know you have answers to my questions as I'm asking you you know and and and note those what triggers your mind to be creative to think of a new idea to think of a direction to take your work what inspires you to get started could be a simple is having breakfast on the car and coffee on the back patio on a gorgeous sunday morning I mean it could be any of those things that triggers you but once you feel that trigger you need to grab it and go and that's one of the problems that that very left brain people don't understand about right brain people is that need when I need to be creative I need to be creative like now like sorry but the plans we had for the day are gone because I need to be this I'm inspired this is happening to me and it's coming to me it's that train coming and if I don't help on I'm not going to get it okay what technical skills are you lacking my story with richard started van I studied with him under three times before I finally got it and realized that I had the technical skills to be able to do photoshopped composites okay I knew those technical skills were lacking I knew I needed to work on that so I did it took forever and I was still chicken did actually do it but I understand your limitations to get good at something start copying it okay who who do you copy your mentor your hero your inspiration yourself whoever it doesn't matter whoever you love whoever gives you that little this's good okay copy those people what take it off everything copy everything in the old age master artists would workers craftsman had to be with a mentor and copy everything they did for decades before they were allowed to go out on their own in the renaissance period a great artist michelangelo all those people they had to study and mentor under people under their mentors and then finally when their mentor felt like they were good enough they were allowed to be launched on their own to do their own ideas why because they had to learn those technical skills and they had to understand how the great masters thought before they could take those thoughts and those ideas and transfer it into their own unique style in person does that make sense you gotta learn the technical skills it's a simple is that but from there once you get those technical skills you can take what you've learned from others before you and infuse that into your own unique ideas making whoopee you know how by literally thinking like they d'oh okay austin clean says the reason to copy your heroes and their style is so that you might somehow get a glimpse into their minds that's what you really want to internalize their way of looking at the world if you just mimic the surface of somebody's work without understanding where they're coming from your work will never be anything more than a knockoff it's okay to copy it's okay to steal but nobody wants to be a knock off so do you see how it's possible to take what came before you and make it you make it better isn't that idea enthralling it gives you the freedom to become great it gives you the freedom to say steel and not have to be totally original to be a genius that's a huge pressure why would we put that on ourselves all we have to do is take from those that came before us and transform it to remix it honor that person and turn it into something that is uniquely us that's all I'm doing I am not original by no means my original I am not about as boring as they come I live in a small town I'm married to my sweet husband I have one little boy I drive an suv I am boring I get up at six every morning I got about eight every night well okay I am not some creative entity that's unique in the world I am just like every the person out there okay all I do is deal and I know that sounds like sacrilege but it's not it's what every great artist before you has been doing so why in essence the idea of trying to be original is self editing the pressure to do something so original and unique edits you so much that it hinders you from moving forward okay so to get great start stealing take a piece of art a technique they used ah concept or a theme a subject matter this is just ideas that ideas are endless ah location a prop a storyline of four matter medium a texture combination it doesn't matter I mean you could the list could go on forever take multiple combinations from different people steal from this photographer that artist that sculpture that architect I mean there's so many places you can take ideas from it's always exciting to like think about all the places you can go now all of a sudden when your mind is open to stealing you go o the world just got a whole lot more interesting doesn't it because now all of a sudden everything has possibility the floor has possibility look at the pattern in the floor now all of a sudden you become more like a child you go how can I take that music and something really cool that's what a child does christmas morning the classic story they get a cool choo choo train in a cardboard box where they play with the box thie box has way more possibilities than the teacher train do you get my point do you see where I'm going with us that is the childlike mentality that I'm trying to get you to go into to see the world in a in a light of opportunity creative possibility okay and then to take that possibility and just go through the journey of creating not concerned about the results you will have a bunch of crap work let me tell you fill your first few things will come out and george will be on your butt going back okay so just get through that initial face and once you can get a handle on him and you just keep crying you'll discovered the joy of creating I mean look at patty and emily in front they're just they're still playing with the plato it's so cute but it's it's it feels good doesn't it to create to just do it for the sake of doing it ok questions to ask yourself when you find something of inspiration that you want to take what if okay this table what if I put a baby on that but do you see my point all I'm doing is posing I'm being theoretical here I'm not going to put a baby on but I'm just being theoretical what would put a baby did you know that tables made of wood and metal okay what would happen if I turned it upside down do you see where I'm going I want you to question everything you guys do this when you antique shop right I mean newborn photographers are classic for this can I put a baby in that I mean that's the that's the classic question we all do in the antique shop okay um it's actually funny I mean there's I think there's a joke on the internet going around about it one of those little cartoons or whatever but anyway ask yourself these questions about the particular object theme idea situation location what inspired you the whole point of creative people are constantly asking how something can be used in a way that's unconventional in a way that's different from what the world thinks it should be used us okay so I'm trying to encourage you to think about the world in that kind of that kind of way okay how does it taste how does it feel what's the smell what do you hear what do you see here's your senses and ask yourself like a child can we make a four over that you know how kids through that like oh we can make a fort my child comes over the most unique ways to make forts like that is so that is creativity right there