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The age old creative question
10 years ago
As an artist and creative person, I frequent blogs and creative forums online in search of new techniques or approaches to bringing my ideas to life. Its quite interesting and enjoyable to see how others approach the age old question of how to effectively communicate visually and execute on a concept. Its also sadly fascinating to see how with all of the technology, software and tools available, that artists and creative folks make the same mistakes over and over again. This is all due to their ability to be swayed by buying into the concept that purchasing expensive gear, equipment and software will improve your artistic ability.
How so? The age old adage of spending extra money in pursuit of the silver bullet that will improve your creative skills, whether it be photography, illustration, animation or graphic design. The silver bullet is of course marketed in various ways with fancy packaging, illustrious testimonials, and product placement by influential commentators who all want a slice of the action at your expense.
A great analogy I ran across was a story about a photographer named Ansel Adams who was well-known for his stunning nature photography. A reporter spent quite a lot of time to chase him down to ask some interview questions and had a chance to just ask one. He asked 'Ansel, what is the most important part of your camera?'
Now, if you would ask all the artists on the forums, they would say 'Oh, so and so lens', or 'So and so model', or 'You need to buy this brand!' or 'You need a full frame sensor- that's the most important part of the camera'. The question is really not the right question of course. However, Ansel, being a master of his craft, had a stunning answer. He simply gestured to his forehead and remarked 'The most important part of my camera is the nine inches behind it'.
You see, the most important creative tool you have at your disposal is your own creative mind.
Money, fancy equipment, top of the line gear...none of this really will make you a better artist in any sense of the word. You may have added technical convenience or a slight edge in producing content more quickly, but the core creative process won't be improved.
This all goes back to the $5 pencils that I see sold at stores like Michael's. Is there much of a difference between a fifty cent pencil and one that costs $5? Besides a brand name, not all that much. Its part of the reason why I spend a few bucks for a pack of bic pens and use basic blue pencils for sketching. I don't much care for being had by the marketing machine and would prefer to focus on creating with baseline tools. Now there are always exceptions to the rules, but the point of this article is not to fall into the trap of 'If only I had this software, I would be a better artist', or 'If I only had the Wacom Cintiq, I will be a better artist' type of thinking. That thinking is incredibly expensive and there is not much to show for it.
When you get hung up on this way of thinking, it creates a cycle that is hard to break. I see this all the time with photographers who drop a bunch of money into gear, then keep buying more and more gear in pursuit of the holy grail that will improve their photography. They're never satisfied with that they have and they fret over what gear to bring with them when they go to shoots. They end up overloading themselves with gear and when the moment comes to get their picture, they miss the shot because they were too busy switching lenses.
The key is to get away from the process of overthinking and overloading on gear. Instead, create a simple tool set that works and master that tool set. Once you do this, you'll see a difference in how you create.
For those interested, here is what I have been using to create. My mantra: keep it simple.
One camera - two lenses.
A pack of Bic ballpoint pens
Blue Prismacolor Col-Erase pencils
Wacom Intuos 5 Tablet
Desktop PC
Photoshop CS3
Flash CS3
Sketchbook
That's it. I see beauty in simplicity and minimalism. I'm content with what I have and need nothing more.
- The Desert Fox
How so? The age old adage of spending extra money in pursuit of the silver bullet that will improve your creative skills, whether it be photography, illustration, animation or graphic design. The silver bullet is of course marketed in various ways with fancy packaging, illustrious testimonials, and product placement by influential commentators who all want a slice of the action at your expense.
A great analogy I ran across was a story about a photographer named Ansel Adams who was well-known for his stunning nature photography. A reporter spent quite a lot of time to chase him down to ask some interview questions and had a chance to just ask one. He asked 'Ansel, what is the most important part of your camera?'
Now, if you would ask all the artists on the forums, they would say 'Oh, so and so lens', or 'So and so model', or 'You need to buy this brand!' or 'You need a full frame sensor- that's the most important part of the camera'. The question is really not the right question of course. However, Ansel, being a master of his craft, had a stunning answer. He simply gestured to his forehead and remarked 'The most important part of my camera is the nine inches behind it'.
You see, the most important creative tool you have at your disposal is your own creative mind.
Money, fancy equipment, top of the line gear...none of this really will make you a better artist in any sense of the word. You may have added technical convenience or a slight edge in producing content more quickly, but the core creative process won't be improved.
This all goes back to the $5 pencils that I see sold at stores like Michael's. Is there much of a difference between a fifty cent pencil and one that costs $5? Besides a brand name, not all that much. Its part of the reason why I spend a few bucks for a pack of bic pens and use basic blue pencils for sketching. I don't much care for being had by the marketing machine and would prefer to focus on creating with baseline tools. Now there are always exceptions to the rules, but the point of this article is not to fall into the trap of 'If only I had this software, I would be a better artist', or 'If I only had the Wacom Cintiq, I will be a better artist' type of thinking. That thinking is incredibly expensive and there is not much to show for it.
When you get hung up on this way of thinking, it creates a cycle that is hard to break. I see this all the time with photographers who drop a bunch of money into gear, then keep buying more and more gear in pursuit of the holy grail that will improve their photography. They're never satisfied with that they have and they fret over what gear to bring with them when they go to shoots. They end up overloading themselves with gear and when the moment comes to get their picture, they miss the shot because they were too busy switching lenses.
The key is to get away from the process of overthinking and overloading on gear. Instead, create a simple tool set that works and master that tool set. Once you do this, you'll see a difference in how you create.
For those interested, here is what I have been using to create. My mantra: keep it simple.
One camera - two lenses.
A pack of Bic ballpoint pens
Blue Prismacolor Col-Erase pencils
Wacom Intuos 5 Tablet
Desktop PC
Photoshop CS3
Flash CS3
Sketchbook
That's it. I see beauty in simplicity and minimalism. I'm content with what I have and need nothing more.
- The Desert Fox
Artrage (Corel Draw alternative)
Pixelmator (Photoshop alternative or you can always use GIMP for free)
Sketch (Illustrator alternative or you can always use Inkscape for free)
Some day I might get a better camera other than the point and shoot that I have on my phone.
For traditional, I good hooked on the color erase blue by Sanford, which I find works the best with my brush inking. I found that the Winsor & Newton works best for me because of the snap, and some of these brushes I have had for 20 years. "I rotate them." I use Prismacolor markers, but they sure have gone up, so I buy one here and there when I have a few extra bucks.
As for digital, I'm currently using one of two hand me down Wacom Intuos 3. The large for my old Veriton desktop, and the med on my Dell laptop. On both machines I use Coral Painter 11, and Photoshop CS6 which was a nice present by my ex-mate. Right now for my graphics on the fly, I'm using a Google Nexus 9, Corel Painter App, with a cheep style-less, because some rules were change to where we can't bring our laptop bags into my office, yet I can carry my plastic organizer which I can hide the tablet in. But there are limitations, so that is one of the reasons why I will be investing some of my tax return into buy a mid Surface Pro 3, or Cintiq Companion 2. "I"m actually kind of leaning more towards the Wacom, because you can use it both as a regular graphics tablet on the big machine along as a stand alone." Will having that fancy new toy improve my style? No, but it will sure help on my neck.