full

full
Published on:

21st Mar 2022

How to Develop Artistic Ideas

Artists don't often struggle to come up with ideas, but developing those ideas into something worth creating that represents us and communicates our ideas effectively, isn't as easy.

In this episode, you'll learn:

  • Ways to create a process for idea development
  • Using different techniques for ideation like sketching or journaling
  • Important points to consider during idea development including shape language, color, angle, composition, light quality and color, etc.
  • How to get feedback during the development process

Learn more about how to think like an artist on The Artist's Forge, and join our growing community of artists on Facebook.

Want to know more about the hosts?

Nicole York

Matt Stagliano

Cat Ford-Coates

Bassam Sabbagh

Bekka Bjorke

Transcript
Matt Stagliano:

Hi, this is Matt Stagliano and thanks for being

Matt Stagliano:

part of the artists Forge. We're a community of creatives who

Matt Stagliano:

help each other think like an artist. By discussing creativity

Matt Stagliano:

as a process instead of a skill or a talent. We believe everyone

Matt Stagliano:

has what it takes to create something amazing. We just need

Matt Stagliano:

some encouragement and inspiration along the way. What

Matt Stagliano:

you're about to hear is a live recording of one of our daily

Matt Stagliano:

discussions on the clubhouse app. If you like what you hear,

Matt Stagliano:

I encourage you to join our private Facebook group, or visit

Matt Stagliano:

us on the web at the artist forged calm. Now on to the show.

Nicole York:

Good morning, everybody. And welcome to

Nicole York:

Morning walk with the artists Forge. My name is Nicole York,

Nicole York:

I'm your host. And today we are going to be talking about

Nicole York:

developing ideas. Not inspiration, we get inspiration

Nicole York:

from all over the place. But once we have it once a piece of

Nicole York:

inspiration strikes, what do we do with it? How do we take that

Nicole York:

little seed of an idea and develop it into a full fledged

Nicole York:

concept that we can paint or photograph something that

Nicole York:

communicates our intentions or what we want to explore well

Nicole York:

enough to be captivating to an audience to help them explore

Nicole York:

those ideas and ask those questions. This is something

Nicole York:

that is like any other technique, a skill. This is a

Nicole York:

skill set that we have to build for ourselves. Because, first of

Nicole York:

all, we're each going to learn our individual processes, we

Nicole York:

have to figure out the way that we think what things inspire us,

Nicole York:

when we're the most creative. We have to do all those things so

Nicole York:

we can pull ideas together. And of course, we've mentioned our

Nicole York:

visual libraries before, right? How do we take in information

Nicole York:

that gets stored away in our brain for later use? When we're

Nicole York:

developing these concepts? How do we figure out which ideas are

Nicole York:

related how to provide contrast to an idea how we take the idea

Nicole York:

of sadness, and grow it into something that we can photograph

Nicole York:

or paint that viewers can identify and feel connected to.

Nicole York:

And that process is going to be a little bit different for

Nicole York:

everybody. But we can learn a lot about ways that we can

Nicole York:

develop that process by hearing how other people do it and then

Nicole York:

experimenting with some of those things to figure out what works

Nicole York:

for us if this is a skill set we haven't built for ourselves yet.

Nicole York:

So I'm actually really excited to talk about this because this

Nicole York:

is something I sometimes consult on, which means people will

Nicole York:

literally just pay me money to help them develop ideas, and

Nicole York:

explore things so they can get a clearer picture of what it is

Nicole York:

they want to do. And it's very, very cool to introduce people to

Nicole York:

this way of thinking, because if it's not something you've

Nicole York:

practiced before, it can be a really difficult new skill set

Nicole York:

to learn, which is why I'm so excited to hear from our

Nicole York:

panelists today. And then pull up people from the audience and

Nicole York:

hear the way that you do it. So all of us can kind of expand our

Nicole York:

abilities here. This conversation is actually

Nicole York:

stemming from a really fantastic question we had in the Facebook

Nicole York:

group, Trish found a really crazy cool necklace, just

Nicole York:

something incredibly like visually stimulating and red and

Nicole York:

black, very organic looking. And she wanted to develop an idea

Nicole York:

off that and just was like, hey, trying to develop something

Nicole York:

visual for this. Where would you guys take it. And of course,

Nicole York:

being the creative mastermind that she is Becca just went off

Nicole York:

on how she would take this necklace and develop a concept

Nicole York:

around it in order to really show it off and tie into the

Nicole York:

shape and the color and the themes and all those kinds of

Nicole York:

things. So I thought that was a fantastic example. I want to

Nicole York:

touch on what that process looks like and see if we can break it

Nicole York:

down in our heads. What do we do when we're inspired? How do we

Nicole York:

take that initial seed and water it and feed it and grow it into

Nicole York:

a gorgeous tree? What are some of the steps that we take? So

Nicole York:

beginning with our wonderful moderators this morning? Would

Nicole York:

love to hear from y'all and then Trish yes, we're absolutely

Nicole York:

going to grab you and bring you up because I'd love to hear from

Nicole York:

you what that process has been like for you also but let's

Nicole York:

start with our folks up on the panel this morning. How do you

Nicole York:

wonderful artists develop concepts from inspiration

Matt Stagliano:

Wow, okay. This is going to be a much much

Matt Stagliano:

harder topic to talk about, I think than I was I was

Matt Stagliano:

expecting. I know

Unknown:

be careful match. Yes for wonderful artists say

Matt Stagliano:

yeah, I know and that's why I wandered in here.

Matt Stagliano:

It was quiet there for a second I'm coming out with a right hook

Matt Stagliano:

Yeah, you know for for me, I we've talked about it. ration

Matt Stagliano:

quite a bit. And I've told you about how I keep a journal of

Matt Stagliano:

all these ideas and sketches and whatnot. For me, I, I like to

Matt Stagliano:

see if an idea first and foremost sticks, does it hold up

Matt Stagliano:

over time? And that, to me is one of the biggest things that I

Matt Stagliano:

look for? Is it just a fleeting moment of inspiration? Is it

Matt Stagliano:

that the good idea fairy landed, and we had a conversation, and I

Matt Stagliano:

thought it would be a great thing. But if it doesn't stick

Matt Stagliano:

with me for a couple of days, and keep nagging at me and keep

Matt Stagliano:

me up at night, or get me excited to think about how I

Matt Stagliano:

could expand a little bit further, then it doesn't really

Matt Stagliano:

hold up. Right? For me, I think that's that maybe there's some

Matt Stagliano:

pieces there that I can use in some ideas down the line. But

Matt Stagliano:

right now, it's not holding up. Does that make sense? So if an

Matt Stagliano:

idea stays with me for two or three days, then I start to

Matt Stagliano:

really understand, alright, this is something worth exploring.

Matt Stagliano:

And I start writing out notes and developing it a little bit

Matt Stagliano:

further. But that can be an idea of a piece of art, it could be a

Matt Stagliano:

photoshoot, it could be a kitchen remodel, right. But the

Matt Stagliano:

idea itself has to stick with me for a couple of days, I'm going

Matt Stagliano:

to start there and let some other folks talk about their

Matt Stagliano:

process. But if it doesn't pass that two or three day test, it's

Matt Stagliano:

not an idea. It's just a flash of inspiration that can wait for

Matt Stagliano:

later.

Nicole York:

I really liked that Matt, and I have much the same

Nicole York:

process for things that I know I'm going to invest in, in the

Nicole York:

long term. If they don't stick around, then then I I have too

Nicole York:

many ideas. So if something doesn't stick, I could very

Nicole York:

easily just add it to, you know, the list of maybe potential

Nicole York:

backlog for some day when I don't have ideas. But that

Nicole York:

hasn't happened yet. So I do have to filter them out by the

Nicole York:

sticky question. Are they sticky? Yeah. So I'm with you

Nicole York:

there.

Matt Stagliano:

One of the things that I do is I keep a

Matt Stagliano:

running in Evernote, I use Evernote for a lot of things.

Matt Stagliano:

And so I keep a running note in Evernote that is just titled

Matt Stagliano:

ideas. And it is these snippets, these, you know, these brain

Matt Stagliano:

bursts that come out. And I visit that all the time, and

Matt Stagliano:

I'll see stuff from a year or two ago. And I'm like, You know

Matt Stagliano:

what, that's still a good idea. But I'm not there yet. It

Matt Stagliano:

doesn't fit into what I'm doing overall. But it's definitely

Matt Stagliano:

worth exploring. So I leave it on the list, then there are some

Matt Stagliano:

things by having that idea journals genius. And that's

Matt Stagliano:

that's really what it comes down to is the idea journal. You've

Matt Stagliano:

nailed it. Yep.

Nicole York:

Alright, so what else? What other things do we do

Nicole York:

y'all to start developing the inspiration that shows up?

Unknown:

I guess I'll have to jump in. Because I'm thinking of

Unknown:

producing art. But I guess I have to get away from that.

Unknown:

Because I I rarely actually. What's the word, you know,

Unknown:

produce something as opposed to just do client work. And I do it

Unknown:

my way. But I do want to talk about how I develop ideas. And

Unknown:

in general, I mean, I do, I do make lists and put ideas down

Unknown:

and bulleted lists of all my ideas and what goes into them.

Unknown:

And as I think about them, and I add bullets and I add ideas. But

Unknown:

essentially, when it comes down to the actually developing an

Unknown:

into something I like to work backwards. And what I mean by

Unknown:

backwards is reverse engineering, the final product,

Unknown:

whatever it is, so I'm going to use an example a presentation of

Unknown:

some kind, whether it's for a networking group, or whether

Unknown:

it's for business, corporate purposes, I always like to start

Unknown:

with the final product. Who is the audience? What's it going to

Unknown:

look like? What is the content that's impactful that's

Unknown:

important to cover? I actually produce the damn thing, even

Unknown:

though it's blank, right? So I would develop a presentation

Unknown:

with titles on top, and colors and boxes, and they're

Unknown:

completely empty. And then I work backwards to say okay, now

Unknown:

that this is what I think my audience wants to see, how do I

Unknown:

start reverse engineering or working backwards to see what is

Unknown:

the appropriate thing that I need to go get the the data that

Unknown:

I need to develop the art that I need to find that would convey

Unknown:

the message I'm trying to convey Now it doesn't mean that's the

Unknown:

only way it's an iterative process. So I go backwards. And

Unknown:

then I start, you know, the other way around, and it's an

Unknown:

you can always add to it and remove from it. But my starting

Unknown:

point is, what is the final product and look like for it to

Unknown:

be successful? How do I define success of that product? Make a

Unknown:

prototype even though it's not full? It's not, you know,

Unknown:

developed yet, but at least allows you to say hey, where do

Unknown:

I Go look for ideas word, what do I need to develop instead of

Unknown:

wasting all that time developing all kinds of stuff, and then end

Unknown:

up saying, Well, I don't really need all that. However, I do

Unknown:

recognize the value of developing all kinds of things,

Unknown:

because that's what can inspire ideas also. But that's why it's

Unknown:

an iterative process. That's how I do it in general.

Nicole York:

Yeah, I, I think it's really important to some

Nicole York:

that you mentioned starting by asking yourself, and I'm going

Nicole York:

to rephrase it a little bit, but what is it that I want the

Nicole York:

viewer to experience, right? What do I want them to feel?

Nicole York:

What do I want them to think? How do I want them to interact

Nicole York:

with this, because that's a really important step in how or

Nicole York:

what path you take to develop an idea. So if I have the idea of

Nicole York:

sadness, I could have somebody actually feel sad, like, I want

Nicole York:

them to feel the sadness of this image. Or maybe I want them to

Nicole York:

think about sadness through the lens of something else. What

Nicole York:

does sadness feel like, once it's passed? What does sadness

Nicole York:

feel like, when you look at it through someone else's eyes,

Nicole York:

what does sadness feel like, etc, etc. So you can take one

Nicole York:

particular idea and develop it in 80 different directions. But

Nicole York:

if you don't know where you want it to go, then you are you're

Nicole York:

part of a different process. And both of these are to two

Nicole York:

legitimate processes, you can take an idea and just explore it

Nicole York:

and find out where you end up. Or you can take an idea and ask

Nicole York:

yourself, Where do I want this to be? At the end? What do I

Nicole York:

want people to feel? And then how do I include what processes

Nicole York:

or steps do I have to include to make sure that I develop this in

Nicole York:

a way that that's where we end up. So that's a really

Nicole York:

legitimate way to build, you know, pieces of art. And like

Nicole York:

you said, it is iterative. So you start it, it doesn't mean

Nicole York:

you don't go back and do the same thing over again, or from a

Nicole York:

different perspective. But knowing where you want it to be,

Nicole York:

is a really fantastic place to start. Because if I want

Nicole York:

something to be grotesque, I'm not going to arrive there by

Nicole York:

accident, right? If I want something to be soulful, I need

Nicole York:

to go back and take those steps and include the colors and the

Nicole York:

wardrobe and the etc, of whatever I'm using to make sure

Nicole York:

that it gets there. So I'm sure there's a lot of people who can,

Nicole York:

who can take that that's something you can easily use in

Nicole York:

your own process and experiment with to see, if you begin with

Nicole York:

the end product, or what you want the end product to do.

Nicole York:

Getting there becomes a whole lot easier. Or it can

Unknown:

Well, in a way, that analogy would be an I know

Unknown:

almost nothing about painting. I've never even tried it. But

Unknown:

you can see, you know, you guys are artists and illustrators.

Unknown:

And you know, you usually start with a frame of something and

Unknown:

then you fill it in with the details. Right now, I'm sure

Unknown:

there are artists that start with details go all over the

Unknown:

place and end up in beautiful places. But in general, it's

Unknown:

like Color by Number, right? You have the frame, and then you

Unknown:

start filling it in and making it what you want it to be.

Unknown:

Sorry, I guess that was a bad analogy.

Nicole York:

I'm, I'm wearing my gloves because it's cold

Nicole York:

outside. And they're supposed to have the little fingers so that

Nicole York:

you can actually still you know, interact with your screen. But

Nicole York:

they don't work that well. So I ended up like pressing the

Nicole York:

button 50 million times. Yes, no, it is. It's it's fantastic.

Nicole York:

Because even for writers, there, there are so many different ways

Nicole York:

that you can write, let's say a fiction novel. There are some

Nicole York:

writers who will know exactly how they want it to end, they

Nicole York:

will go through and they will plot out every chapter what's

Nicole York:

supposed to happen when things are supposed to change. When are

Nicole York:

they going to fight, when are they going to get back together

Nicole York:

all of this stuff. And then there are other writers really

Nicole York:

well known fantastically successful writers who actually

Nicole York:

will build their book a scene at a time. And those scenes are not

Nicole York:

necessarily in chronological order. They may get inspired to

Nicole York:

write a scene between a father and a son and then later on the

Nicole York:

writing a fight scene that just happened to come to them. And

Nicole York:

then they start piecing it together like a quilt and trying

Nicole York:

to figure out where these pieces work. And they still end up with

Nicole York:

a coherent, really beautiful novel. So these processes can be

Nicole York:

really individual, but I like your example because it gives

Nicole York:

people a concrete place that they can actually start to

Nicole York:

experiment. And if they haven't done much of this, then being

Nicole York:

able to at least have a framework. And that's one that

Nicole York:

you can use can help to start developing those skills. So you

Nicole York:

can all do your process later. As you find out what works best

Nicole York:

for you. Becca you can remain silent no longer.

Bekka Bjorke:

Fine. Fine. My silence is mostly just trying to

Bekka Bjorke:

think of where where to start because it can be such a complex

Bekka Bjorke:

process. But you really hit the nail on the head there with

Bekka Bjorke:

focusing on that experience and that feeling. And that really is

Bekka Bjorke:

where every piece of art begins, for me, whether it's my own

Bekka Bjorke:

personal feeling, or what I want the eventual audience to be

Bekka Bjorke:

feeling when experiencing art, and I like to think of is like,

Bekka Bjorke:

if you were, I mean, because most of the art that I do is

Bekka Bjorke:

mostly 2d, you know, and it's end product. I mean, if you were

Bekka Bjorke:

in inside the image, what would you personally be experiencing?

Bekka Bjorke:

Particularly with character art? Like, what is the feeling you

Bekka Bjorke:

get? What is that first impression you get when you meet

Bekka Bjorke:

someone? And so when meeting someone through that piece of

Bekka Bjorke:

artwork, you know, what feelings? Are they evoking in

Bekka Bjorke:

you? Are you afraid? Does it feel sensual? Is it

Bekka Bjorke:

uncomfortable? Is it joyful? And then using everything in that

Bekka Bjorke:

visual literacy handbook to build out from there, you know,

Bekka Bjorke:

what is going to amplify this feeling to make the experience

Bekka Bjorke:

the most impactful that it possibly can be?

Nicole York:

Yeah, so I, it's interesting. I've done this both

Nicole York:

ways, sometimes beginning from that end product, because I

Nicole York:

already have a really solid idea of what I think or how I feel

Nicole York:

about something. And every now and then, as I've mentioned,

Nicole York:

I'll have a fully formed image just popped into my mind, it's

Nicole York:

there, it's incredibly clear. I don't know always what brought

Nicole York:

it there. But I know exactly what it looks like. And

Nicole York:

sometimes in the creation process, it will change a bit,

Nicole York:

but it usually stays pretty, pretty close to whatever it was

Nicole York:

that I'd imagined. And then it becomes some smaller details

Nicole York:

that I have to work out. But other times, when I'm starting

Nicole York:

from scratch, and I don't necessarily know where I'm

Nicole York:

going, I have a vague idea of what I want to happen. But I

Nicole York:

don't have really clear steps I can take to actually make it be

Nicole York:

a reality, then I have to start walking myself through a few

Nicole York:

exercises. And I have I've done this with actually a couple

Nicole York:

people. A couple people from the artists board, we've done this

Nicole York:

before, but one of the things that you can start off with is

Nicole York:

to ask yourself, to come up with a few words, just really hyper

Nicole York:

specific words that you can use to start pivoting. So they kind

Nicole York:

of become a pivot point where you can bring ideas in and turn

Nicole York:

them around and see where they fit. And so you know, let's say

Nicole York:

we're, we're working on them, it makes them up really quickly.

Nicole York:

Let's say we're working on what it's like to experience the joy

Nicole York:

of parenting when your children are tiny, those little moments

Nicole York:

of perfection, maybe that's what we're working on. And so you

Nicole York:

have to start asking yourself questions that will help you

Nicole York:

come up with words that really become central and then build

Nicole York:

off like the trunk of a tree. So if we had to come up with words

Nicole York:

for that, we might say something like, you know, content, or we

Nicole York:

might say something like, joyous, we might say nostalgic,

Nicole York:

I mean, we can start coming up with words that really fit. Once

Nicole York:

we have a few of those words, we weigh them against each other

Nicole York:

and find out which ones are the stickiest which ones really best

Nicole York:

if we had to narrow everything down into a couple words, which

Nicole York:

ones would fit the best for this particular concept. And then

Nicole York:

that word has connotations all of its own. And we can start

Nicole York:

asking ourselves the questions that are related to visual

Nicole York:

literacy. So what colors are included in this word nostalgic?

Nicole York:

What kind of colors do I see? When I imagine the word

Nicole York:

nostalgic? Do I see kind of Kodachrome from the 70s? Am I

Nicole York:

seeing black and white? Am I seeing a lot of highly saturated

Nicole York:

colors? What does nostalgia mean to me? And then when it comes

Nicole York:

to, you know, framing? Is this the kind of thing where I'm

Nicole York:

looking down at my kids? And if it is, what does that mean? Or

Nicole York:

is this the kind of thing where I'm at eye level? Or I'm looking

Nicole York:

up at them? And what does that mean? If that's the position the

Nicole York:

viewer is in? So all of the the conversation that we've had

Nicole York:

around visual literacy, all of those different aspects from the

Nicole York:

location that you're in the colors that you use the framing

Nicole York:

that you have? Are you looking, you know, up or down from that

Nicole York:

perspective? Are there? What's the shape language, like? Are

Nicole York:

things very round and soft? are they hard and sharp? What does

Nicole York:

that tell us about these feelings? So I find that finding

Nicole York:

a word that really represents what I'm trying to explore can

Nicole York:

help guide me down those paths. So I can start asking myself a

Nicole York:

lot of questions about how do I take these different aspects of

Nicole York:

visual literacy? What do I include in order to make that

Nicole York:

word, really start to come to life and slow A mental image

Nicole York:

will start to develop in my head, so that when I'm

Nicole York:

visualizing it, I can get a feeling for if that's where I

Nicole York:

want to go or not. And the best thing I can do, as an

Nicole York:

illustrator is do this several different times, with several

Nicole York:

different words that fit well. And then look at the end results

Nicole York:

and go which one fits the best, right? And so often this will be

Nicole York:

thumbnail sketches. If you're illustrating, sometimes even

Nicole York:

painting, you'll do a series of thumbnail sketches, and you'll

Nicole York:

include the values in those. And the main idea is not to get all

Nicole York:

the way down to the details, but to say, compositionally, what

Nicole York:

works the best shape language wise, what works the best if you

Nicole York:

decide to add color to that, palette wise, what works the

Nicole York:

best. And those things really help you develop an idea. And

Nicole York:

then you can continue to execute. But that's kind of the

Nicole York:

first big steps that I take in order to see something come to

Nicole York:

life in my head, and then weigh it against what I feel about

Nicole York:

that thing. Rather than asking myself, well, what do I want the

Nicole York:

end result to be, because sometimes I have the seed and I

Nicole York:

don't actually know. So that might be a process that people

Nicole York:

can work through, in order to take the opposite approach. When

Nicole York:

you have a seed, and you feel like it's going to grow to a

Nicole York:

good place. But you don't have an end result in mind yet.

Nicole York:

Alright, so I want to give our moderators, one last chance to

Nicole York:

get in some thoughts before we start bringing people up from

Nicole York:

the audience. So if you're in the audience today, and you want

Nicole York:

to be able to chat about how you start developing ideas, not just

Nicole York:

where you get the inspiration from, but once you have the

Nicole York:

inspiration, what do you do with it, in order to make a piece of

Nicole York:

art, raise your hand, we'll bring you up, I'm gonna grab

Nicole York:

Trish. And hopefully the rest of you feel like you have something

Nicole York:

to chat about this morning, because we want to hear from

Nicole York:

you. So mods, any other kind of thoughts on this idea

Nicole York:

development phase.

Bekka Bjorke:

Sorry, I'm juggling children and trying to

Bekka Bjorke:

squeeze in a moment. Um, I just think you brought up thumbnail

Bekka Bjorke:

sketching, and I, even for people who don't know how to

Bekka Bjorke:

draw, I feel like going through that kind of multiple concept

Bekka Bjorke:

process can be very, very helpful. And especially if

Bekka Bjorke:

they're just drafts for yourself, like no one else has

Bekka Bjorke:

to see them, they don't have to actually even be very good. But

Bekka Bjorke:

it really helps flesh out how the idea can be looked at from

Bekka Bjorke:

different perspectives. So like when working on concept art,

Bekka Bjorke:

right, you know, we're looking at multiple concepts, and then

Bekka Bjorke:

reviewing them to decide what is the most effective way of

Bekka Bjorke:

communicating whatever the story may be. And you can apply this

Bekka Bjorke:

to almost anything. I mean, it can even applies to just general

Bekka Bjorke:

painting, but photography to sculpting whatever, just kind of

Bekka Bjorke:

fleshing out those ideas from different perspectives. And so

Bekka Bjorke:

then you can start seeing how different shapes are more

Bekka Bjorke:

impactful, how different senses of value are more impactful and

Bekka Bjorke:

different ways that you can explore the same idea. And it

Bekka Bjorke:

helps you think more creatively also, because then you're not

Bekka Bjorke:

locked in to one single final product, I definitely fall into

Bekka Bjorke:

the school of getting the finished image directly in my

Bekka Bjorke:

head immediately. Like it's instantaneous. And so even

Bekka Bjorke:

though I go through those steps of understanding visual

Bekka Bjorke:

literacy, that tends to be more Hold on one second, my darling,

Bekka Bjorke:

when it comes to fleshing out the little details. So what can

Bekka Bjorke:

I do to make this better than what this original idea was in

Bekka Bjorke:

my head? And it does evolve sometimes from that initial

Bekka Bjorke:

vision that I have. But yeah, just going through the process

Bekka Bjorke:

of creating those drafts and trying things differently, just

Bekka Bjorke:

to see if they work or not, can really, really, really be

Bekka Bjorke:

beneficial.

Nicole York:

Yeah, absolutely. And if you've never done this

Nicole York:

for yourself, if you've even if you're a photographer, if you've

Nicole York:

never sketched out a few thumbnail ideas for concepts

Nicole York:

that you have, I really encourage you to do that,

Nicole York:

because it's your first look at what that image might be. And

Nicole York:

once you're on set, of course, we know that things might

Nicole York:

change. But this is what allows you to do all of these initial

Nicole York:

steps like, what kind of material am I going to use? Is

Nicole York:

it going to be shiny? Is it going to be matte? What kind of,

Nicole York:

you know, props am I going to have? Are they going to look

Nicole York:

old? Are they going to look new? Are they going to be you know,

Nicole York:

shiny? Are they going to be like distressed? You get to start

Nicole York:

asking yourself all these questions as you develop from

Nicole York:

the thumbnails. So they can be a really great catalyst to help

Nicole York:

you develop ideas. Dustin, if you can chat this morning, I'd

Nicole York:

love to snag you up as well. Because, you know, a big part of

Nicole York:

your job is being able to develop these visual concepts.

Nicole York:

So that might be a great thing to have you for. So Trish, let's

Nicole York:

begin with you. Okay, sorry, Nicole. I'm sorry. Please go

Nicole York:

ahead.

Matt Stagliano:

I'm sorry, Trish. I'm sorry. Just one thing

Matt Stagliano:

I wanted to add. And I thought of it as we're going along is I

Matt Stagliano:

struggle with this quite a bit. Maybe we can talk about it in

Matt Stagliano:

the conversation at some point is asking for feedback on the

Matt Stagliano:

idea, and to get input, not to necessarily sway the idea, but

Matt Stagliano:

just to see if it holds up if it would be of interest if it would

Matt Stagliano:

be interesting. You know, asking close advisor, friends of mine

Matt Stagliano:

always helps me try to flush it out. And if I'm just like, Screw

Matt Stagliano:

your feedback, then I know it's my idea. And I you know, risk

Matt Stagliano:

peril going forward with it. But asking for feedback. I'd love to

Matt Stagliano:

hear how people do that at some point in the ideation process,

Unknown:

man. Good morning, everyone.

Nicole York:

Good morning, friend. So are discussing

Nicole York:

developing ideas today, I'm going to put you on hold for

Nicole York:

just a second because it's just really been waiting. Sure, I am

Nicole York:

going to grab you, I promise. But I want to make sure that she

Nicole York:

has a chance to share. So good morning, Trish.

Unknown:

Good morning, and no worries, to be honest. I'm like,

Unknown:

I'm waiting for the class of my daughter's class to flip over to

Unknown:

a small room. And I know she can't do that on our own. So. So

Unknown:

no worries on the wait. But, um, yeah, so for me, I have never

Unknown:

considered myself very creative, to be honest with you. I know

Unknown:

that sounds funny. But I I'm really a portrait photographer.

Unknown:

And I, I guess, I think I mentioned this last week, is

Unknown:

that between January and March or January, April, I tend to get

Unknown:

the surge of who I really want to be creative and do something.

Unknown:

And then it kind of dwindles take, I might do one or two

Unknown:

things, and then it doesn't work out. Because, you know, I really

Unknown:

need more skills, and I get frustrated, and then all of a

Unknown:

sudden I get busy. So those things kind of get pushed to the

Unknown:

side. But when I found that necklace that I posted in the

Unknown:

Facebook group, it was just the vibe that I got from it. And I

Unknown:

really have this huge desire now, to finish it not. And one

Unknown:

of the reasons that I have this desire to finish this particular

Unknown:

project is because I actually know someone who can design the

Unknown:

costume for me, and that's where my struggle is kind of designing

Unknown:

the concepts and, and figuring out how things work, and how to

Unknown:

create them because I am not, I don't so like I could probably

Unknown:

sell a square box. I'm good with that. But anything beyond that

Unknown:

is, is really difficult for me. So for me, my process first

Unknown:

starts with like this urgency and desire, which, up until now

Unknown:

haven't really had this particular necklace is really

Unknown:

making me want to do something different and creative. And so

Unknown:

when I start my process, I'll start slipping through images on

Unknown:

Pinterest, I know like basically the rabbit hole and I go down

Unknown:

there. And I go down there for weeks, months, like just trying

Unknown:

to find little tidbits of things that I like, and see how those

Unknown:

can go together when we were talking about drawing out a

Unknown:

schedule that was like I don't say, you know, draw it out. And

Unknown:

I was like, I think we're all supposed to figure. I'm good at

Unknown:

that. But to get detailed and intricate. I you know, it takes

Unknown:

a lot from that, for me to try and figure out how to do that.

Unknown:

So, for me, my process starts with finding something that

Unknown:

excites me. First of all, whether it's a concept, whether

Unknown:

it's a style, whether it's a piece of jewelry, or whatever it

Unknown:

might be, and then it's kind of humming over it like I mean,

Unknown:

I've had that necklace since the beginning of December. And I

Unknown:

picked it up because I thought wow, this is super, super cool.

Unknown:

I don't know what to do with it. And the more I kept on looking

Unknown:

at it, the more I kept on finding the vibe for it was I

Unknown:

think I had posted in the Facebook group that really gave

Unknown:

me this stranger, stranger things by with those growing

Unknown:

vines. And like those are able to blood curdling I don't know,

Unknown:

I haven't seen the show and so long, but like that was kind of

Unknown:

the vibe that I was getting from it. And I was like, How can I

Unknown:

turn this into something? And then I was like, but is that? Is

Unknown:

that even doable? Can I do that? How do I do that. And then my,

Unknown:

obviously I went to to start a sport because I know you guys

Unknown:

are all super, super creative and have imaginations like I had

Unknown:

never seen before. So I thought like this is the best place to

Unknown:

go. And then I started going into the Pinterest world. And

Unknown:

you know, I guess that's a rabbit hole. So now I'm kind of

Unknown:

at the process where I'm meeting with a designer on Friday. And I

Unknown:

sent her the pieces that we're going to meet on Friday. And

Unknown:

let's kind of go through it and see what you want and she'll

Unknown:

kind of put it all together for me but the not necessarily the

Unknown:

concept of base the drawing based on what my ideas are so

Unknown:

that this loop can actually make it happen. but it's a struggle

Unknown:

for me like this. Coming outside of my regular box, right? You

Unknown:

want a headshot, no problem, I can do that you want to Perfect,

Unknown:

great, no problem. very simplistic. There's no extras,

Unknown:

there's no props. There's none of that stuff. But I find I find

Unknown:

that it's almost uncomfortable to try and figure out how to be

Unknown:

creative. When you feel like you're an imposter. If that

Unknown:

makes sense.

Nicole York:

Oh, woman, you just, you just threw down

Nicole York:

something. I think so many of us feel. It's such a strange thing.

Nicole York:

It's such a strange relationship that we have to creativity when

Nicole York:

we feel like that is only accessible by certain special

Nicole York:

people. And we're not one of them. It's such a weird

Nicole York:

relationship to have it. I'm not sure if this is because our our

Nicole York:

school systems squished creativity from an early age

Nicole York:

because we need everybody to be able to doing the same thing,

Nicole York:

because that's the only way that you can teach 50 kids at once.

Nicole York:

Or if it's just because of the way we kind of, we think of

Nicole York:

artists as like this strange, weird group, all on their own,

Nicole York:

who nobody thinks like them. And they've just been gifted by the

Nicole York:

Muses with weird heads. Like, I don't know what it is that does

Nicole York:

this to us. But creativity is human. It's human, y'all, it

Nicole York:

you, you can be the most creative astrophysicist, that

Nicole York:

exists. You can be the most creative plumber that exists.

Nicole York:

Creativity is not limited to a certain career field, or a

Nicole York:

certain type of person. All of us have access to this. And we

Nicole York:

need to work really hard to break down some of those

Nicole York:

barriers that make us feel like we are not in that crowd because

Nicole York:

we absolutely are. This is why I teach creativity in the first

Nicole York:

place. So folks can realize creative doesn't mean crafty,

Nicole York:

right? Creative means that you can take different pieces of

Nicole York:

information and put them together to come up with

Nicole York:

something new. And this is a human trait. This is what a big

Nicole York:

part of what has allowed us to evolve into planet killers. God,

Nicole York:

that's depressing. Okay, anyway. All the way there, but God,

Nicole York:

okay. Um, anyway. So we all we all have that and access to

Nicole York:

that. And I love that, that you also mentioned, mastermind

Nicole York:

groups, you know, even if it's just two or three of your

Nicole York:

friends who can show up for you and bat ideas around and throw

Nicole York:

things back at you. Like, this is literally why people pay me

Nicole York:

to consult because they need that they need somebody who can

Nicole York:

take their ideas and help them develop them in a mastermind

Nicole York:

group of people that you trust. Man, that's so freakin helpful.

Nicole York:

So, yes, Dustin, go ahead, and then we'll hear from Erica,

Unknown:

I'm not sure how to follow up some of that. But uh,

Unknown:

you know, I think it's, uh, you know, the idea of having a

Unknown:

really good feedback loop that you trust is key. It's one of

Unknown:

the hardest things to actually seek out because you have to be

Unknown:

willing to, to drop your pride and really hear the honesty that

Unknown:

you know, that people you trust will will give you on your

Unknown:

ideas. One of the ways that, you know, it really depends on what

Unknown:

you're doing for myself, as a CGI instructor, as I'm sitting

Unknown:

here, working on planning courses and whatnot, I've got a

Unknown:

really good feedback loop of people that have have gone

Unknown:

through my training before and are brutally honest with me as

Unknown:

to whether I'm, you know, kind of adding fluff and filler just

Unknown:

for the sake of, you know, of information that's not really

Unknown:

relevant. On the creative side, nowadays, I really just follow

Unknown:

my gut. And I like to like to just create and the reason for

Unknown:

that is what I found for myself personally, is that if I sit in

Unknown:

i and on an idea for too long, I'll talk myself out of it,

Unknown:

whether it's because of the time that it takes to complete you

Unknown:

know, maybe the financial side of it that you know, I have a

Unknown:

project for instance, you know, so I got into this weird little

Unknown:

habit hobby for a while of taking these Nerf guns and

Unknown:

stripping them down, painting them blue in parts out and kind

Unknown:

of kit bashing them together for props, and it was great, but

Unknown:

then I realized like, wow, this is costing actually a lot more

Unknown:

than you know what I anticipated. This so now I have,

Unknown:

you know, people that kind of do some of that stuff for me that

Unknown:

are cosplayers, you know, and it's really interesting, you

Unknown:

know, the, the idea of, you know, creativity because I think

Unknown:

it's something that we all really struggle with. And you

Unknown:

know, I think And I can probably, yeah, I've hit dark

Unknown:

spots, plenty of them, you know, where I hit creative block and

Unknown:

whatnot. And generally speaking, my easiest way out of that is

Unknown:

just to follow my gut. And if I, if I have an idea, you just

Unknown:

figure out how to execute it. I'm not really one to sit in

Unknown:

concept sketch, I used to sketch all the time, and I feel like my

Unknown:

brain went backwards, it stick figures are my my go to now.

Unknown:

It's definitely, you know, for me, it's following my gut, you

Unknown:

know, on personal type, create projects. And then when it's

Unknown:

things that I really share to either teacher, you know, look

Unknown:

to impact the creative community with I just have a very solid

Unknown:

feedback loop, a tight knit group of people that I asked for

Unknown:

support.

Nicole York:

You know, Dustin, you said, something I wanted to

Nicole York:

grab that somebody else mentioned as well, which was a

Nicole York:

stick figures in your head, it's not a stick figure. Only to

Nicole York:

other people, it's a stick figure in your head while you're

Nicole York:

drawing, that is the lady or the Gremlin. Or, you know, the

Nicole York:

superhero or whoever it is, or whatever it is, you're building

Nicole York:

this concept around. These sketches do not need to be fancy

Nicole York:

y'all. All you need is something physical that can represent your

Nicole York:

idea. And a stick figure is just a physical representation of a

Nicole York:

more complex idea that's in your head. So it's this figure is a

Nicole York:

legitimate thing to draw. When you're trying to figure out what

Nicole York:

would it look like? If the person was here in the frame?

Nicole York:

What would it look like if they were here? How do I feel from a

Nicole York:

visual perspective? If they're looking down on me this way?

Nicole York:

Versus if they're looking up at me this way? Those are the

Nicole York:

things that these sketches exist to provide for us. So don't

Nicole York:

worry, if you couldn't draw a half realistic person to save

Nicole York:

your damn life, a stick figure will do its representative. It

Nicole York:

does not need to be a piece of art. It's just a way to explore

Nicole York:

ideas. So please don't be afraid of that.

Unknown:

Yeah. And I sorry, go ahead. Go ahead.

Nicole York:

No, go ahead. And then I want to make sure Erica

Nicole York:

has a chance to speak. And then Carol has had her hand up as

Nicole York:

well.

Unknown:

All right, yeah, I think I mean, that's a very good

Unknown:

point. You know, being in the world of CGI, and teaching CGI,

Unknown:

I do get a lot of questions about drawing. And, like, I tell

Unknown:

people, the same thing. I'm like, I draw stick figures. If I

Unknown:

concept a lot of times now I'm actually using, you know, 3d as

Unknown:

my conceptual sketch. But yeah, you're right. I mean, it's all

Unknown:

about, you know, what's in your head and what the imagination is

Unknown:

bringing to the table. And, you know, for me, when I, you know,

Unknown:

when I say that, I kind of follow my gut, and I just, you

Unknown:

know, start a project, that's pretty much where it comes from,

Unknown:

is figuring out the execution of how I'm getting from point A to

Unknown:

point B. You know, based on the idea, maybe it's a napkin

Unknown:

sketch, a couple stick figures standing on a hill, you just

Unknown:

bring it to life.

Nicole York:

Yeah, absolutely. And I think I'm gonna, I'll let

Nicole York:

you go in just a second. Becca, I just wanted to say I think

Nicole York:

where you're where you're talking about I go on my gut, is

Nicole York:

where a lot of people want to be, right, that's the goal is

Nicole York:

getting to a place where you are so facile with a skill of idea

Nicole York:

development, that you're able to follow those initial instincts

Nicole York:

and still get what you want at the end. And that's the skill

Nicole York:

that we're trying to build, right? Because being able to

Nicole York:

master this ability of development of idea development

Nicole York:

really highly depends on your ability to take what's in your

Nicole York:

head, and then actually make it real, and for many of us, that's

Nicole York:

the thing that keeps us from doing this is that we'll begin

Nicole York:

by having an idea, and we go make the thing and then we look

Nicole York:

at the thing, and we go God, this is not what I wanted at

Nicole York:

all, like, How did this even come from? What was in my head,

Nicole York:

and why can't I take this thing in my head and manifest that in

Nicole York:

real life. And that will obviously become a roadblock to

Nicole York:

people because once they think they can't do it? They go, Oh,

Nicole York:

God, I can't do this. I can't believe I was fooling myself.

Nicole York:

And I thought I could be creative that way. And then they

Nicole York:

abandon the process. And they go back to things that they already

Nicole York:

have mastered. Because those things make you feel a lot

Nicole York:

better about yourself. But if that's a place that you're in

Nicole York:

right now, please don't. Don't give up. Don't be afraid. All

Nicole York:

you have to do is literally keep doing and get that feedback loop

Nicole York:

because you will develop to a place where you can say what

Nicole York:

Dustin says which is like I'm just I just go with my gut. Once

Nicole York:

it's in there. It's I can't start developing things because

Nicole York:

I just have an inherent pull towards what the next thing

Nicole York:

needs to be. That's something that you have to master it's

Nicole York:

feel that you have to build so you can get there. Becca, go

Nicole York:

ahead. And then Eric, I want to hear from you.

Bekka Bjorke:

Yeah, I just wanted to grab on first to

Bekka Bjorke:

Trisha stick figure a comment. And then Dustin brought it up

Bekka Bjorke:

too, and also mentioned kitbashing, which is, I mean, I

Bekka Bjorke:

feel like if you don't work in some form of modeling, you're

Bekka Bjorke:

probably not familiar with kitbashing. But it's basically

Bekka Bjorke:

like taking different pieces of things of a kit, and smashing

Bekka Bjorke:

them together to make something new. So that can be in 3d. And

Bekka Bjorke:

are you even see this with people who build like, like

Bekka Bjorke:

tabletop game models and stuff like that. But all of that comes

Bekka Bjorke:

back to looking at creativity, not as necessarily only for

Bekka Bjorke:

artists, like you said, Nicole, but as problem solving. So in

Bekka Bjorke:

the case of like, only being able to draw stick figures, and

Bekka Bjorke:

then not knowing how to design a costume, you can go out and you

Bekka Bjorke:

can just download off the internet, like a blank, like

Bekka Bjorke:

body template for fashion design. And you can even get

Bekka Bjorke:

Photoshop brushes that have you know, these bodies as the

Bekka Bjorke:

brushes and then start developing your costume design

Bekka Bjorke:

from there. And you can, how I would tie this idea of

Bekka Bjorke:

kitbashing into this because this is just one way to just

Bekka Bjorke:

kind of practice creative creatively seeing things you can

Bekka Bjorke:

even play with, like random brushes in Photoshop, like if

Bekka Bjorke:

you go download a set of abstract Photoshop brushes with

Bekka Bjorke:

random scatter settings or whatever, and then just start

Bekka Bjorke:

using them to draw interesting silhouettes over this you know,

Bekka Bjorke:

stamped character, you're gonna start seeing really interesting

Bekka Bjorke:

ideas in ways that you might not have thought of just, you know,

Bekka Bjorke:

in your own mind. So I feel like again, focusing on like ways to

Bekka Bjorke:

practically solve that problem of oh, I don't know how to draw,

Bekka Bjorke:

but I want to draw this to help think help myself think better?

Bekka Bjorke:

How can you solve that problem? Well, you can go find a

Bekka Bjorke:

template, you can go find a brush, you can go find, you

Bekka Bjorke:

know, a kit of things to smash together, go look in your closet

Bekka Bjorke:

and start looking at the clothes there. And how do they you know,

Bekka Bjorke:

how do the fabrics flow? How does you know applique work? How

Bekka Bjorke:

does you know the shoulders on a jacket look, and start taking

Bekka Bjorke:

those pieces and chopping them up together. And it doesn't have

Bekka Bjorke:

to look good. Again, it does not have to look good. But going out

Bekka Bjorke:

and finding things to look at in a creative way. Again, Paramount

Bekka Bjorke:

but yeah, I just want to say there are templates out there.

Bekka Bjorke:

So I know Trish, you're worried about like designing this dress

Bekka Bjorke:

and you're going to have the designer create some sketches

Bekka Bjorke:

and stuff for you. But it might be beneficial to just to go and

Bekka Bjorke:

start looking at those silhouettes because the

Bekka Bjorke:

silhouette is gonna make a huge huge impact on what kind of

Bekka Bjorke:

character that is is a jagged is it smooth, is it you know,

Bekka Bjorke:

reminiscent of something I always suggest a mermaid could

Bekka Bjorke:

be good practice could be very good practice. And on that same

Bekka Bjorke:

topic. There's a great book called The skillful Huntsman, if

Bekka Bjorke:

anyone is interested in looking at how concepts are developed.

Bekka Bjorke:

And that's a great one. Okay, I'm done. Oh,

Nicole York:

put in a Facebook group. I got put in the Facebook

Nicole York:

group.

Unknown:

Okay. Yay, amen. Amen. I'll just say amen.

Nicole York:

Okay, Eric, I want to hear from you. And then we'll

Nicole York:

hear from Carol.

Erika:

Yeah, I can say from experience that, you know, I've

Erika:

watched the evolution of my creativity and my design and

Erika:

image concept development over the past few years, you know, it

Erika:

used to be I get inspiration, and then just try to do

Erika:

something immediately with that. And then it went from that to

Erika:

getting my inspiration, whether that be from an image or nature

Erika:

or a thrift find kind of like Trish, to starting an open

Erika:

notebook where I am researching in a variety of places. The

Erika:

subject, not necessarily looking at Pinterest at images, but you

Erika:

know, a couple of years ago, it was birds, so I investigated

Erika:

birds and the habits and birds, the lines of birds and things

Erika:

like that. So then from that, this open notebook, I'll keep

Erika:

possibly for months and just sketch and do word association

Erika:

and, you know, find offshoots from the original idea that, you

Erika:

know, at that point had developed into basically pretty

Erika:

pictures. But what I have added to that, since that series of

Erika:

images was more of the visual literacy and the story like

Erika:

taking those concepts, Nicole that you talked about, and and

Erika:

trying to add that in. And right now I'm flushing through a

Erika:

subject that I thought of an idea and I love the idea, but

Erika:

now I am trying to relate that back to my audience and then how

Erika:

can tell their story. So they are relating to it in a better

Erika:

way. So So I would say just keep on working on it, you know, bit

Erika:

by bit you'll develop things and like you said that feedback loop

Erika:

you know, for the first time to the second time to the third

Erika:

time. It will get more and more involved and more and more

Erika:

robust and hopefully you'll see the results as you keep going

Nicole York:

Love that. Okay, Carol want to hear from you?

Nicole York:

What are your thoughts on developing these ideas into

Nicole York:

concepts we can actually use?

Carol Gonzales:

Okay, um, I don't develop into concepts. So

Carol Gonzales:

I don't know if this fits in. But as far as creativity, yeah,

Carol Gonzales:

I think everybody has their own creative bent if they just kind

Carol Gonzales:

of seek it out. But um, for me what it is I look at the

Carol Gonzales:

characteristics of the medium, and get to know the medium, and

Carol Gonzales:

what it naturally lends itself to, because I use a lot of

Carol Gonzales:

things that aren't just traditionally, art materials,

Carol Gonzales:

you can't force it, it's like half of the art is in this

Carol Gonzales:

scene, what does the materials characteristics lend themselves

Carol Gonzales:

to. And as far as problem solving, it's, it is about

Carol Gonzales:

problem solving for me, because I like to just sort of go for it

Carol Gonzales:

with experimentation. And a lot of times, I blocked myself in a

Carol Gonzales:

corner, and it's like, God, I don't know what to do next. And

Carol Gonzales:

sometimes it means that I have to leave it sit. And I'm

Carol Gonzales:

thinking I have it in the back of my mind to go back to and,

Carol Gonzales:

and I always find a way to, to finish it, and make it work. But

Carol Gonzales:

in in that whole process, you know, I come up with things that

Carol Gonzales:

are really different because of that. And sometimes it is a

Carol Gonzales:

little bit hard to work out what the next step is, but because of

Carol Gonzales:

it, it makes the you know, the art more unique. And I'll give

Carol Gonzales:

you an example, because I was working with this guy. He was I

Carol Gonzales:

was supposed to be mentoring with him to learn how to do art

Carol Gonzales:

business. Well, he didn't teach me any art business. But he

Carol Gonzales:

really liked the way I was able to take things that otherwise,

Carol Gonzales:

you know, might not look like they would be appealing in any

Carol Gonzales:

way and make something aesthetically pleasing out of

Carol Gonzales:

them. Right. So he tried it. And he he got this bottle cap. And

Carol Gonzales:

he smashed it down and he painted it gold. And he put a

Carol Gonzales:

put a pin on the back. And he gave it to his wealthy wife who

Carol Gonzales:

you know what it looks like a bottle cap that somebody smashed

Carol Gonzales:

and put a pin on the back of it totally, you know, it didn't

Carol Gonzales:

lend itself to that. So half of it is you have to see. Like, I

Carol Gonzales:

tried to do clay. And when I first tried doing clay it was it

Carol Gonzales:

was flopping all over the place. And I hated it. And I'm like, Oh

Carol Gonzales:

God, I don't know what to do with this. One day, I picked up

Carol Gonzales:

a misshapen bowl that someone had tossed in there in the bin.

Carol Gonzales:

And it was leather hard. And it was perfect for carving. And

Carol Gonzales:

from that point on man, I was carving clay like crazy. So

Carol Gonzales:

basically, you have to work with whatever the medium is. And I

Carol Gonzales:

like to create problems in using up, you know, the stuff that

Carol Gonzales:

nobody else wants. I co taught this collage class and all these

Carol Gonzales:

people. I mean, they had some nice materials and little scraps

Carol Gonzales:

that fell on the floor and stuff, or that they left there

Carol Gonzales:

are leftover paint, I love to take all the little bits, we had

Carol Gonzales:

to clean the classroom. And it's like, you know, there was paper

Carol Gonzales:

they had gold leaf on and things like that, and just really

Carol Gonzales:

specialty papers and things. And I just love taking all the

Carol Gonzales:

disparate things and putting them together to make them look

Carol Gonzales:

aesthetically pleasing, if that makes sense. As far as planning

Carol Gonzales:

our concept and drawing it out or anything like that. I just I

Carol Gonzales:

don't do that. But I think about art all the time. And everything

Carol Gonzales:

that I do. I think in terms of art, like recently a post on my

Carol Gonzales:

page is I had cantaloupe and I love the pattern that's on

Carol Gonzales:

Kindle open, I thought wow, I want to use that with clay never

Carol Gonzales:

got to do it. What can I do with it? And I'm like, I wonder if I

Carol Gonzales:

could see these my faces in in the pattern. And I was able to

Carol Gonzales:

draw faces, you know. So it's just that's how it's a bit

Carol Gonzales:

different than what you guys are talking about. I'm not good at

Carol Gonzales:

developing a complete concept in advance because it's all about

Carol Gonzales:

the experimentation. For me if that makes sense. Thank you.

Nicole York:

It absolutely does. And I'm so glad that you

Nicole York:

mentioned how important it is to understand the medium that

Nicole York:

you're working with. Because it's such a key. I mean, I think

Nicole York:

we sometimes those of us who work a lot in the digital space,

Nicole York:

we tend to overlook the fact that when you're working with

Nicole York:

your hands, understanding the medium and how it behaves and

Nicole York:

what its benefits are, what it can do what it's not good for

Nicole York:

all of those Things can so much inform where you take a piece of

Nicole York:

art. And having recently gotten into pottery myself, I'm

Nicole York:

learning how to throw, I'm noticing, you know, as I'm

Nicole York:

working with my hands, what the feel is and what I can do with

Nicole York:

it and what I can't do with it. And if I were to take it and try

Nicole York:

this or do that, that lends itself towards specific kinds of

Nicole York:

things. So I think you're absolutely right. And I'm glad

Nicole York:

you brought up the fact that sometimes the experimentation

Nicole York:

itself is the process. And so for folks who are out there,

Nicole York:

like you who are not, you know, coming up with a concept in

Nicole York:

advance, but who are using the materials that they like to work

Nicole York:

with, and the things that they're inspired by, as a way to

Nicole York:

experiment themselves into a final product, that is a

Nicole York:

legitimate way to move forward as well. If what you with what

Nicole York:

you're getting from the experience. And what you want to

Nicole York:

communicate is the aesthetically pleasing or the visually

Nicole York:

interesting, it's, it's really fantastic way to work. So

Nicole York:

another completely cool and legitimate way to move forward

Nicole York:

with making a piece of art. Okay, so as we're getting close

Nicole York:

to the end of our hour, I want to do a quick little exercise

Nicole York:

that I'm just gonna walk everybody through, in order to

Nicole York:

see what it might look like to start developing something from

Nicole York:

a very basic idea into a reality. And I'm going to use,

Nicole York:

I'm gonna use Lord of the Rings as an example. Okay. So if

Nicole York:

you've ever read the novels, then you've of course heard

Nicole York:

about things like orcs and goblins and all of that good

Nicole York:

stuff, right? When you're developing this novel, into a

Nicole York:

visual medium, you don't have all the information to go on. So

Nicole York:

as a developing Lord of the Rings for film, there have these

Nicole York:

orcs, what do you do with them? How do you visually represent

Nicole York:

them? What are they? And how do the visual aesthetics of how

Nicole York:

they're presented communicate what they are? So if an orc is

Nicole York:

basically a kind of bastardization of, you know,

Nicole York:

elves, and they're kind of twisted and ruined, which is

Nicole York:

what they are? How do you see that visually? What what does

Nicole York:

that manifest itself as? Are they going to be wearing fine

Nicole York:

gold armor? Probably no. They are. If you look at the movies,

Nicole York:

you'll see that the materials they use are twisted kind of

Nicole York:

scrap pieces, they have jagged edges, they're very dark, they

Nicole York:

look like somebody put them together almost with their eyes

Nicole York:

closed, it's just a mismatched mess of pieces in the metal is

Nicole York:

not polished and it, there's dried blood on things and things

Nicole York:

are rusted, and it's just really heinous looking right? As

Nicole York:

opposed to when you're working with the elves. It's not as if

Nicole York:

Tolkien wrote a perfect description of their armor for

Nicole York:

the concept artists to draw from, they just had to start

Nicole York:

asking themselves questions about who these people were.

Nicole York:

They've been alive for a bazillion years, they enjoy

Nicole York:

beauty and nature and all of these things. And so you'll see

Nicole York:

that in the concept art, and then in the film, there's a lot

Nicole York:

of organic lines, to the things that they were and the materials

Nicole York:

that are used, they have the influence of things like leaves,

Nicole York:

blades of grass, etc. So you can take that same process, and move

Nicole York:

that into your own ideation by asking yourself, well, how does

Nicole York:

this thing manifest? What actually is it? When I think of

Nicole York:

sadness? What colors are involved in that? What body

Nicole York:

postures communicate sadness? What expressions communicate

Nicole York:

sadness? Where are people when they feel sad? And then you can

Nicole York:

also ask yourself questions about how these things

Nicole York:

communicate. So

Nicole York:

do I want someone to get sadness from everything in the image? Or

Nicole York:

do I want the image the sadness to become a contrast to other

Nicole York:

things that are going on. And that's something fun about if

Nicole York:

you go to the Facebook group, and take a look at the necklace

Nicole York:

that Trisha is going to use? There are a million different

Nicole York:

ways that you could use this necklace. But it comes down to

Nicole York:

asking yourself, well, what do I want it to do? Is this necklace

Nicole York:

purely the inspiration for the rest of the visual and I'm going

Nicole York:

to build off of the necklace off of the organic look of it. I'm

Nicole York:

off of the hard shiny shape of it off of the coral pneus of it.

Nicole York:

Am I going to use that just as a way to inspire an entire theme?

Nicole York:

Or is the necklace the centerpiece? And if it is, how

Nicole York:

do I show that visually? How do I support it? Do I want it to be

Nicole York:

contrast it via texture, color, size, all of these things?

Nicole York:

That's why the visual literacy aspect is so important because

Nicole York:

it gives you a framework for the questions that you can ask about

Nicole York:

how these visuals are actually built. So you can take what was

Nicole York:

an idea and start To put realness to it, it starts to get

Nicole York:

flesh and bone, so that you can look at it as a real thing. And

Nicole York:

ask yourself, is that what I want? And I think, for those of

Nicole York:

us who are not going to draw things out, and Carol, I'm not

Nicole York:

sure if this applies to you, as well. But I mentioned it's

Nicole York:

important if you can, to try to get something down on paper. The

Nicole York:

reason I mentioned that is because for most people, it's

Nicole York:

much easier to have a visual to reference their thoughts,

Nicole York:

because they may actually lose the visual in their head if they

Nicole York:

don't. For me, half of what I do is in my head, I've mentioned

Nicole York:

this before, I usually have something done in my mind before

Nicole York:

I ever committed to paper. And then it's just a question of

Nicole York:

exploring details, like you mentioned, Becca, but I do this

Nicole York:

with novels as well, I will often think my way through huge

Nicole York:

pieces, and I'll return to them over and over again. And I will

Nicole York:

essentially have either created them or written them in my head

Nicole York:

before they ever become an actual anything. And then it's

Nicole York:

just the process of finesse, and working out the details. So you

Nicole York:

can take some of these ideas we've talked about today of

Nicole York:

sketching things up, and several different versions of making

Nicole York:

sure you understand the material playing with it really getting

Nicole York:

to know how it behaves. How does that relate to, to taking an

Nicole York:

idea and developing it using visual literacy as a roadmap? So

Nicole York:

asking yourself these questions about color and shape and light

Nicole York:

and form and texture and concept and mood, and all of those kinds

Nicole York:

of things. How do those help you start developing ideas, you can

Nicole York:

use word association, find words that really are deeply

Nicole York:

associated with the concept that you're working on. And then

Nicole York:

allow those words to help influence the things that you

Nicole York:

explore when you're coming up with ideas. And eventually, when

Nicole York:

you get really good at this, you are not going to necessarily

Nicole York:

have to take these things step by step. As Dustin mentioned,

Nicole York:

it's going to become a gut feeling that you can follow

Nicole York:

because you've walked this path a million times, and you know

Nicole York:

how to move forward. So I want to make sure we have some time

Nicole York:

for final thoughts as the folks on the panel. Do y'all have

Nicole York:

anything final to add to this discussion on how we develop our

Nicole York:

ideas? Before we close down for today?

Bekka Bjorke:

I appreciate that. You

Unknown:

know, I I just want to say that I really appreciate

Unknown:

what Carol brought about in her in her in her interaction. And

Unknown:

how you follow up, Nicole, it's about I'm going to relate it the

Unknown:

business discussions we had when we talked about levers. Right.

Unknown:

It's it's taking the time and being curious enough to look for

Unknown:

the nuances she mentioned. Carla mentioned the actual you know

Unknown:

that the medium that you're working with being curious, not

Unknown:

just about a piece of clay, but you know, what's beneath the

Unknown:

surface, the color of the composition, the density, the

Unknown:

different makeups, the chemistry, so on and so forth.

Unknown:

Which allows you to come up with what are the different levers

Unknown:

that I have that I can use in the context that I'm using now.

Unknown:

So you can you could have seven different material qualities

Unknown:

that you can play with. But what can I leverage in this specific

Unknown:

context, maybe color would work this time, but maybe not

Unknown:

consistency or density or someone maybe density works for

Unknown:

a different concept. But just knowing no nuances and being

Unknown:

able to say hey, I can play with this in a way that maximizes my

Unknown:

creativity. I that just connect I connected with what she said

Unknown:

and obviously the the the articulate follow through with

Unknown:

that you came up with Nicole

Nicole York:

Go ahead, y'all You don't gotta wait on me.

Bekka Bjorke:

I also just want to say I appreciated that Carol

Bekka Bjorke:

brought up the the difference in medium and the difference in

Bekka Bjorke:

process. And I know like we talked about now about sketches

Bekka Bjorke:

and stuff like that. That doesn't mean that is the only

Bekka Bjorke:

way right that's just one element of exploring ideas

Bekka Bjorke:

through you know, a certain lens, if you will, I mean the

Bekka Bjorke:

individuality of each artists brain is probably going to rule

Bekka Bjorke:

no matter what. And so it's it's a matter of exploring different

Bekka Bjorke:

ideas for yourself to find out what works for you. And

Bekka Bjorke:

everything else are just tools that maybe you can use or maybe

Bekka Bjorke:

you can leave on the table

Nicole York:

Alright, anything else y'all before I close them

Nicole York:

down for today? I see we've got a hand up. Grab an MJ.

Unknown:

No, I just I mean, this was a really good conversation.

Unknown:

You know, I did talk about following my gut and I think

Unknown:

that you know if I could give any advice to people try new

Unknown:

things is to really embrace your small wins. You know, in look at

Unknown:

what you're doing, you know, if we're starting off with say

Unknown:

pottery, it's something that I don't know a whole lot about and

Unknown:

clay sculpting. I mean, I use ZBrush, which is a digital

Unknown:

sculpting software, you know, but using using the small wins

Unknown:

to help build confidence in your ideas, again, mixed in with a

Unknown:

really good feedback loop is a really good way to to continue

Unknown:

and stay inspired during your progression period. Because

Unknown:

we're always moving forward. I mean, you know, the more

Unknown:

confident we get, the more that we build upon our skill sets,

Unknown:

you know, the easier things are going to come on future

Unknown:

projects.

Nicole York:

Yeah, absolutely, definitely take those wins when

Nicole York:

you get them and use those for your confidence if you made

Nicole York:

something and it was 50% of the way to where toward what you

Nicole York:

wanted. Heck, yeah, you just learned a whole crap ton. And

Nicole York:

the next time you try to explore that idea, you'll have a whole

Nicole York:

lot to build on. So don't let those what you perceive as those

Nicole York:

imperfections or that inability to get exactly where you want to

Nicole York:

go. Don't let that don't let that make you feel like it's

Nicole York:

holding you back. That's just a step ladder toward the next

Nicole York:

place. So MJ want to make sure we hear from you. And then I'll

Nicole York:

start closing things down.

Melissa:

I know that often I don't realize I have an idea in

Melissa:

my head or something that's on my heart, or even if that's

Melissa:

something that I do want to explore, I I'm not someone who

Melissa:

tends, all my ideas are fully flesh, just you know, when I

Melissa:

have a chance to think about him a lot of times, even my visual

Melissa:

ideas have to start out with me putting things into words, I

Melissa:

find that my brain kind of thinks in ideas rather than

Melissa:

words. And so sitting down and writing things out, I may not

Melissa:

even realize that that's what I'm setting out to do. I'm not

Melissa:

necessarily sitting down to to start a project or start

Melissa:

something creative, but I'm just starting to put down words, even

Melissa:

what is it stream of thought train of thought really helps me

Melissa:

start to nail down maybe something I'm feeling strongly

Melissa:

about that I want to explore or even just something I want to

Melissa:

explore. And I found that even when I get to a point after

Melissa:

that, because I do have such a hard time fleshing things out

Melissa:

all the way. When I do thumbnail sketches, I really found it

Melissa:

helpful in school when my teachers would say no, you have

Melissa:

to turn in this amount of thumbnail sketches. So I would

Melissa:

think I would have my idea down. But as I would sketch things out

Melissa:

and try different compositions, just you know, just to get that,

Melissa:

like 15 thumbnail sketches down, I would see different insights.

Melissa:

And then I can add it to my you know, my journal of ideas of

Melissa:

compositions I would want to try with with different things. But

Melissa:

that's just my process. And I would love to hear if anybody

Melissa:

else has a different process of if they don't instantly have

Melissa:

that that full image when when you first start out.

Carol Gonzales:

This is Carol, I never have the full image, I

Carol Gonzales:

know you need to close down the room. But no, it's it's about

Carol Gonzales:

creating problems for myself in solving them. Because with each

Carol Gonzales:

problem that I solve, it actually makes it more unique

Carol Gonzales:

and better. It's a little bit harder. But I totally just walk

Carol Gonzales:

myself, like I said in a corner, not knowing what I'm going to do

Carol Gonzales:

next, set it aside and just keep thinking about it until I can

Carol Gonzales:

figure out what to do with it. There's there is not a plan.

Carol Gonzales:

Carolyn Dunn.

Melissa:

I would love to, to just go ahead and bring that to

Melissa:

Facebook, if you don't mind. I'm sorry to ask a question at the

Melissa:

end of the class. But I love to hear what what people have to

Melissa:

say. And if you don't mind me asking that question on the

Melissa:

Facebook page. I'd love to do that.

Nicole York:

No, please do. And you guys never have to ask

Nicole York:

permission to ask things on Facebook go and do that. That's

Nicole York:

what it's for. We love that crap. But you bring up a really

Nicole York:

great point. That's a fantastic thing for us to end with MJ is

Nicole York:

that. One of the big ways that you can force yourself to think

Nicole York:

creatively and push yourself beyond the limits of what you

Nicole York:

think is good enough is to give yourself some creative

Nicole York:

boundaries that you have to meet. Whether that's I'm, here's

Nicole York:

one, if you do any kind of digital art, you're only allowed

Nicole York:

to use one brush. One brush of one shape, you can't change it

Nicole York:

can't even change the size. You get one brush, and you have to

Nicole York:

go in and create something with that. And other things that you

Nicole York:

can do are you know, like you said, MJ you you have to have 15

Nicole York:

sketches. You're not going to let yourself get away with three

Nicole York:

because on the third one, you went, Oh, this is nice. And now

Nicole York:

you're going to go forward with that. Nope. You're going to

Nicole York:

force yourself to explore these ideas. As far as you can before

Nicole York:

your brain breaks, so that you can really say, I have taken

Nicole York:

this as many ways as I can take it and out of everything I could

Nicole York:

have possibly imagined, this is the right way to go. Or maybe it

Nicole York:

becomes a combination. So giving yourself some of those

Nicole York:

constraints can push your creativity in ways that you're

Nicole York:

not expecting. And in the development process of, well,

Nicole York:

you know, where am I going to go with this, I want a landscape

Nicole York:

where crystals are growing out of the ground like trees, okay,

Nicole York:

I'm going to go draw this and try to draw it 15 different

Nicole York:

ways, I'm going to try to sketch it up with different values and

Nicole York:

different colors, I'm going to look at it from a ground

Nicole York:

perspective, I'm going to look at it from a bird's eye view,

Nicole York:

I'm going to look at it from behind some, you know, blades of

Nicole York:

grass, I'm going to look at it through the eyes of something, I

Nicole York:

mean, there are a million different ways that we can start

Nicole York:

exploring these ideas, so that they have to manifest themselves

Nicole York:

in new and creative iterations that we get to then pick from.

Nicole York:

So that is a really fantastic way to be developing concepts.

Nicole York:

And often,

Nicole York:

if you ever look at a book of concept art, you will see

Nicole York:

there's a reason that there are several concept artists on any

Nicole York:

one given project because they're all bringing something

Nicole York:

different to the table. And these individual styles and

Nicole York:

individual shape languages in a way that they speak, help to

Nicole York:

develop what the final product is going to be. So you can do

Nicole York:

this. On your own. You're inspired by something. Does it

Nicole York:

stick? Is it something you just are excited to work with? It's

Nicole York:

not going away? How do you want people to feel when they look at

Nicole York:

see interact with it? What are you exploring here? And how can

Nicole York:

you take all the things that you know about visual literacy about

Nicole York:

shape and color and form and texture and light and expression

Nicole York:

and movement? How can you take composition, and put those

Nicole York:

pieces together? In order to achieve that end? And if you

Nicole York:

don't know what the end is yet, what do you know about the

Nicole York:

process of working with what you have, that will help you explore

Nicole York:

until you get to something where you say, Oh, this is it. This is

Nicole York:

the end, it's done now. So this is a concept we can keep

Nicole York:

exploring and figuring out how we take something and if you are

Nicole York:

in the Facebook group, we would love to have you ask questions,

Nicole York:

share your thoughts. Let people know what your process is like.

Nicole York:

Because if you haven't built up the skill yet, there are you've

Nicole York:

heard today a lot of different ways that you can take some of

Nicole York:

these processes, try them out for yourself. And maybe you'll

Nicole York:

find you know what, doing the whole sketch thing doesn't

Nicole York:

really work for me. But playing with the material that really

Nicole York:

works for me that generates ideas that helps guide me, or

Nicole York:

maybe you'll be somebody who can do things in your head and

Nicole York:

you're like, Man, if I just go for a walk. And I imagine this

Nicole York:

over and over and over again. And I change things in my head

Nicole York:

until I have a final picture that really works for me,

Nicole York:

however you do it, do it in, practice it, refine that until

Nicole York:

it becomes I just follow my gut because your gut knows where

Nicole York:

you're going. It's been down that road a lot of times, and

Nicole York:

it's picking out all of the things that you already have in

Nicole York:

your head and putting them together in the way that you

Nicole York:

want. So I hope this conversation today was of the

Nicole York:

value to you, I hope that you will start grabbing and playing

Nicole York:

with some of these ideas, using them for yourself to help

Nicole York:

develop things and I hope you'll share your pictures and the

Nicole York:

things that you're making in the Facebook group because I want to

Nicole York:

see this is an incredible group of talented folks and I want to

Nicole York:

see what you make. I hope that you will also join us this

Nicole York:

Thursday for the first live of the month. We will be live in

Nicole York:

the Facebook group and of course on YouTube as well in the Nicole

Nicole York:

creates YouTube channel because I was too lazy to build us a

Nicole York:

separate artists for YouTube channel. And so I hope you'll

Nicole York:

join us for the live and then you'll be here again bright and

Nicole York:

early tomorrow morning at 7am Mountain Standard Time. That's

Nicole York:

six for the West Coast and nine for the East Coast afternoon for

Nicole York:

our friends overseas. If you can't be here, you can always

Nicole York:

head to the artist forge.com We are putting up a podcast a day

Nicole York:

from these recorded rooms so you can go find and listen to those

Nicole York:

you can read the transcript there as well the full

Nicole York:

transcript, so you got access to all that stuff. In the meantime,

Nicole York:

go make something amazing and we will see you tomorrow.

Matt Stagliano:

Thanks again for listening to this live clubhouse

Matt Stagliano:

discussion moderated by all of us at the artist Forge. We hope

Matt Stagliano:

you found the information useful and that it helps you gain a

Matt Stagliano:

little bit of insight as to how you work on your craft. For more

Matt Stagliano:

episodes, please join us each weekday on clubhouse or visit

Matt Stagliano:

the artist forge.com Go make something incredible

Next Episode All Episodes Previous Episode

Listen for free

Show artwork for Morning Walk with The Artist's Forge

About the Podcast

Morning Walk with The Artist's Forge
How to Critique Art
Learn how mindset, creativity, and visual literacy will help you think like an artist so you can create work you love and build a career that matters; bridging the gap between technique and art.

About your host

Profile picture for Nicole York

Nicole York