"I stopped painting in 1990 at the peak of my success just to deny people my beautiful paintings; and I did it out of spite."
who said that?
yes i've heard other recommendations on The Artist's Way. might have to read it sometime...
"I stopped painting in 1990 at the peak of my success just to deny people my beautiful paintings; and I did it out of spite."
who said that?
I think it's interesting what you are attempting with discipline and systematizing zhao. Be curious to know how that works out for ya...
I guess if you have to come up with stuff for clients to meet deadlines there's got to be some work where it's kind of pseudo-creative rehashing or employment of schemes and formulas. I don't mean that in a negative way, it's probably necessary, you can't give everything the big deep push.
Vincent Gallo. It's funny because he was never a big deal as a painter anyway.
triplesexchange:
getting up early. 8 or 9 am. very small breakfast. strong coffee, then work non-stop until 1 or 2 pm. save rest of the afternoon for dicking around on the internet/errands etc... this is the only routine that allows me to remain consistently creative day after day. it's much easier when you're up doing your shit before your brain is fully awake. I find that I second guess myself more and more as the day goes on.
cons:
1. if you don't have a 9-5 it's hard to get in a routine where you get up at 8 or 9am. djing at night makes this even harder.
2. pretty much rules out morning/pre-work sex
3. if you are a musician, most of the people you want to collaborate with don't wake up until 3 in the afternoon
lowbudget: i find that no matter how uninspired i may be, if i FORCE myself to just fuck around, I'll start comin up with shit. Its the forcing myself thats the problem.
Soul Korea wrote:
Make a list of shit to do, this is the only way I can get anything done. Visualization.
White Mike: "Being a professional means doing what you love even on the days that you don't feel like doing it."-- Julius Irving
ekstra said:I have studied this process and talked about it for a while. The most successful people I have heard speak about this--Philip Roth, T.S. Eliot (who I did my masters work in and read a ton about as far as his work habits), Chuck Close, Godard, Woody Allen--all are unified in the PROCESS of creativity. This means that one must do work, whether the work is great or garbage. Close, Godard, and Eliot even sort of suggest (generalizing, here) that the idea of "moments" of creativity are a farce.
The argument is that one can't learn to be a quality artist of any sort until one has done X amount of hours of work--no matter the medium. A writer, said Tim Liu--a poet, can't even call himself/herself a writer until he/she has written 10,000 pages--no matter the quality of those pages. An artist--1,000 feet of canvas, a director--5 films, etc... It does make sense. Even garbage work is still work, and if we are "working" (creatively), then we have good days and bad days "at work."
As a teacher, I feel like I was good when I began, but now in my third year, I have gotten much better. There is a lot of creativity in that job as well, though--unlike making music or DJ'ing--I can keep my job if I repeat functional formulas.
DO WORK
breathe slow said:Sometimes the design problem facing you is so daunting, so large that you feel a sense of paralysis. Maybe its stemming from self-doubt in your abilities as a designer, maybe your body is just not physically or mentally on point.
The best advice I ever recieved was to just start drawing. Drawing is more than just a representational device, and can actually help you understand and discover new details within your design. By using the "tools" of your design field (be it drawing, model building, sketching, or sample chopping) your mind begins to connect the dots and the flood gates open. Trust me this is the ONLY way to break past that stagnation we all face as designers.
The best designers know it is alright to throw away an idea. Designing anything is not a linear process of point A to B. The confusion and doubt you feel as you design is a healthy feeling. You shouldn't be in 100% control of the process. Allow yourself some room to maneuver within your work.
Dan Stuckie: I struggle with this shit way too much to be giving advice, but for what it's worth, I've figured out a few things that make a big difference for me when I bother to do them. This is all related to making tracks. For some reason I never have a problem getting things done when I do freelance work.
This should be obvious, but stay the fuck off the internet when trying to work (too much distraction), and similarly, separate 'work' from 'play' as much as you can. If the only difference between one mode and the other is whether you have Ableton or Firefox in front of you at that particular moment, the lines are blurred and you'll find it hard to focus.
Work in the morning (obviously depends on the person though), and get to work as soon as possible.
If you work from home, go outside for a short walk (if you haven't done so) before starting to work. Letting sunlight/daylight/rain/snow hit my face clears my slate and allows me to get down to it when I get back.
Trackwise, keep the bigger picture in mind when beginning a new project. For example, don't waste a half hour picking the perfect kick drum or whatever if you're just starting out – you'll lose momentum. Use what you have to get the project going and fix the details later if needed. I often overlook this one and get bogged down by the minutia.
If nothing is flowing or you've hit a wall, try stealing/borrowing vague ideas and applying them in totally different ways.
Recognizing that so much of this shit is a stupid psychological game, do whatever you can to end on a positive note when you finish working. That way you'll be more likely to return to work in the same frame of mind. If you stop working out of frustration, you'll probably retain it and bring it back with you next time.
If they are such creative geniuses, why haven't they figured out ways around these cliches?
I'd love to write a novel, or some short stories. I have these ideas all the time for interesting characters, vignettes, themes, even just cool phrases to use - but the idea of a half-decent plot to hang them on eludes me, and most likely always will.
If they are such creative geniuses, why haven't they figured out ways around these cliches?
don't mean to be rude, and nothing personal, but this is a stupid question.
Properly creative people don't have any mental space to spare for the careful acquisition and juxtaposition of the supposed signifiers of a creative personality -> hence disinterested scruffiness or strictly functional dressing is the order of the day for them.
Being a bit argumentative for the sake of it but...but not making a choice on fashion etc is still making a choice, a statement, albeit one that says that they place no value on fashion. its still a fashion statement nonetheless.
My current bugbear is those Yasser Arafat headscarves-worn-as-neckerchiefs that 87% of white Londoners between the ages of 15 and 35 seem to be wearing at the moment.![]()
Being a bit argumentative for the sake of it but...
Wouldn't a 'statement' would have to be something made deliberately? You can't be making a statement about everything (horse riding, playing dominoes, taking snuff, hot air ballooning, trepanning, monkey training...) you are not particularly interested in or aware of just by not making a statement about it. Also, I don't have a horse but that doesn't necessarily mean I place no value on having horses.
Anyway, swears' question was plainly rhetorical right?