The Creativite "I"s

For some time now, I've been pondering about the process by which artists build and develop their creativity. As I began to gather my thoughts on this process, I wrote down different phases that creative people go through during their artistic development. Below is the list that I came up with.

Introduction

I the introduction phase, an artist is introduced to an art form. This phase assumes the student has little or no knowledge of the structure and style of the creative form.

Initiation

During initiation, the student gains a formal understanding of the form and begins to gain a broad, high-level understanding. It is at this point that the subject knows whether or not he or she would like to pursue it further. During the initiation, the artist is introduced to the different media available to them within the chosen form.

Inundation

Inundation involves the "saturation" of the student in the academics, history, and mechanics of the creative form. During this phase, the subject soaks in as much knowledge as possible and begins to gain facility in the basic techniques necessary to create work within the form.

Imitation

It is during the imitation phase that the student begins to create work in his or her chosen form. Initially, all work is an imitation, or re-creation, of existing historical works within the form (regardless of how recently or expertly the existing works were created). Several different media may be explored at this point to give the artist a range of facilities on which to build.

Illumination

After imitating the works of established creators, the student begins to "see the light" and understand the underlying style and function within the form. This is the "lightbulb" moment which every artist goes through, and it answers the one fundamental question that must be answered before mastery can take place: "why?".

Improvisation

Once an artist gains the requisite physical capabilities to produce work, and understands the reason why that work must be created, the artist begins to use the framework of exiting pieces (either his or her own, or the works of others) and elaborates, or embellishes, those piece to create new and distinct works. These works are often called "derivative works"; they are new assemblies that have derived from existing pieces, with characteristics unique to the artist creating them, but still retaining the flavor and feel of the creators of the original. Jazz musicians employ a great deal of improvisation when embellishing existing works.

Inspiration

It is during the illumination and improvisation stages that an artist lays the foundation for the next phase, "inspiration". During this phase, the artist's mind and heart become drawn to a particular flavor or style within their form and they begin to foster and grow new ideas and desires for their work. It is in this phase that the artist begins to "fall in love" with what they do. During this phase, an artist often chooses to limit the scope of their work to one or two specific media, so as not to become the "jack of all trades, master of none".

Imagination

Once an artist gains full facility, has a love for the form, and desire to continue growing creatively, they begin to imagine completely new and uncharted territories within their medium. It is in this phase that mastery begins. Here, completely new and unique works are formed and the artist begins to be recognized as an individual creator with a distinct style or flavor all their own.

Innovation

Building on imagination, the artist then begins to explore ways of stretching his or her form to new levels. He or she begins to use the knowledge and skill gained to create new forms within their medium, or use new mediums to create familiar forms. Artists in this category are considered to be masters of their craft.

Invention

The final step in the creative process is the invention of completely new forms and mediums within their chosen craft. This phase may even be considered a step in bridging the gap between two different crafts altogether. These artists are the virtuosi; the true masters of craft that all creative individuals aspire to become. They are the cream of the crop. Most artists never reach this point, and many lead very successful careers and fulfilling lives having never attained such.

Where are you in your creative process? Can you think of any other steps or processes that creative people go through that you may be able to add?

God Bless,
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