The following are notes I captured at a recent Translator lab hours session.
It’s not the drawing that’s creative, it’s the thought.
Sketching isn’t drawing.
Drawing or sketching is the output of the creativity.
…and that can be applied without the sketch.
how “good” or “bad” is talent or craft and is the output.
I wish I could remember who said what. Thanks to the miracle of blog comments, feel free to jump in and take credit where due and expand upon the ideas.
Jim, would you agree that some sort of “sketching” is necessary for the output to be measured? Thanks for getting me thinking in this direction this morning.
I would have agreed with you before this spirited discussion occurred at the lab. Cindi has convinced me otherwise. I can certainly measure the value of the sketches I draw in my head if they move a project forward or get me unstuck even if that means I’m going sideways. Of course, Cindi constantly challenges “norms” and that’s why I love her brain so much.
I believe I was in attendance at that discussion. 🙂 Creativity is a hard one to define. And I’m sure not many would agree with my thoughts on it. I don’t disagree that an expression of creativity is required at some point for it to be shared, but I don’t agree one can’t be creative without expression. Expression just allows judgement, and sometimes, that’s just not needed. 🙂
“Expression just allows judgement, and sometimes, that’s just not needed. :)” – So well said. The creativity we do for ourselves in our heads….most of it never need be judged. The small percentage that the outside world sees, however, would not happen without the 90-some percent the rest of the world never sees. – I get it.
Hey Jim, This is sounding familiar. I was chatting with Cindi on this subject at a fairly recent lab. I think you were on my left. One of the things we talked about was mind mapping–which is certainly a way of “sketching” out ideas–and connecting them… bringing order to them. So… perhaps you’re driving at the notion that the real skill lies in actualizing a final piece. And whether the final result is a building, a show, a campaign, an event–or heck, even a drawing… it begins with a sketch; i.e., an initial spark. And you’re right; a sketch is not a drawing, exactly, but sketching is definitely a skill (coming from an art major vet ;)), and so is drawing. No matter how much raw talent one might have, brilliance typically doesn’t happen overnight. It comes from hours and hours of hard work. Malcolm Gladwell came up with the number of 10,000 hours, in fact (from his book, Outliers). The Beatles didn’t become the Beatles by magic. They started out by playing long sets at clubs night after night. That’s how they got to be such great performers. They became great composers, musicians and tunesmiths by spending most of their days in the studio–together. A passion for creativity is great. Yes, that’s the mindset. Commitment, in the end, turns out to be greater. That’s how young grasshoppers become masters of their realm. 😉
…and the sketching or drawing is typically work product (unless your goal is creating Sketchnotes). The sketching is perhaps just part of the overall creative process. Which I believe is the point Cindi makes in this thread as well.
I believe digital is going to create a whole new class of creatives, simply because it’s democratized the process. Anyone can create and post—which is a good thing. We’ve had a culture where the creative class has dictated what they think is “creative.” Digital gives a means—especially for the young—to experiment and explore ideas and storytelling, without being told they’re “not creative.” This is, of course, the topic of an entire blog post, which I need to find time to finish. 🙂
Write it man and I’ll read it that will be one awesome post.