The Art of Creation

Every artistic discipline has a creative side and a technical side. Each can be developed and learned.

Mastery of technique allows you to focus on your artistic vision. The methods I use in my tutorials are tools that can be mastered through practice, just like piano technique or darkroom technique. The key is to take on one skill at a time and to develop competence through practice. Then you can add other skills that build on those. In my iPad art, I started with a small set of skills and ideas to concentrate on (distortion and warp), and I even reused some of the same subject matter to practice on over and over. My aim was to get past the point of happy accidents (although they can be fun and instructive), and to build a toolset of skills that enable predictable results that I can use to achieve a vision.

I am also working on developing my own unique personal vision, enabled by the tools, and inspired by the artwork I see. You will also develop your own vision over time. You can develop your artistic imagination through exposure to other people's art and getting critical feedback from other artists. You will find you are thinking both visually and technically.

As we progress in this learning process, we should not judge our our work against some ideal standard of beauty. Instead we should pause and appreciate our progress. Our work, even imperfect, stands on its own, instructs ourselves and others, and pushes us further along the path. We owe it to ourselves to enjoy every step of the way and celebrate those pieces along the way that delight us the most.