1) Imagination and Creativity: Never leave home without 'em
First of all I should warn you that I am a little scatterbrained, I believe I was born with an advanced RPC (Random Processing Center) in the forefront of my brain. I love randomness and coming up with something different or off is fun for me and can be done a little more easily. This part of your brain, although only a fictional part of your brain (if you've already opened up another page and searched Wikipedia for a RPC in the brain-it doesn't exist), can be developed if you've never really felt random before. Have you ever heard of improv, made famous on the show "Who's line is it anyways?" where they play games that require acting out random situations and then blending them in with other situations until a humorous effect is produced? Well, I'm not putting in a plug for the show because I don't approve of the type of humor they use sometimes but it was merely an example. Throwing random situations together and then trying to act your way through them is a start on the trail to something new.
If there's demand I will include a blog entry with some quick improv games you could practice at home with your family one evening when you want a laugh. I used to play improv games weekly with my friends from college and we could always make each other laugh; I learned that some can more naturally make others laugh while some had to work on it and loosen up. Exercises should be enjoyable or you won't do them. Well, anyways I digress, back to the work at hand.
Many books have funny concepts at the core that are just random and entertaining. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (If You Give...)
has a funny trail of What if... questions that lead to a funny conclusion. Where the Wild Things Are
is a classic book that deals with a completely random island full of random monsters. (Although the movie was rather creepy.) I grew up reading books like these and knowing that my imagination could take me wherever I wanted to go. Movies like Star Wars made it seem like I could travel even to the stars and back. Where will your imagination take you? Is there still that kid inside you that can travel through space and time inside your own bedroom? If not then find them...they're still in there. I've never been able to part with my inner child and I think that's led me to the dream of making my own stories. Dream as big as you can, only your dreams will get you there.2) Note every single idea
Now we'll start covering the physical work that will get you there. Some of these steps will sound easy, that's probably because you did them as a child until you gave them up when you got other responsibilities. First you'll need a sketchbook or a notebook. When you have an idea pop into your head, scratch it out even it’s a rough idea. If you don't jot it down or start sketching it out it'll disappear. That creative genius will flow around to someone else and pop into their head, they will doodle it out and end up with the credit to their name.
Some ideas will sound funny at first when you have them but sketch them out anyways. If you usually have interesting dreams, keep the sketchbook next to your bed and when you wake up jot down the general details. The idea with the sketchbook is not to work out complicated concepts to completion but to fill the pages with a well of ideas that sustains itself. Don’t spend too much time with any one idea and don’t feel that one is so special that it can never be modified.
3) Sketch ideas, start combining them, don't fear losing the originality of some
The next step is fun. Another book that helped me learn about putting stories together was the book STORY. The author, Robert Mckee says something I think is really true and it is this; 90 percent of your ideas will be terrible and worthy of a jump shot into the trashcan. Ouch! Isn’t it so true though? I know as I’ve grown to accept that the majority of my ideas aren’t worth my time I’ve grow comfortable with the thought that I have to work hard to pump out the 90 percent quickly so I can get to the 10 percent that shows potential. Of that 10 percent that shows potential, only 10 percent will be good, etc. Do you get the picture? You’ve got to keep working hard to work through the less than great work so you can find great, original concepts. You can totally do it though. Start today and work hard to sketch out a thousand ideas so that you find 100 ideas with potential and from them, 10 great ideas.
The fun part comes from combining your ideas into an infinite possibility of combinations. If you have an idea about monkeys that can’t learn to get along, birds that are proud of their feathers, and a day that it rained shoes in the rainforest; throw them all together and see what happens. Okay, things may get wild and dangerous with raining shoes but hopefully you get the point. Sketch out all your ideas and then break them down and recombine them until you find something that rings true and exciting for you to put your energy into. You’ve got a huge pile of trash to get through before you get there so get working today.
4) Research subject matter
The other way of deepening your search for originality and adding excitement to your ideas is through research. You’ve got the whole world wide web (thank you Al Gore, you’ve truly blessed mankind) at your disposal. Use Wikipedia and other sources to learn more about your interests for characters, settings, etc. There’s so much available nowadays that it’s really quite easy to delve in and find out a whole world. If you want to write about pirates, princesses, potato chips, musical instruments of the world, strange animals of Australia, or different kinds of sandwiches; it’s all possible.
Research things you love to learn about and throw ideas together, sketch them out, mix them up and look up more about what results. Print out information you discover and love and file it so you can look back on it. Don’t feel bad copying things you find, just don’t reproduce them. You can incorporate other concepts into your work but you have to make it different, make it yours and not the other artist’s. One artist that I really enjoy is James Gurney, his style inspired me ever since I got his first Dinotopia
book when I was 12 or so. The imagination he uses to put together the world where dinosaurs and mankind live side by side peacefully inspired my mind to delve into my imagination since young. Check out his blog and website and see what you think. I don’t know exactly where the idea came from except for the fact that he is fascinated with cultures and decided to construct his own using art skills he developed while working for National Geographic. He collects photos from magazines that he likes of sunsets, clouds, people, etc and then pulls them out while working if they’ll help him figure out how to work out something complicated.Finally I want to add that art skills get rusty without being exercised for a while. Get working today, even if its during your lunch break in your car or during a quick catnap, as kids don’t always follow the most faithful schedule. If they fall asleep for a nap, grab your pencil and sketchbook and work out ideas you’ve already doodled out. Don’t get frustrated by your hands and your lack of control of them. It will come back slowly. You have to earn it through hard work so worry about coming up with fresh, fun ideas in the meantime so when you have something great you have better control to work it out.
This was the first class in a series of 10 classes on illustration. Get working today and follow along with these lessons as you take a story from your mind to the pages of a book. We’ll get there together; I’ll be doing one along with you and I’ll let you look over my shoulder if you do the same. Don’t make fun of my work though; I’ll never make fun of yours. (Don’t feel afraid of giving critiques though because I will too.) Let’s make some books that will inspire the future generations to stop imagining living their dreams and make them seem more possible. Start working today.
I really appreciated all of the info and advice. I liked the research idea - the more we know about a subject we love, the more believable our stories and pictures are. I have never really thought about doing that before.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting you brought up improv...in the improv book I've been reading, randomness can be great for the intial idea, but once you're working with that idea he encourages you to not be "original" : meaning that you should experiment within limits that the idea creates - sometimes even finding interesting development within a single task. So it isn't (contrary to popular belief) randomness that creates the comedy, but (by relaxation and "not trying to be original") pointing to something that is ALREADY floating at the edge of the audience's thought. So for example, rather that having and office scene where some random pineapple falls from the ceiling, be "dull" and have a light fall...then you realize one of your coworkers has been spying on you through the ceiling, then you try to catch him...and so on. Or if the idea is more far fetched like your example of raining shoes, you would also find lakes of flowing rubber and shoe lace snakes in the jungle as you explore. You could use the shoe to build a shelter and the insole as your sleeping bag.
ReplyDeleteThe thing I've liked about this improv book is that improv is no longer mystical, random experimentation anymore...and at the same time it's also not difficult to think about with the right training. It's all about character, storytelling, etc. In fact, it's the design of the games that create the fresh storytelling...each was designed based on one of the following ideas:
-That improvisors deal with imaginary conflict and dangers as if they were real
-That "splitting (the improvisor's) attention" allows some more creative part of the personality to operate.
-That drama is about dominance (masters) and submission (slaves).
-That stories achieve structure be referring to earlier events.
-That spectators want to see actors in states of transition, and being altered by each other.
-That improvisers need permission to explore extreme states.
-That when we think ahead, we miss most of what's happening (on stage as in life).
-That the best improv includes not only comedy, but drama, horror, action (which does not have to be violent), etc.
Each of these points have chapter of examples to illustrate what they mean (you might be saying, "What?)
But applied to story: you need conflict, you need an idea inspiring enough that your brain goes in multiple directions and let that process just flow. You need both weak and strong characters. Rather than forcing your own interperatation on a story, recall earlier events to see what you learn, Characters should change based on what happens, and don't be afraid to explore crazy ideas.
For me, I can't sketch without and idea or objective to explore. These competitions are great because you - in essence - give us boundaries to play within - and there are so many places within each idea to explore. Because I don't have much time (animation school is time consuming), my work for this blog is quick and loose and BETTER than previous work. The research, thoughts, thumbnails, and interesting combinations of ideas are all great unless we are trying too hard.
Sure world champions train really hard, but when it comes to beating a world record, most don't even know they've done it. Notice Michael Phelps was always trying to stay relaxed and seperated from the stress around him.
So Nate, this article was really great to think about (and you can't tell I THOUGHT). Your thoughts on constant sketching and experimentation and research are like Olympic Training. And hopefully we can keep reaching a higher level together!
Just as a disclaimer, most of what I wrote about and the bulleted list especially (though I made some adjustments) came from the book Improv for Storytellers by Keith Johnstone. I should have mentioned him properly - all cited and stuff.
ReplyDeleteThanks guys for providing insight and comments on this first instalment of our Illustration Workshop. I'm certainly no expert but I read a lot and in the end I rely on input. Thanks Scott for the insight from that book, I'm excited to read it and deepen my knowledge. Great point, that the journey can't delve too deeper and deeper into random chaos; it would get so weird eventualy that the reader would give up. I think Dr. Seuss demonstrates a clear balance of random concepts and then pulling them towards human experience.
ReplyDelete