I posted a picture from Cory Godbey’s blog, light night rains, about his most recent project. I’d like to follow his process through to the final work to highlight some things I’m trying to understand about the creative process.
First, every creative work you see began with a single idea, and in the case of Cory’s fairy queen piece, it began with a single thumbnail sketch. As you can see form the first image, the idea is firm enough to function as the foundation for extending the work into something more fully realized without being too detailed to become a hinderance. So, what I gather from this method is that your initial idea should be well formed enough to make sense, but not be so detailed that you get lost. It is a point to begin from, but it is not the final product, so it shouldn’t like like it is. If you’re thinking about the creative process, which I hope you are while reading this, you’re probably asking yourself why simplicity in the first sketch is important. Well, lets take a moment to consider this.
A simple sketch allows you to focus on the big picture. As you begin to work to bring the idea to life, there are plenty of creative nooks and crannies that you can explore. If you have have a very detailed sketch, however, you might be more inclined to focus on mantaining the integrity of that initial sketch even though in doing so you may actually be working against the piece.
I plan on continuing this series. So, keep your eyes out. There is more to come!
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