Crappy Ideas and the Importance of Capturing Them
July 11, 2006
“To have good ideas, have lots of ideas.” - Linus Pauling
Those notebooks pictured above are all filled to the brim with the loosest, crappiest sketches you will ever see. Millions of chicken scratches. A graveyard of bad ideas mixed in with a few good ones that made it to the promised land of finished illustrations. But by far, the majority of them are big stinkers. But these stinkers are totally necessary, in my opinion.
When I first get an assignment I usually think of several ideas that could work… avenues to explore, so I get out my cheapy, green spiral-bound notebook and jot those down, trying to capture the essence of my thought without giving much thought to how those sketches look. No one ever looks in my green notebooks so it doesn’t matter anyway. I probably fill up one notebook per month, so there are a LOT of them.
I’ve heard of illustrators who sketch directly on the computer with a tablet or mouse, but for me, paper feels right. I like the tangible quality of pencil on paper. I love that it’s so quick and easy and you don’t have to remember to hit Save or be tied to a computer for this creative process. Working on paper allows me to have freedom… and the ideas can strike any time so paper is totable.
For me, it seems like bad ideas need to come out before anything of value rears its head. And these first sketches are usually cliches or way too obvious or been done many times before. It’s important to keep searching. But I find it really valuable to get these first ideas down, without judgment or thinking too much about it. It’s allowing myself to play and jot and doodle… enjoying the process and clearing the muck… Not putting too much pressure on an outcome and not trying to force every idea to be a good one. (Because that would take all the fun out of it!) It’s about getting lots of ideas down, not the quality of the ideas (those come later).
Once all of the initial sketches are out, I leave them behind. I try to walk away from the assignment and sketches for at least a day. This gives my mind time to marinate and work on it without me. After that time I usually come back to the notebook with a few more ideas. Ideas that weren’t obvious at first. But sometimes I notice a glimmer of something good in one of the first sketches that I didn’t recognize the first time around (so thankfully I jotted it down!). But usually those sketches really were just crap and getting them down made way for better ideas. :)
If all goes to plan, by the time the sketches are due, I have about 2-3 solid ideas that are worth presenting to my client. They never have to see all the junk that led up to them. It gives me the satisfied feeling that I explored all my options, and I’m giving them something that is really thought out. It saves me from giving them an initial, crappy idea only to think of something better when I’m into the final illustration process, and there’s no turning back. Sketching all these ideas is just a way to feel confident in your final piece.
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Thank you for all the great music suggestions! I’ve been checking them all out on iTunes. Keep em’ comin’ if you think of more! :)
July 11th, 2006 at 3:00 pm
I’m a first time visitor to your site - just stumbled upon it…
Your post today hit exactly where I am in a current project and it reassured my that I will push through all these crappy ideas.
thank you.
July 11th, 2006 at 3:52 pm
thank you for sharing your creative process, groovy bean!
:)
it makes me smile to see your pile of sketchbooks..
and to know it is A-Okay.
:)
blessings,
Leonie
July 11th, 2006 at 5:11 pm
I love the pile of sketchbooks. See, your smart using the crappy sketchbooks for the “stinky” sketches and then putting the more “finished” stuff in the prettier ones!
July 11th, 2006 at 8:20 pm
You seem to always voice what I’m thinking, right when I’m thinking it.
How do you DO that?
July 11th, 2006 at 11:22 pm
in my college creative writing classes, one of my professors called this “throat clearing.” clearing all the cliches, the bad writing (or art) the default stuff, the formulaic, .. eventually making way for the real gems.
love the site!
July 12th, 2006 at 12:08 am
I love that! Linus Pauling? I study with his books……
Ideas.I love ideas…….you are right to register them is very useful and fun. Ideas like images, sounds, pictures, colours and words. I have some ideas books as well…..Some writers do as well, if you don’t use them in a way you may use them later….
July 12th, 2006 at 5:05 am
‘Throat clearing’ is hilarious, but I think it is far funnier to let ‘Lope call them ‘Big Stinkers.’
July 12th, 2006 at 6:56 am
Today’s post is hitting home with me today. I’ve been trying to figure out my next step in a painting for the past few days. You’re right - I should go back to my sketchbooks. Thanks, Penny!
July 14th, 2006 at 11:12 am
I’m glad you have said all that about sketchbooks- whenever people look at mine they make comments about how I should improve my sketches. This makes me cross as a sketchbook is like a diary that is full of mess and scribble and you are ALLOWED to try things out. Too many people think that artwork needs to be perfect every time even in the sketchbook!
It’s great to see yours- you must be very proud of them! :-)
July 14th, 2006 at 1:32 pm
In Bird By Bird (focused on writing, but a fantstic book on the overall creative process) by Anne Lamott, she talks about the necessity of creating “Shitty First Drafts” if you want to do any real work as a writer. I’ve never forgotten this concept, thanks to the catchy nomenclature : ) It’s interesting to hear people working in other creative fields echo this idea…
July 18th, 2006 at 2:51 pm
I also fill sketchbooks up like crazy! I have probably a good 25 or so of them over on my shelf, full to the brim! Lately I need to start taking more time to do more daily free doodling, because so many of my characters have come from that process. Wish you could join us tonite… 111 Minna is having a LiveSketch thing where we watch the artists draw right there & then they’re sold for affordable prices. Similar to the Monster Drawing Rally SOEX has every year here, too. Anyway - I love this kind of thing because I love watching people draw - the process of creation. Whenever I hang out w/ an illustrator friend it’s all I can do to not become a little kid & just have us sit & doodle together. :)
July 27th, 2006 at 10:07 am
Hi
I am hoping that you will tell me more about your creative process..i was very taken by the green background painting you did a while back… was that pastel or acrylic… can you explain your process.. i am so fascinated by your style…It seems you do alot of layering….Is this acrylic?Your work is amazing!