Imagination versus Reality

And why learning is essential in the creative process

Hi,

One of the hardest things about doing creative work is that I (or maybe, we) don't always have the skills to bring about what I imagine in my mind.

(This post works better with images enabled)

Having ideas and imagination is not creativity - as nothing has been created yet (at least that's how I define creativity - the act of actually creating something).

In my mind I see a beautiful piece of art, or potential photograph, or product, or poster, or book, but when I sit down to create it, I often don't have the skills.

At first I feel the inevitable urge to simply quit. This thing is pointless, I can't do it, nobody needs to see it and a whole host of other excuses come up.

But then the pain I feel around not creating my work is more painful than the pain of going through the learning and creative process. In other words - I've just got to get this thing done - even if it's rubbish. It's too painful to not create it.

And so I must learn.

I took 25 photos of this same scene until I got the one I liked - each time getting slightly better at composing it. Oslo, Norway, 2022.

Therefore, I must practice, study and create. And almost everyone in a creative field says the same thing: you've got to keep creating the bad work so the good work can flourish.

The more you create, the better you get basically.

As an example of this, I've been creating some poster-art to accompany my new book "Take A Day Off". I've not really done any poster creation before, other than some basic Canva work for my long standing blogs.

So, I wanted to quit as this idea seemed too much for me. Not enough time, no-one would care… blah, blah.

But, I wanted to create these posters to prove to myself I could do it - for me only, to add them to my growing body of work.

So, I spent ages researching the best tools to create posters. A form of procrastination - and maybe a way to convince myself I should quit. There were so many options (at different price points) that I got overwhelmed and told myself nobody needed to see these posters.

Quit.

Then the pain of not creating the posters kicked in. Continue.

Then I downloaded a free trial of Affinity Publisher. And I found it hard to use. Too many options. Too advanced.

Quit.

Then the pain of not creating the posters kicked in. Continue.

So, I found some online resources and learned the basics of Publisher, and realised I loved it - and it reminded me of my time doing desktop publishing (which I used to love at school and Uni).

Then I started seeking out inspiration for poster design on Instagram. And I found loads of great people designing REALLY great posters. And I told myself I couldn't do that. And I wanted to quit.

Quit.

Then the pain of not creating the posters kicked in. Continue.

An upcoming poster from the soon to be released “magazine” version of Take A Day Off.

So, I used other people's posters for ideas and inspiration - mashing together what I saw in my mind (imagination), with elements of what I thought made a good poster, and a whole load of practice creating posters. And many of these posters were rubbish (and possibly still are). And so I wanted to quit.

Quit.

Then the pain of not creating the posters kicked in. Continue.

So, I cracked on - getting slightly better each week as I learned more, designed more and created more.

Then the free trial ran out before I'd finished my project. And I saw this as a sign that I should quit. Did I really need to spend £70 on a tool to design crap posters?

Quit.

Then the pain of not creating the posters kicked in. Continue.

I bought a full licence, explored more of the features (which are excellent) and found ways to create posters that represented what I had in my mind - I was learning how to use the tool to create what I imagined.

It was starting to come together.

An upcoming poster from “Take A Day Off”

Then I got baffled by image sizes, colour profiles and the like, and wanted to quit.

Quit.

Then the pain of not creating the posters kicked in. Continue.

And finally - after 4 months of 3+ hours each evening - I've produced 49 posters that I'm excited about.

They aren't staggeringly brilliant, but they aren't rubbish and they represent what I imagined in my mind - mostly. And they are mine. Things I made with my own unique view on the world. Creativity defined.

And, I didn't quit. Which was by far the easiest thing to have done.

An upcoming poster for the book “Take A Day Off”

And when we look at creativity in our own lives and work, this cycle plays out over and over again. It certainly does for me.

We imagine something but don't have the skills. We then get to choose to quit or keep going. To give up, or keep learning. To not show our work, or create - because we need to.

In almost every creative endeavour I have pursued - my imagination and the potential of the thing I want to create - has ALWAYS outweighed my current skills and ability to create that said thing.

And so, as I conclude this ramble, I think learning and creativity go hand in hand. The more I learn, the better my creations become. The more ambitious the things I want to create, the more I have to learn.

And this all comes down putting in the hours.

To keep producing and creating as a form of learning. Learning how to get better, how to use tools better and how to express what I see in my mind.

And this process keeps going, on and on - keep learning, keep creating, keep trying.

I'm not there yet, but I suspect (and I may be wrong) that the better I get at creating posters, the more my imagination can evolve....and the better my posters will be.

As a creative soul in a corporate role - what I learn from this process is directly transferable to work too. But sometimes, especially in work, people give up when it gets too hard. Maybe the pain of NOT creating the new product / process / culture is just not felt enough? Maybe there is no intrinsic motivation? Maybe there is no support for learning?

Until next time.

Rob..