How do we become more prolific? Some thoughts:
- My theory is that to be prolific — you must be physically/physiologically strong. For myself I am the most creatively productive/prolific when I have 8+ hours of sleep in a night, when my muscles feel physically strong, and also when I am in a fasting state (no breakfast, no lunch). Thus before anything– prioritize your physical strength. I think physical/muscular strength is 1000x more important than ‘mental health’ or being ‘productive’ with your work. If you take care of your body, and prioritize your body– everything else will follow.
- No self-censoring: Everything you create is good. Create, share, and rinse/repeat. Honestly at this point, I care less of how “good” someone is. I am more interested whether they are still curious, and creatively prolific. An individual who is constantly in a state of becoming is far more interesting and superior than an individual who has made 1-2 masterpieces in their life and is no longer prolific.
- To think about what you HAVEN’T created yet is more interesting than what you’ve already created. Therefore, constantly strive forwards to continually create new things.
- Don’t constrain yourself in just a single art-form. I’m more prolific when I engage in ALL forms of visual artwork. For example, I enjoy calligraphy, sketches, photographs, videos, etc. When I’m bored of a certain art-form, I just switch over to another, and ‘cycle‘ between all of them– to keep the creative momentum going forward!
Calligraphy
I’m really into the ‘Zen Brush 2’ app. I’ve been making a lot of fun sketches on an iPhone 6s Plus, and what I love about calligraphy and the app is this:
- You practice your compositions– the gestures of your fingers.
- You feel like a kid again. You experiment with compositions for fun. You just follow your gut.
- You create things out of your imagination or out of what you see. A lot more freeing than photography, in which you’re constrained by reality.
- You don’t need to take calligraphy seriously. I don’t think there is such thing as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ calligraphy. Just have fun with it, and don’t judge it as good or bad. Just keep doing it, and share it as you go!
- It seems the biggest inspiration I get for calligraphy is the human body/shapes/form of the human arabesque. For example, when I see Cindy in a certain bodily position which accentuates her curves (via her arms, legs, hips, etc) — I feel great inspiration. To me, calligraphy is then one of the most primal creative instincts– to quickly encapsulate a bodily gesture in a single finger-stroke. To capture beauty in a single stroke. Also as a random note– good to study car design if you want to better understand curves, shapes, forms, and ‘tear-drop’ designs to inspire you.
Photographs
To me, a photograph is capturing beauty– via light, technology, the lens, composition, etc. Ever since using the HUJI cam app with iPhone, I’m starting to fall in love with photography all over again! I always have the iPhone in my front pocket, and whenever I see something interesting– I just frame it and shoot it, and let the app deal with all the post-processing and such. This allows me to have a more ‘direct’ experience with photography. My primary task as a photographer is to see, identify, and compose/frame/capture a scene– and I let the camera do the rest (image-processing, apply filter, etc).
Therefore to be a more prolific photographer, I encourage you to shoot more with your phone (Huji cam app is my favorite). Or if you need a simple standalone digital camera, get a RICOH GR II or III.
All creation is good creation
Don’t worry whether your artwork is ‘good’ or not. Just have fun with it!
As an artist, never stop composing, never stop creating new images, never stop creating new art-works, and never lose your pure child-like instincts/intuition.
Everyday is a new day to explore, create, and wonder.
Imagination is key– create what has YET been created// isn’t this how we drive the human race forward?
ERIC