So the first of the creative phases is preparation and this is usually initiated by an order from a client, or simply by a decision to create a new artwork for whatever reason. if there’s a client, their requirements can make your job easy or hard depending on how clear about what they want they are & how well communication goes when talking about design.
Sometimes the client is very clear about what they want & set an easy task of following their directions, but I find in most cases a little or a lot of research is required.
It’s pretty much the same if you’re creating a piece for showing or for yourself – the more information and imagery you collect on your subject or theme the more refined the final work is likely to be.
An interesting side benefit to research is you expand your own knowledge & consciousness at the same time. For example, my mosaic work has led me to a better understanding of many subjects including photography, mermaids, Leonardo Da Vinci, North American Indian Culture, and I’ve greatly increased my general knowledge of native animals & plants. Sometimes the learning bit can be as much fun as creation of the mosaic itself.
Since research is principally a left brain activity, I don’t feel under any pressure to create or generate ideas at this point – it’s more like feeding information into your subconscious for it to be processed there.
There’s several ways I can suggest for research
Firstly & most importantly would be studying and observing the subject matter in the flesh if you can. For example if its a Forest scene, spending time in the forest and looking for both detail and ideal landscapes can generate tons of ideas. Some of my other suggestions for observing would include noticing the detail in your own garden & visiting other beautiful gardens, visiting National Parks, botanical gardens, the beach, zoos, ponds, waterfalls to name just a few. It depends of course what your subject is, but I find that nature yields all sorts of ideas including abstract.
The picture shown is Rainforest Moon. That came from spending time in the forest during a full moon. I just walked through the forest sucking up the ambience & noticing little details like the reflection on the water & the shading on the rocks. Little details that really come through on the final work.
