Assignment: The Creative Process

The Creative Process is described in the Syllabus, in the text (Chap. 4), and in the class discussion. For this project you must create something. It could be an object, for example: carve an image, draw an image, paint an image, photograph an image, make something out of clay, wood, or any other substance. Write a play, a short story, a poem, a piece of music, or anything like that. Create a dance. Can you see that the possibilities are endless?

Then you must write a paper about the Process you used to create this object. The assertion is that creativity is an actual Process, and that it occurs in 5 stages (Betty Edwards, Drawing on the Artist Within). You must mention these 5 stages in your paper. Okay, maybe your process was a little different than the one described here, but you must mention these stages in your paper and talk about them.

Did they happen exactly as described, or a little different in your case? Tell about the similarities and differences, if any. Here are the stages you should mention:

1. First Insight: this is where and how you got your idea for the project; describe how it happened.

2. Saturation: this stage describes what you had to do in order to learn how to make the object. For example, if you want to make a clay pot, first you must obtain the material and tools to accomplish it. Then, you must learn how to make the pot. You might not be successful in your first attempts, and you may be frustrated by failure. Write about this. Sometimes we must stop and wait for a solution. This is called:

3. Incubation: meaning waiting for "the egg to hatch." Sometimes we must lay the project aside for a while and think about how to solve the problem. Often the solution will occur to our mind without effort.

4. AH-HA: this is when we suddenly realize how to proceed with the project; the solution occurs to us and when we apply it, it works and we can move ahead to the completion of the Project.

5. Verification: when we show our project to someone else and they give us feedback. Write about the feedback.

I hope this description is helpful. Look at the examples of the CP papers on the class homepage. If you read them carefully, you will surely see how they used the process to describe their project.