Give yourself permission to paint

By Mauricio Bowers

When an artist grabs a paintbrush, whatever hits the blank canvas afterward is his responsibility. If he is suddenly crippled in the middle of a project from a lack of inspiration and begins to “think instead of paint”, the painting may become a disaster.

An artist can’t let uncertainty and fear stifle him during in the middle of a project. An artist must continue to explore his mind and fill creative space with the results of his daydreaming.

Videogame designers go through a similar creative process. In fact, it’s an exact replica of what any designer in any medium goes through.

I think what I learned from Mr. Miyamoto is kind of the methodical, calm, creative approach. It’s not just willy-nilly ad-hoc creative approach – just closing your eyes and swirling the paintbrush.

He was very methodical in his approach to the process and highly iterative, and I think it was the secret to his success.

In the September 2009 edition of Game Informer, Howard Phillips recalls specific qualities that one must have during the creative process in order to create a successful product.

An important factor in creating art is losing fear. Don’t fear the results of a vague and blurry experiment. Stop being so afraid to daydream at work. Lose fear in blotching your paintings. If anything will benefit from just “swirling the paintbrush”, your work will. Give yourself to your dreams, calm down and start doing whatever the hell you want.

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Categories: Inspiration

Reader Comments (2 Comments)

  1. I completely agree. We live in a gaming age where creativity and intuitive are the name of the game. A game can not come to be unless a developer dreams it. In truth the most important tool for a media designer is his/her mind.

  2. Very true, Darius. I loved the concept of merely closing your eyes and seeing what comes out. Instead of so much concentration, just relax your mind and let it escape naturally.

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