ARTIST NEWS, SOFTWARE EVENTS
How to generate new ideas
AT THE CORE OF THE DIGITAL ART COMMUNITY
Smart thinking Pro artists talk to Tom May about their go-to tricks for staying innovative and creative
“I drew a bunch of robots until I saw shapes I liked, and started to work them up,” says Gareth Davies.
“Facing art block, I started to do studies of athletes, which led to this personal project on volleyball players,” says Kofi Ofosu.
To be a successful artist, you have to work hard on developing your skills. But technique alone will only get you so far. You also need to generate creative and original ideas that will grab people’s attention and truly engage them. So how do you go about it? We asked four talented artists to share their tips.
For Kofi Ofosu, a visual storyteller and character designer based in Ghana, idea generation is a continuous process of gathering inspiration. “I’m constantly bookmarking images, videos and links that spark my interest on the web and social media,” he says. “I also get ideas for new concepts when I look back through my old sketches. Last but not least, I love to do studies. Studying enables me to practise my fundamentals, and it has lower stakes so I steadily build my confidence, too.”