Task 22: Creativity, the talent myth and craft


I would say that most artists practice from an early age and don’t stop, they might have breaks from doing art, but if they want to have a creative job usually it will always be a part of their life somehow. Anyone can develop their skills even if they aren’t really an artist if they just practice a lot, as any kind of art is basically a form of muscle memory. But I think there is a certain level of skill that some people have naturally which helps. I think the most creative people have a different way of thinking about things and approach problems in a different way. This might be down to a certain upbringing and/or life experience, which would be very hard to learn with just practice. For instance someone who has never drawn before might be just as bad as a child who has been drawing all the time. Just as you can’t hope to be as good as someone who has practiced a musical instrument for years by only trying for a couple of days, and then put it down to not being good at music. Creativity is more to do with the persons personality than there actual skill.

Creativity is hindered by technical constraints. In games art this is usually when using 3D programs which have a lot of things to learn, which take a long time to learn. An artist might have loads of ideas of what to create in 3D, but just doesn’t know how to do it. So this requires a lot of time to develop their knowledge. But with 2D programs like photoshop less technical knowledge is required and traditional skills can be applied. There are a certain amount of technical things which can help speed up the artist but there are many different ways a program can help and you don’t need to know all of them. I have found that learning the basics and slowly picking up things when you’re ready is a good way to go about it. Everything you learn then sticks and you know in which situation, to use which tools.

I think art directors have the most of the responsibility for creativity and ultimately have to make the decisions but they get input from other members of the team in the start of the project and they are also limited to what they can do in the first place. I think good companies will give more creative freedom to each of their members compared to other teams where each person might be quite restricted. Concept artists have a good amount of creativity because they can put forward their own vision of the ideas and also input their own ideas which could end up being used in the game. 3D artists might be more restricted on their creativity depending on the team and what they are working on; they will have to stick to a specific brief.

I think good games create their own universe in a unique way. Giving the artists lots of freedom to put forward their ideas and keeping things that work whilst scrapping things that don’t. The initial overall idea for the game needs to be strong though, the art and gameplay can help a lot, but if it is set in a bland world than the game will be uninteresting for players. Gameplay can make for a fun game, but the overall experience is what makes game memorable and stand out from others.
I think an artist can show their creativity with the ideas they come up with and not really with their technical knowledge or completely polished/detailed work. A good idea is always a good idea even if it might not be executed perfectly. The main things I need to develop are efficiency and presentation.

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