The creative process and me
Today I thought I should go through the creative process that I use when trying to create something new. Not only because I would like to think that someone may find it valuable, but also because I may find some optimisations by writing it out. I’d be glad to hear from readers in the comments how my process differs from their own.
For me, the catalyst for a new project is usually one of 2 things; something from a film or game, or seeing someone else’s project log. The good thing about this is that it provides you with ample reference material to work with. Games and films almost always have associated art books which show off the iteration in designs or the thought process that linked a design brief to a finished product. The first Mass Effect game, for example, had an excellent hardcover artbook that came bundled with the game and a strategy guide. This book showed off many concept images for Eden Prime and Feros, areas which were only briefly seen in game as I recall. Regrettably, I donated my own copy to a book shop years ago, or I would have included some images.
The major downside of relying on imagination capturing reference images is that you are inviting project scale creep into your life. “If I just increase the floor space by 2 more inches, I can fit this really cool element into the piece”. You then realise that you have never covered a base more than 40mm in diameter and you have never built a building from scratch. Inevitably your product will fall short of your lofty expectations. Projects which end up being more than you can chew can be a good way to quickly gain skills, but it can be expensive, either in money from “wasted” materials or in time.
My own experience with this is my first attempt at moderate- large scale terrain. Using cardboard, masking tape, toilet paper and PVA glue I wanted to make a set of rock steps which would form a half-arch. This actually worked out okay, however the base warped, making the whole effort appear as amateur as it was.
The first issue was that I did not consider how long such a large mass of water and PVA sodden toilet paper would take to dry. As it turns out, the answer is almost 10 days. I’m quite surprised that it didn’t start to go mouldy in that time. If I was doing this again I would add the first layer, hairdryer it down and then add a second layer. Secondly, a more sturdy base than 2 layers of cardboard is needed to avoid warping. Alternatively, I could have prepared some heavy objects that could withstand moisture and used them to flatten the terrain piece.
It’s not all doom and gloom though. The finished piece was very durable, nearly rock hard in certain places and it served as a nice enough base on which to photograph some of my dark souls the board game miniatures.
Returning to the main point of this article, I would advise people starting out to make something small, almost disappointingly so. Don’t try to recreate Weathertop from the fellowship of the ring. That said, I find Pinterest to be a useful tool for condensing relevant images into a scrapbook for a particular project. “Mood boarding” as my brother says. Knowing what I do know, my process is as follows.
Inspiration> Material and skill evaluation> Plan > Execute plan> Trust in the process until completion!
From around the half way point until completion I often find myself thinking that the project in front of me does not match my imagined outcome and that I should stop and re-evaluate the plan. This is not the correct move in my experience. Unless you have previous experience that says otherwise, it is almost always better to complete the project. This prevents a situation in which you abort the project to conserve materials, but are then left wondering what the outcome might have been. The reality is that the only way to know is to do it at least once. Only once you have the imperfect product in your hands can you explain fully why it is imperfect and rectify that next time.
It is useful to remember that a completed project that your unhappy with can always be broken down and incorporated into future works, where it might be more satisfactory.
With the eerily philosophical portion of the article completed, I will leave you with an image of my brother’s first “terrain” project, guided by my experience with the above project.
