There are some incredibly talented people on this planet. They seem to have an inherent sense of creativity. It lives in them, and was reinforced in them during their childhood through countless words of encouragement.
Most artists have been practicing their craft since as long as their memories serve. Ask any illustrator you know when they started drawing—they likely won’t be able to pinpoint an exact moment in time since it has always been a part of their life.
I was never one of these people.
In fact, for as long as my memory serves, I’ve never considered myself creative in any form of the word. Science and math were always my forté; but these subjects didn’t interest me.
In my mind, artistic talent was inherent. Something seemingly written in your genes or brought up in you in childhood. You either developed creativity within the first 5 years of your life or you didn’t. And if you were a part of the latter group, there was no way to develop this mentality.
Now I see the complete error in this mindset that I once held onto so strongly. The fact of the matter is, creativity is a skill and a way of thinking. It’s most definitely not an inborn quality.
Creativity is attainable. But as true with any skill, time and practice are virtue.
It’s also important to note that this skill was fostered and practiced by young artists in grade school with their Crayola markers. They’ve been training to become the artists they are today. Do not make the mistake of underestimating or dismissing the time and effort put towards developing an eye for art. It doesn’t matter if someone began doodling nonsense when they were 4 years old. Practice is practice.
Nothing really comes naturally to anyone. And we all start off on the same playing field—the sooner that we acknowledge this, the sooner we can take full ownership of our artistic development. So even if you’re grounded in the logic of a right-brained thinker, you can develop a sense of creativity.
You can train your brain to think in more artistic terms.
As a right-brained thinker myself, I’m slowly learning how to see beauty and inspiration in the day to day—anything that can be translated to a scene in my sketchbook really.
I’ve begun to see the world through a different lens. And this is something that has come naturally the more that I practice art.
Creativity is a mindset. The more you practice it, the more it will develop.
