Can you learn to be creative?

[Kittenmumma]

I feel I have the potential to be somehow creative but lack of time+boring job+lack of manual skills make me feel like there isn’t ever going to be a way for me to express this.
I didn’t grow up in a creative household and I am always in awe of those people who are just naturally crafty and inventive and like a challenge when it comes to make their own stuff (Like sewing, painting, DIY and more for example) as I am totally useless.
Is this something that can be developed later in life and how would I go about it?

Yes I don’t know how though

Of course. There's loads on YouTube teaching you to draw, knit and craft things.

I think so...

If you've never had the chance to explore that sort of thing, then how do you know you don't have any natural ability?

I honestly think the only people who really really can't do something creative/crafty/arty... are those with absolutely zero interest in doing so in the first place!

What would you like to try - what do you see others doing that you think 'thats pretty' or 'I'd love to be able to do that'. I bet theres someone on MN who can give you pointers on what to try/where to start!

Youtube has a ton of resources for the more common stuff and some fairly obscure stuff (want to make your own fibre from plants, then weave it into a bag or hairnet, and dye it with pigments you found in the ground?)...

Lots of people now make very reasonably priced courses in how to draw/paint/knit/weave etc, online (in person stuff is still pretty pricey!).

Have a think about what you like to look at/have in your house, start there!

I believe everyone is creative, it's not about being a professional artist or whatever - if you've been able to make something, anything, you are creative. Just go with what you enjoy and start with small projects. Same with music.

As pp said there are great tutorials on YouTube to get you started.

In my experience creativity comes from not being afraid to get it wrong...or even seeing it as there is no right or wrong.

I am hopeless at art because I try and have too much control over a pencil and not as you see an artist glide or brush across the paper.

I am much more creative in cooking and I suppose experience of success has allowed me to be less prescribed with ingredients and to go with what feels right.

Be confident in what you try, take great tips or advice from online resources and have lots of fun

I hope so! I've decided to see if I can teach myself how to sketch and do watercolour painting. I can't normally even do a decent stick man 🤣 I've raided the works for some cheap supplies and watched a few videos online and got a book from the library. My lovely husband didn't laugh at my first attempts. I just want to see if I can teach myself a new skill and maybe make a couple of postcards to send my mum to make her smile. Fingers crossed. And, if it turns out I am crap at it at least I tried.

Nobody can draw or knit or do anything that involves a bit of skill naturally and without training/ practice.

It takes effort to learn a skill, but there is nothing stopping anyone from doing so.

I'm not creative in the artsy way, can barely draw a stick man kinda thing. I have an artist friend with amazing skills and a fine art degree who's given up how of teaching me!

But I CAN do stuff that produces arty stuff, for example I play in a band (but can't compose), I can sew by hand and machine (but only if I have idiot-proof instructions and a pattern), I can bake (as long as I have a recipe and a pic of what it's supposed to look like). I learned to knit but got bored; I tried crochet and love it but need written instructions and a pattern.

So for me it's not about becoming creative because I've not got that vision. But give me some hard instructions and I'm away!

It depends on the type of creativity. I believe that everyone just has to find their 'type'. I teach creative writing and there are some people who just don't have the type of mind to write novels but can produce excellent poetry and vice versa. I can't draw even as well as a four year old but I can write novels. My daughter can't draw but she can produce the most fabulous embroidery. My DIL can't write original material but she can paint incredible pictures.

Everyone has their niche. If you try one thing and can't get on with it, there will be something else.

My other more random tips if you want to do painty/drawing type stuff (applies to a lot of other things too though!).

Don't be afraid to waste materials - I don't care how expensive they are, no art material is more wasted than the one that sits in the tube or the tin and never gets used at all!

Don't get bogged down in the 'why am I doing this' or 'who is this for'. You can do something to enjoy the process, to learn what the material does or how the tool works.

Don't think 'well so and so does that brilliantly so there is no point me having a crack at it, its their thing and they're great at it so the world doesn't need my version'... no one owns an art style/method/medium!

Most things have an ugly or frustrating and tedious phase - there isn't a single thing I have sold that did not go through a 'what the FUCK even is this' stage!! Keep going!

Whilst the saying 'a bad workman blames his tools' has some truth to it, you will frustrate and demoralise yourself unnecessarily by using cheap materials.

eg. if you're trying to work through some lovely, simple seeming tutorial say on wet in wet watercolour... but you're using cheap paint with not much pigment, on wood pulp paper that does not behave the same as heavy weight cotton paper, using duff brushes that don't carry the paint or move the way they should... you will NOT get the results you're hoping for, no matter how good you actually are!!

Buy good quality stuff - you can sell it again if you don't get on with it - people absolutely do buy slightly used second hand art materials IF they're good quality stuff.

Using painting as an example, six tubes of quality paint (three warm primaries, three cool) and a sample pack of decent paper (St Cuthberts Mill do sample packs) and three brushes will be a far far better spend than a huge but cheap tin of 24 colours and a big thick pad of shit paper and 10 crappy brushes from a brush set!

Absolutely it can be learnt. Being creative is generally 90% practice and 10% talent. Of course there are natural geniuses out their but even they have to learn and work and practice their craft. And you’re not asking to become a master of something just proficient enough to enjoy doing something.
Look at courses and at books, and just start doing it, and then practice, practice, practice, practice!!!

Maya Angelou said “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have”. I think that’s completely true, it’s definitely something you need to practice. If you enjoy making or doing something it doesn’t really matter what the result is, but each time you do it you’ll see an improvement. I consider myself a creative person but even then I feel a bit out of practise at times!

Could you maybe find some local craft groups and do some sessions to try different things? Find something you love and have fun!

In my expérience, no.

Knitting and sewing are skills that can be learned if you have the aptitude for it. It.s not creative as such in my view. I can't do either and don't want to.

'Art' . Hmm. I used to live in one of those small arty towns . Open studios annually etc. There were some absolute gems but a lot of it was absolute shit. Daub around as much as you like but don't try to sell it to me!

See also 'poetry' (wince.)

I think a modicum of talent is needed . This modern thing that anyone can do anything after watching a YouTube vidéo is misplaced, stupid and somewhat cruel.

Creativity is a muscle. You have to practice. Some people will pick things up naturally but most will have to build up the muscle and have the means to stick at things.

I completely disagree and no one is saying you can exhibit at the Tate after watching a YouTube video.

To be good at something takes many hours of practice but the OP didn't say she wants to start exhibiting or win the Booker, she just wants to do something artistic.

Being creative and having a skill are two different things. Having a creative mindset isn't something that you can learn, you either have it or you don't.

You can be creative but not have the skills to realise a creation - I mean I could be an expert knitter, but I've no interested in knitting and never tried to knit, so I've no idea.

You can master a skill like painting or drawing, but that doesn't mean you can create something impressive.

Think of it like playing a guitar: lots of people learn to play a guitar, but most don't write their own songs - at least, not ones that they'd ever think worthy of performing. The skill is being able to play an instrument well, whether or not you wrote the song you're playing.

That wasn't quite my point, as am sure you realise.

To get any sensé of achievement and fulfilment and to progress I submit one needs to begin with a certain amount of aptitude.

Not everyone has this weird 'muscle' . I certainly don't and no amount of YouTube vidéos would ever help me to draw anything other than frighteni g stick people.

Exactly @Dotjones

You've obviously never tried. If you practiced drawing several times a day for a few years, I'm sure you'd progress and gain a lot of satisfaction. Achievement and fulfilment are subjective. No one but a very few are highly skilled when they start something new.

I know people who do all sorts of creative things simply for enjoyment or to learn something new. They don't sell what they do or enter competitions.

I think there’s a difference between crafty and creative, through there will often be significant overlap. Crafty people can construct something from a pattern or image, but the really creative people will create the pattern or image. So, I think lots of people can be crafty - they just need to learn how to use the tools, but rather less will be creative. It’s the difference between singing a song someone else wrote, and singing your own songs.

I don’t think you can learn to ‘be’ creative, but you can learn to do creative things (developed by someone else).
You Tube has stacks of stuff you can pick up if you have the time, resources and inclination.

I am crafty. I do a lot of crafts (have dabbled in most things, and have a house full of craft stuff to show for it). But I am not creative. I use patterns from other people. I don't come up with anything original.

To me, being creative is not just about arts/crafts. It is about problem solving and thinking outside the box too, and you don't have to be good with a paint brush for that. You are probably creative in ways that you don't realise.

What sneery responses, @Words I can't remember when I last read such a mean-spirited post.

Knitting and sewing are skills you can learn and are certainly creative if you create your own patterns.

Do you actually think people shouldn't sell their art because it might not be to your personal taste?

Do your snarky inverted commas mean you sneer at the very concept of poetry or just poetry you deem inferior?

Has it occurred to you that people learn things from YouTube and can enjoy doing them and use creativity without necessarily aiming for some lofty standard?

It seems odd to sneer at the poor standard of people's creative efforts, but then describe actual creative talent as a 'weird muscle'. Bitter at your own lack of artistic creativity perhaps?

To reply to the OP though...
I took up knitting and crochet in my late 30s. I now also spin my own yarn on a spinning wheel. I'm now beginning to design my own projects, for example creating Fairisle designs.

You can start getting creative just going from A to B.

Start looking at things more closely along your route and take photos of things that interest you. You’ll be creating a gallery of your landscape and if you enjoy doing that, over time you’ll have a record of those places through the seasons as they change with nature.

Or make notes, being as descriptive as you can and how what you see makes you feel. That could be the basis of a poem or story.

Being creative doesn’t have to be measured or compared. It doesn’t even have to have a finished item. It can be just engaging with what is around you in a different way.