Can ANYONE be creative?

[Whenisitmysleepytime]

I can follow instructions perfectly and can get pretty good results. If I have a pattern/ plan/ instructions I'm fine. :)
But what I'd really like to be is the sort of creative person who can do things without a plan. Iyswim.

So is it all about letting go and finding your style or is it just one of those things that some people can and some can't do.

Personally I think to be creative is just part of the human condition - if you create something, be it food, art, stories are whatever then IMHO you are creative - we ALL have that ability, but just as with everything else, some are better at it than others - but that doesn't mean you are not creative.

I am one of the ones who can create from scratch, don't need a plan, can conjure things in my mind & then make them happen, as a result I have been lucky enough to make a career out of it - but I've never looked down my nose at friends who for example, buy a pattern, choose a cloth & then make a garment - that still requires skill & creativity :)

Though I do think its a good question, I've spent so much of my life being creative with the aim to be commercial, make money etc, that I sometimes feel I've lost a lot of the creativity I had as I now find it hard to not think commercially - IYSWIM

Rock that is all very interesting. :)
I would love to be able to draw, I feel if I could draw then there would be so many other things I could do - cake decorating, collage etc. they all require being able to replicate the likeness of something and that's something I struggle with.
I'm not sure my skills progressed since I was about 10!

Maybe I should stop thinking and just do it...

Maybe I should stop thinking and just do it?

YES!!! :)

My Dad discovered he could draw in his 70s - he'd never bothered to really try before because he thought he couldn't do it, but time on his hands made him try & over a period of time he got better & better at it

besides I know so many working artists that can't actually draw that well but they use other mediums to be creative, one successful & pretty well known one uses his computer to generate his ideas as images & then literally just projects the image onto canvas & pretty much paints by numbers

The creativity is in getting an idea to work as an art form orcraft - whatever that turns out to be.

Drawing doesn't necessarily make you an artist either - I know another guy, he can mimic any artist style to a tee, but he cannot "create" an idea of his own & make it into an picture - he can however create fantastic film & websites :)

I think it's about allowing yourself to have fun and see what happens. Most of the stuff I make is pretty dire but along the way I hit a winner. The feeling when something works is unbeatable.

I also think that patterns etc are brilliant because they give you a great foundation to create from. I tend to use a pattern as an inspiration, varying aspects as I go, but whether you do that, follow to the letter or spurn them completely, it's the act of creating something that is the satisfying part. I'd go mad if I couldn't make.

Just do it! I spent twenty five years of my life thinking I wasn't creative, so only ever did things from patterns and looked longingly at my pencil-happy husband who would spend hours drawing and get masses from it. Then I had a near-nervous breakdown and something snapped in me.

Now I paint, do free-form crochet, make random crafts to celebrate different times of the year, write my own stories...it's so liberating and wonderful!

My advice is not to try to emulate anyone else, or be as good as anyone else (because 'good' is a judgement and creativity, imo, is beyond judgement). Enjoy the process, not the product.

Our culture has snatched creativity away from us, and devalued it, at the cost, imo, of the mental health of a generation or more. Grab it back - I guarantee you you'll enjoy it

Yes everyone can be creative.
Creativity, and most types of art, is based in problem solving. 'How do I make this ring fit together?' 'which colours will look like the sea' etc.

Please lose the notion that you need to draw to be creative. It is just ONE way to express yourself. I find it easier to model in 3D, for example, than I do to draw. there is something scarily final about a pencil line on a page, but a lump of clay or bit of felt is more forgiving.

I teach jewellery making, mostly to children, and the thing they have taught me is to let go of the need for perfection. They freely put all sorts of colours together, mix media, use the wrong tools, try things that I can see will NEVER work. An adult will often bypass the experimental stage by thinking 'oh, the rule is that you shouldn't put red and green together' or 'I need the exact right tool to do this' which narrows their choices. I am trying every day to see more like a child with my work.
So what if the experiment doesn't work. The process of discovery and experimentation is as important as the finished object.

Oh, and the DrawSomething game on the ipad has, amazingly, improved my drawing skills (although they are still not very good at all) just by the simple method of making me draw several things a day.

Good luck when

I think anyone can but some can do it without a second thought. I think people who are usually logical kind of people find it harder to move off down that windy uncontrolled path that is creativeness but that doesn't mean that they can't - they just need to find the "craft" that opens that door.

I can't draw to save my life but I can crochet, do calligraphy, sew and do a whole host of other things.

I like to be creative, but really don't have any skill when it comes to drawing or painting.

My main outlet for creativity at the moment is wood work. I am halfway through a series of projects for the house - bookshelves, cupboards, storage units etc. The creative process of designing something functional, but also with pleasing proportions is something I find very satisfying. When I am done with that, I will move on to landscaping the garden - again, it doesn't require the sort of hand/eye skill that I think has to be innate to a degree to draw or paint, but it is still a creative process. Making cushions, blinds and curtains has been another outlet.

I enjoy photography, and whilst I would not say I am hugely talented, every now and then I do see an image that looks great when captured in a picture. I also enjoy having a go on FiL's wood lathe when I get a chance, and would love to have one of my own.

I think my point is that there are many ways in which you can be creative, and that they don't have to involve fine skills. If you have the skills to follow a pattern, then you have the skills to create.

For me, creativity is about having a vision of something I want to create, and then being able to think it through and plan how I can make it happen. I work full time and have a pretty busy life, so don't get a lot of time to actually create, but I get almost as much pleasure from the imagining and planning phase, which I can do in my mind on the train to work, or in the shower, as I do from the making phase. You just have to allow yourself the confidence to dream.