Hello everyone!
Rummy Games team here with a new Devlog.
We keep sharing stories from our developers with you.
Our topic this time is the so-called 'creative block', or a 'blank sheet anxiety'.
Our head artist Alexey Avduevsky is sharing some thoughts on overcoming it for maximizing creative powers.
We hope these tips might be useful both for those who make games, and those who don't.
I. A Bit Of Philosophy
We’ve all been there. You run your text or graphics editor and here it is. A blank page laughing in your face. A page with nothing at all on it. No, not just “nothing”. Rather, there is absolute nothingness, or nihil God is told to have created everything from. You wish you could do the same, come up with an idea, get things moving. But you just can’t, that damn nothingness is totally overwhelming.
Nothing is the opposite of everything. And what is everything? Well, let’s imagine a box. You stuff it with all things you have seen, or heard, or read throughout your life. It’s a container where all your previous experience is stored. And it’s your only weapon against the scary nothingness.
So how does one actually overcome the creative block and unleash their powers? Is there a way to pull things out of the box when needed? As a concept artist, I have to find my ways to do that all the time. And I figured out a few solutions which may be useful and provide a considerable creativity boost.
II. Warming Up The Power
In my opinion, the process of creating something new is pretty similar to starting an engine. When you turn your key, it takes a couple of seconds for the ignition to actually turn on. More than that, if it’s freezing cold outside (i.e. you’re struggling with your Absolute Nothingness), it takes even more time to warm up the engine properly before you can actually go.
Likewise, your brain needs the first impulse to start generating ideas. That impulse won’t just spark from nowhere. It is often triggered by following a certain routine. Back to the car engine metaphor again, you open your car door, get in, buckle up, turn the key, let the engine warm up a bit. Then you’re ready to go. Finding your own warm-up routine to stick to is the first essential step on overcoming the creativity block.
III. Ready to Go
For many artists, sketching is the biggest trouble. I mean, that painful phase you have to draw something but the idea hasn’t yet shown up in your mind. Many artists, both beginners and veterans are likely to struggle with this phase. So let’s discuss a couple of tricks to actually start producing something new.
IIIa. Mr Feng’s Solution, or Reference-Based Approach
You are probably aware of Feng Zhu, an experienced concept artist from Singapore. He hosts the YouTube channel FZD School, named after his school.
His method can be summarized as follows:
- get as many references as you can so that you have a solid foundation to build your ideas upon;
- define the main function;
- shape details according to the main function;
- add light, animation, sounds;
- polish it up.
Mr Feng’s idea is that basically, having a solid reference base provides you with 90% of your future concept. All that remains is to customize it and make it fit the necessary background. Let’s take a look on how it works:
Feng Zhu, FZD School
See the cool house on the picture? Try drawing something alike, and then draw yet another house based on another reference picture. Perhaps you want to connect your houses with an arch or something? Or add a river and a watermill by their side? And here's a reference again!
Feng Zhu, FZD School
After the general concept of our building is more or less complete, you decide what its main function is going to be. Is it a forge or a tavern? Or maybe someone’s home? You create its inner structure accordingly, and then, according to the inner structure, furniture, and other details, create the light, shadows and reflections. By this time, your job is mostly done. Up to you now is to think of the materials your stuff is made of, create some points of interest, additional sound and animations. Perhaps you want a cat sitting here, and a curtain fluttering there? Almost everything is possible now! Keep personalizing it, and you will get a completely unique work of art based entirely on someone else’s references.
Feng Zhu, FZD School
Yet another tip for those interested in Mr. Feng’s method is basically about minimizing pressure and maximizing output. Try coming up with a basic idea and make some sketches based on reference images as early as possible. By doing that, for instance, on Monday, you get rid of the pressure caused by ‘blank sheet anxiety’ for the remaining week. That’s definitely going to feel rewarding and boost your self-confidence. All you have to do from that point on is just polishing up the idea that is already there.
