I want to start this post by clarifying something.

This is not about Creation vs. Evolution.

It actually has nothing to do with the beginning of any species. This is a post about creativity. Now that we have established this, let’s move on…

I just finished watching Iron Man and I can’t express how badly I want one of those suits, probably the silver one. I walked away from the movie thinking, “That movie was amazing!”…

More importantly though, and more on-topic, I was thinking about how far these comic book movies have come. When my brother and I were younger we were marginally intrigued by comic books — I think he was, and continues to be, more interested than me. We read comics, we drew comics, we set up a small studio in the basement replete with two desks and work lamps so we could draw until our mom told us it was time for bed.

You Don’t Need to Invent It

I always made my brother mad. I have always been a writer, but fairly proficient at drawing as well. He had the best ideas, he would scribble down a simple character and the stories and history behind his character were always so much cooler than mine. My characters had big muscles and fancy shading, but his characters had real depth and personality.

So I started refining his characters on paper. He felt I was trying to one-up him, but I wasn’t. I just loved what he had started with and wanted to see where I could go with it. His creation inspired me to create my own, similar — but as I always told him — very different creation.

Stop Thinking It Needs to Be Original

Creativity is not always original. I think it is a mistake to call anything “original” because everything is based on something else. We take from the recesses of our memories and experiences and create something based on what we know. It would be impossible for us to create anything truly original, because in order for anything to come from us, it at some point had to come to us.

The Evolution of a Creation

Iron Man, and most other comics that have been adapted to film, have evolved so much over the years. Stan Lee was the brains behind many of these, he breathed life into many of the familiar characters we know of today, but others have come along to direct and add to the creation as well

Iron Man has taken on a life of it’s own, co-created by many different authors, fans, and general random people I’m sure. What started in 1963 has evolved today into a major box-office hit 45 years later. And a lot of where Iron Man is today can be attributed to many different people creating off of someone else’s creative foundation.

Build Upon Someone Else’s Creative Foundation

Not all creation is original but an evolution of someone else’s creation. Sculptures may start in the artist’s head, then continue simply as some chicken wire. That chicken wire is built upon with some tie wire, then maybe some fiberglass or duct tape or chewed bubble gum. Maybe all of the above. The same way a sculpture can be built upon, creations can be built upon to form entirely new creations.

Want to get creative? Have a look at something, something ordinary. Possibly something already done before. Then build upon it, take the foundation of what it is and make it something completely different.

Now stand back and have a look at it. You have just created something.

Is it original? No. Does it have to be? Absolutely not. There are two parts to creation that are beautiful; the actual act of creating it and the moment you finish and take joy in what you have just put together. But what it is and where the parts come from doesn’t matter. A sculpture is not in the materials put in, or writing in the letters used.

So stop waiting for that earth-shattering artistic epiphany. Grab a pen, paintbrush, roll of duct tape, whatever it is you have handy, and create something.

Go. Now.

How often does the foundation of something you do creatively come from (or become inspired by) someone else’s creation?

Tags: Creativity, Design, Writing

This entry was posted on Friday, May 16th, 2008 at 11:00 am and is filed under Creativity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.