A few thoughts on how artists THINK

‘How do you think?’ That was what this artist friend I was speaking with a few weeks ago asked me. The question caught me off guard; I didn’t really understand it at first. What she meant was, like, does the image come first, like in your head, or the words, or ideas?

It struck me as one of those ‘it’s so deep, I’m drowning’ questions, but it stuck with me because honestly it had never occurred to me before. I guess it’s just one of many things I’d taken for granted; believe me, I try not to take things that way, like I try to remind myself to be grateful even for the smallest, inanest things.

But it was when my artist friend explained that she had asked me, because of another artist she knew. This other artist, I understood, was a paragon of artistic skill, as tidy and precise as a ninja with a laser cutter ~ at least, until my friend told me this other artist was unable to visualise anything she’d never seen.  Like for instance, my friend said, a pink elephant with wings.
​

Read More