Are You a Cerebral Artist or an Intuitive Artist?

[JRHoch]

This question is similar to the planner vs pantser question, but I mean it more in terms of an artist's approach to a single panel or even a single page.

I used to thumbnail, rough, finish ink, color...but as I've gotten old and impatient, (plus my mind is pretty much shot) I've started taking a more intuitive approach. I'll often throw large swaths of color on a page or brown washes and see what emerges and then improvise. The element of surprise keeps me stimulated.

I'll often read over my script for a particular chapter and then start making a bunch of panels, not always in order. Sometimes I'll cut the panels apart, do a closeup, or pan way out and create a new panel. Sometimes I spend a certain amount of time trying to figure out which completed panel should come first and what words should go with it.

Here is how I usually started a panel:

How flexible are you as an artist or do you prefer thinking things out?

[skicoak]

I think like most creators, there's a certain amount of flux in how I approach projects.

There are clear intellectual principles that guide the basis of my artistic decisions...both consciously and sub-consciously but there's enough times my "gut" overrides them that I don't feel too rigid in my process.

[irene_addler]

I'm definitely a planner. If I don't know where I want to take something, it's a problem and I get stuck. So I guess that makes me painfully cerebral, to the point of it being a detriment to my work. I know art requires a measure of intuitiveness, and sometimes I feel I don't have that. My mom always joked that I had the mind of a scientist, but decided to be an artist instead, and I'm finally starting to understand what she means by that

[MiniSheepPencil]

As much as I try to keep everything planned out for the sake of structure, I can definitely say that those plans get ruined by my intuitive approaches 80% of the time.

I have figured out that I like having an outline for my projects, but I don't like tying myself up to a specific order. Structure usually kills my creative flow.

I have no problem sitting down and working on a illustration for commissions in a strict and structured order, because everything is mostly planned out and easy to dive into, it is also not a personal project, so I don't have to fight my emotions the same way.

In that sense, I'd say that commissions are easier to do compared to a personal project, because it is easier to stay level headed and focused until it's finished.

[OttoGruenwald]

I'm a "pay someone else to do it" artist.

[JRHoch]

That makes you a smart artist.

[Cavechan]

A "smartist", so to speak.

ahem um anyway. I'm definitely more of a planner and cerebral artist. I have specific ways of doing things. I like to do everything in order.

[Wumbl]

I'd say my process is pretty cerebral. I will build shapes, then sketch, then flat colour everything... and all of my lighting and depth will be layered on bit by bit and step by step.

While I don't always do everything in the same order and sometimes when painting I'm a bit less predictable... there's always a specific set of techniques and principles I stick to in my process. It's all pretty controlled and I either know what I'm doing or I don't finish the piece.

[JRHoch]

Cool. I never quite know what I'm doing. If after a couple of hours it looks good I keep it, if not, in the trash.

[Wumbl]

Fair enough... I tend to spend a lot more time working on things before they actually look any good but then everything comes together.

[punkarsenic]

i dont fully understand the distinction, but id guess cerebral? im methodical, i like to work things out in phases and workshop and go away and workshop again and get very very in my head about them

that said, i think i need to add some intuitive projects to my practice. i wanna do more monoprinting to hit that spot

[JRHoch]

My process is pretty unconscious. I put the pen or stylus to the surface and let the spirit take over. I try not to think.

[qwerty]

I guess I am mostly the cerebral type. I usually try to start out with as clear of an idea as possible about what I want to do, then it's a matter of trying to follow the appropriate steps. But sometimes winging it is part of the steps. And I really don't have much of a set formula; I will pretty much do things differently every time because I feel like it.

[skicoak]

For those replying cerebral, like how far are you taking it compositionally?

Are you testing panels and layouts against the golden rule? Or choosing color guides using mathematical principles ?

[baasinsimple]

The first panel is kind of an intellectual experience, everything else is just my gut. Whenever I think things out I immediately lose steam, I can't think things out anymore.

Tl;Dr: I'm not an intellectual.

[JRHoch]

I know you write "porn," so what's the difference between golden ratio and golden showers?

[qwerty]

Not that far for sure ^^;

I guess to give examples:

• Color-wise, I usually start with an ambient / main color based on what I feel like, then other colors as I go, based on (a) what I feel like, (b) the colors of the objects I'm drawing and the lighting conditions, (c) color theory. Stuff like adhering to a chosen color scheme, principles of lighting and form, and how the colors are leading the eye with contrast is always in back of mind.

• Page layout-wise, I basically just start somewhere and go. In the back of my mind is basically a big list of available options (e.g. open vs. closed vs. bleed panels, straight vs diagonal borders, panel size, number of panels on page, gutter spacing, panel breaks via artwork or speech bubbles, etc.) along with general principles on when each option is most appropriate (e.g. larger panels for more important things, panel breaks must lead the eye in the appropriate direction, bleeds or open panels for more breathing room, maintaining overall variety between pages).
  Laying out a page for me is like rapid-fire brainstorming and checking potential layout ideas against the set of rules and my own subjective aesthetic sense, then drawing something to see if it works, then continuing to check it against the 'rules' and aesthetics and refining it accordingly until I like it enough to move on.

A lot of it actually feels pretty intuitive, but the intuition is more like an ingrained set of principles and guidelines working on semi-autopilot than any kind of spontaneous flowing.

[JRHoch]

So your approach is different than the cerebral lobotomy?

[qwerty]

My whole brain can hardly keep up so I don't think I could afford to lose part of it lol

[JRHoch]

Just the parts that give you pleasure.