Working From Reference Alone Is Not the Same

One thing I am constantly rediscovering is that artistic creativity does not require perfection. The things you make don’t have to measure up to anyone else’s expectations or meet some randomly established criteria. They do not have to be neat or tidy and they do not have to be an exact representation of what inspired you. There is no wrong way to create.

Rather, your creativity is your own. It is more interesting and personal when it is messy and honest and real. Embracing your authentic voice and infusing past experiences into your work give it a certain character that nobody else can offer. It is part of how we express ourselves to the world.

Every so often, I find myself wishing I could create the way that others do. I admire their processes and their marks and the beauty that results. It can be easy to get caught up in someone else’s work, but in doing so it is also easy to forget to honor your individual vision.

A few years ago, I signed up for Paint Your Town, a class on Jeanne Oliver’s creative network.

The class is about learning how to truly see the space that you live in. Here are Jeanne’s words about the course:

In Paint Your Town | Mixed Media Urban Landscapes you will become a tourist in your own town and open your eyes to the photography, sketching, architecture, people, cafes, painting, connecting, history and beauty right in front of you.

Jeanne Oliver

Since the course is based on exploring your own town, Jeanne’s examples are focused on where she lives in Castle Rock, Colorado. One of the lessons in the class is a value study of a landscape near her home featuring Castle Rock, the butte that gave the town its name.

I followed along through the lesson by looking at Jeanne’s reference photo and mimicking her process, but I was never quite satisfied with how it turned out. Here is my attempt:

While my mom and I were in Colorado last month for Jeanne’s workshop, we had the opportunity to hike Castle Rock. We saw the wildlife and natural beauty, walked the trails, and truly experienced the park in a way that cannot be imagined by simply looking at an image.

Let me tell you – that trip has made such a difference in how I perceive this lesson now. While my original study is not bad, I’ve come to realize that I was unhappy with it because I didn’t allow room for any of my own interpretation. Instead, I was trying to match the steps that Jeanne took and the marks she made. The result is that it is too carefully rendered to really be mine.

Now I have been to Colorado. I have walked those paths and seen the beauty of the landscape. The flowers, the colors of the rocks and sky, and the contours of the earth are all etched in my mind.

This is why the most meaningful works of any creative genre are inspired by life, memories, and imagination. The goal of a creative work is to capture a moment, thought, or emotion, and to pour a piece of yourself into it. These are the things that give it energy and make it come alive.

The point of any kind of creativity is not to perfectly duplicate something else. Inspiration should be thought of as more of a starting point. In my case, Jeanne’s reference image and lesson are not a substitute for the actual experience and they can’t begin to capture the feelings and emotions that went with it. I think another try at the lesson would have a very different result.

You could work meticulously and analyze each step that another artist took to try to recreate one of their pieces. You might learn something about their process and maybe even get a technically precise imitation, but anything made in that way will never be truly yours. I sacrificed self expression in favor of imitation, which won’t ever bring the results that you are hoping for.

This is the beauty of creativity – we all have our own creative voice and vision that nobody else can replace or replicate. So have confidence in your gifts, and share them boldly! The world needs to hear it.