Eight Habits Of Mind Reflection

My art making process feels very loose and lenient; it does not have much structure. I have a basic idea in my head before I start, but that idea always ends up looking different in the end. I bend and twist my idea during the art making process. My art rarely looks how I intended it to look. The idea changes along the way. I am happy with that however, because it makes things interesting. It makes me feel more human, like there’s more of me in that art piece, because that art piece grows with me during the process.

However, I always have to envision an idea before I start the process. I need a starting point; I need to be able to see an end to the piece. Whether or not the piece strictly follows my initial idea, I still need an initial idea to build off of. Envisioning is an important first step in my creating process.

I always must express an idea, or something I have seen, or done. I am really into bookmaking right now, and I feel like that is because I must express an idea. Bookmaking goes beyond 2D images in representing an idea, because books are a story with words. You can convey a number of ideas. Expressing ideas is very important to me, because some ideas I can only express through art.

The most important of the Eight Habits of Mind is the Stretch and Explore habit. This habit describes my art making process the best. I like to experiment. I like to dive into art projects with no real plan. I like to create steps as I go along. If things do not turn out the way I wished for them to turn out, then I view the process as just a learning experience and I will do better next time. That is the art making process I feel most comfortable with.