© 2016, Sadiq Somjee

@SadiqSomjee

Abstract

This talk is an exploration of the creative process from concept to

product. It covers key elements such as inspiration, research,

observation, experimentation, reflection and revision.

What can we learn from the likes of Walt Disney, Jackson

Pollock, and Woody Allen? Sadiq Somjee will share his

experiences developing graphic novels, games, books and

software products.

Venue

This talk was presented at the Creative Ink Festival on May 8th, ,

2016 at the Delta Burnaby Hotel & Conference Centre.

About the author

Sadiq Somjee is a visual artist, graphic novelist and an IT

management consultant who is inspired by nature. He published

The Cheese In Between, a graphic novel in 2015.

© S.Somjee

The Creative ProcessFor artists & writers

The Creative Process

1. How do we get from idea to product?

2. What can we learn from famous creative people?

3. Decomposing the creative process

4. My experience in developing a graphic novel .

5. Summary

6. Q & A - if time permits

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The Creative Process

Creativity is the capacity to make connections, explore and develop interesting work.

The creative process is how we get from

idea to product using creativity.

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Once upon a time …

Max had a happy life on the family farm but wanted more. So he left for the city where he landed a job in a cubicle farm. He got the promotion. Jenny got upset because she wanted the job. That my friends, is how the story began.

How do you tell this story visually?

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Once upon a time….

Max had a happy life on the family farm but wanted more.

And he landed a job in a cubicle farm.

One day he left for the city.

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Jenny got upset because she wanted the job.

Max got a promotion.

*&##

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That my friends, is how the story began.

From the graphic novel

The Cheese In BetweenAvailable on Amazon

The Creative Process

• Is deeply personal

• Everyone has unique things that work for them

Idea Development

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Multiple creative streams and iterations

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START

END

Concept Development

Intersecting Streams

Convergence

Graphic novel process

• Story Iterations

• Story board iterations

• Polished art iterations

• Test and feedback iterations

• Production & publishing iterations

• Marketing iterations

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Elements of a (graphic) novel

Novel

Characters

& interactions

Worlds &

environments

Anthropology,

people &

cultures

Technical,

production

Story & art

sequencing

e.g.

Batman’s Gothem City,

The Avatar fantasy world

e.g. Tribes in the

Planet of the Apes

e.g.

Caesar and

his master

Editing &

publishing

Framing

• Conflict

• Despair

• Victory

Page

• Flow

• Rhythm

• Panels

• Layout

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Woody AllenScreenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, playwright and musician

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1. Has and idea drawer by his bedside:

• When he has time he spreads these scraps of paper on his bed and mines them for ideas.

2. Likes playing the clarinet

3. Uses an old Olympia typewriter

• Copy and paste means using glue and scraps of paper.

Retelling, borrowing and mutating • Taking an existing story and tell it from another point of view

• From movies, books and history

• Alice in Wonderland

• Leonardo da Vinci

• For example

• Change the time period to modern times

• Change the endings

• Change character (Black Cinderella)

Max falls into cubicle worldDown the rabbit hole.

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Twist the familiar

How do you show anger?

1. Give the character power

2. Show the transformation

with words or visually

3. Make the character scary

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Exploiting iconic scenes

Max and Mr. Lee run from an angry user

Play“Creativity comes from a conflict of ideas”

– Donatella Versace

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Making absurd connections• A rabbit with a waistcoat and watch ?

• The mystery and excitement of the unknown (tunnel, a deep well)

• Great opening tension - how will Alice get back ?

• Pace and rhythm – A very long opening sentence with no time to take a breath.

CHAPTER I. Down the Rabbit-Hole by Lewis Carol

• …. the Rabbit actually TOOK A WATCH OUT OF ITS WAISTCOAT-POCKET, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.

• In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.

Project Gutenberg License courtesy of gutenberg.org

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Jackson Pollock

• Mix it up and get random

• Jackson Pollock would drop a blob of paint and run it over his canvas.

• He would take a dripping paint brush and whip it across the canvas in a random direction.

• He said he could control the flow of paint and there is no beginning or ending.

• In his drip period (1947-1950) he used many of these techniques. I think of them as blob, splatter and drip.

• See my digital simulation on YouTube https://youtu.be/fB50BdyyTBE

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Showing chaos, anger, plotting…

“Mad Jenny” is the antagonist in my story. I wanted to show how she felt deep inside and what drove her sociopathic tendencies:

• This panel was inspired by the art work Jackson Pollock (1912-1956).

• Shows intertwined social networks for evil Jenny to manipulate and get absorbed in.

• The benefit is that you get to learn and grow your style by exploring, mixing and borrowing.

• Steal like an artist!

Emulating Picasso• Depicting stress, confusion.

• Alternate Reality (Fringe).

• Distorted Perception

• Picasso borrowed from African art

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Research & Observe“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh,

the thinks you can think if you try”

– Dr. Seuss

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The “office” culture

Like an anthropologist, study the new environment.

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Office Space• Draw out your

environment and describe it.

• A make believe eco-system at Mega Corp.

• The robot people are happy and live in user land.

• Tribes, elders and high councils preside.

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Trust & Intuition“I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them”

– Pablo Picasso

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Activate your sensesHow can you get your reader to feel, smell and be in the page?

• Senses:

• Visual thinkers

• Auditory (music, sing)

• Tactile (touch, Dance, building stuff)

• Smell

• Many others like heart, intuition, balance

• If you are a writer, take a stab at drawing the scene. No matter how “poor” your art is, next describe it with words. You will be surprised with the new things that emerge from your mind.

• Some people record their stories and play it back. You will catch things that will not show up just by reading

• Some graphic artists build models of the scene. The tactile activity gives a new perspective and helps navigate the environment.

Powerful

Expression

Imagine

Experiment

Visual

Music

Tactile

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Stepping back from your work

• Step back and write down the essence of the chapter or a scene on separate cards.

• Lay the chapter cards out on a large table and walk through the story in your mind.

• Play with timelines, themes and characters.

• Go away and sleep on it, come back the next day and mix it up.

• Cut up the words on your page and mix them with a magazine article

• I did the cut and paste exercise with the panel on the left.

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Change your view“You see things and say, why?

But I dream things that never were; And I say, why not?”

– George Bernard Shaw ww

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Vocalists, artists and writers all benefit from warm ups.

• If you are stuck, try:

• Picking another character in the scene and write from his or her point of view.

• How would he react and what is he feeling about the situation.

• Think of the scene as a stage with many points of view.

• If you are doing an art piece, consider:

• Starting with a splat of paint

• Look at you work through a color glass or mirror

• Turn it upside down and work on it.

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Showing rhythm, emotion & determination

• Max is having a moral crisis in this panel.

• Inspired by Churchill’s speech “We shall never surrender.”

• The art of war by Sun Tzu.

• The panel design shows a fast tempo.

• It has rhythm and emotion.

• From anger, to consideration and finally to resolve.

• If Max above was one of your characters, how would you describe his feelings across the panels?

• Can you get across the tempo and rhythm in your writing? Poets and musicians do this naturally with patterns of sounds, repetition and shape on the page.

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Famous People & Creative Styles• William Turner

• Tied himself to a mast of ship to experience a snow storm• Then painted it

• Woody Allen • Writes notes on scraps of paper• Spreads them out to mine for stories

• Emily Carr• Explored, travelled and observed• Inspired by nature and forests• Rebel, did not let society influence her

• Ralf Steadman (From “For No Good Reason” Documentary)• Begins with a splat of paint and sees what it brings

• Michael Angelo • Saw an angel in the stone and I set it free• Vision, imagination and skill

• Elizabeth Gilbert • Capture your idea before it blows away with the wind

Disney gets an Idea to animate on film reels

(age 13)

California studio job

Lost job, started an animation studio and lost all

Started again with Mickey Mouse

The Birth of Mickey Mouse

Idea Incubation Preparation Iteration Outcome

Creative Process Summary

Preparation

Incubation

Illumination

Idea Product

Progressive iterations

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Books on Amazon by the Author Spartan Project Management

Provides a simple framework on how to manage projects. The author shares his 30 years of IT project management experience. This is a simple guide for new and budding project managers. The second edition includes chapters on the creative process and project management as a story.

The Cheese In Between

A satirical graphic novel about the adventures of Max, a farm boy who lands a job as a first time project manager in a large corporation. Max navigates his way around a corporate ecosystem, there he encounters tribes of consultants, developers analysts and managers. Join Max the project manager and Kumar the lead developer on this excellent adventure.

Ava

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Thank You

@SadiqSomjee