Thanks for this excellent video. I have been a writer all of my life and am only getting serious about art quite late but I've become increasingly aware of how much of the two creative processes are similar. I learned in writing to do exactly what he talks about in the video -- simplify and be honest -- and most of that occurs in the planning. I start my writing with coming up with a theme but then writing down all of the questions that a theme would raise for people which gets me to move past a trite simplistic piece. I think that's what he means by telling the truth -- not reaching for the obvious, the trite, the easy presentation but really trying to figure out what you want to say and why its important that you say it.
In my writing process, once I've honed my theme, I then basically throw everything at the board that has anything to do with that theme (I have an actual virtual bulletin board on my computer) and then I rearrange, rearrange, rearrange, and cut, cut, cut, cut. From that I write an ugly draft and the real magic is in the final editing. The SVS teachers have described a very similar process in illustration of developing key words, mind mapping, and doing tons of thumbnails to make sure that everything in the illustration works visually to tell the story you want to tell.
I really appreciated the photographer in the video who talked about simplifying your technique so that the meaning of the work comes through. It really helps me as a new artist to focus on the story and worry less about my still inadequate "artistry."
@donnamakesart Thanks so much for sharing this video.
