The creative process

An artist drawing on his mobile phone during the creative process
Vincent Van Gogh wakes up full of ideas for his next painting. He picks up his iPhone, opens his Instagram account – @therealvincentvangogh – and starts a live video, walking his followers through his process. ” I have an idea,” he says. “I want to paint the starry night I see from my window…”

For days he shares the process until he completes it. Then he shares the finished work, and boom, it goes viral. Mixed comments start raining in. Some say the painting is amateurish and childish and that he should look for a real job.

Well, the above is fiction. Vincent died before social media. But imagine if the masters of art and creativity worked the way we do now, sharing everything they do as they do it. It seems they’d be distracted, and their creations wouldn’t have the impact they do now.

Unless it’s a tutorial, the creative process has to take place behind closed doors, where people can have absolute concentration and the freedom to explore ideas without judgement from others.