One of the key elements of creating something is challenging yourself. To go out of the comfort zone, experiment and to come up with something you would have never thought of is exhilarating and relaxing. Channeling your creative concoction from your mind to the outer world no matter the form requires a medium. A medium that you’re familiar with: pencil, paintbrush, music, speech, dance, lights, or your body. But when I know myself and my creative process, choosing a medium becomes a creative decision.
1. Talk to the challenge and the tools
But what if I am presented with the medium? Pens are the primary source of engagement with DKP’s artwork. Black, white and playful use of colors to add a little fun is what we love but are not limited to. Recently, we got a chance to work with LBB and Monkey Bar, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi to do a huge artwork during a busy night at the bar as it was “India’s first black moon night party!” under the moonlight peeking through the bar’s glass ceiling. That’s amazing, isn't it? Well…
This is where a challenge was waiting to get itself discovered. We had paintbrushes, neon paints, and a huge pitch-black canvas kept ready for us. The mediums were no doubt quite challenging but we knew ourselves and our creative decisions. Where to start with them?
2. Remember your journey, be transparent to the environment
The place has a hip vibe, people are dancing to mostly electronic and trance tunes. The night sky from the roof is looking down with Mr. Moon being full and in the mood. The music, environment and the sheer dynamics of the energy inside me and emitted by the people around allowed me to absorb the entire experience and make creative decisions that were based on my work but with a different medium: paint. I love black, that achromatic color is goals! But this time I can’t use it. The canvas is black. But, I can use it to define what I’m going to do. A little bit of the shining paint on me and there it goes.
3. Let the environment and the challenge mix together and begin
Remembering and really using the effort you put into your daily creativity is a much bigger power than a transient change in the day. The paintbrush is a pen now and the paint is ink. I just started painting and one creation led to another, the picture became clear and the excitement built exponentially. Then within a moment, the paintbrush became a wand and the paint a source of light in the dark surroundings.
Understanding and talking to the shining neon paint (in my mind, of course) on the dark canvas on a full moon night in a place playing trance music evoked the feelings of authentic indigenous and earthy experience. I knew what I was feeling and the brush moved, putting my thoughts into abstract figures, forms, and shapes. “They will come together”, I anticipated.
4. Feel
Perceiving the environment and bonding with it through the forces of creativity and your sheer will to do it will help you uncover your hidden gems one at a time. It was almost like I was dancing with the people, playing with the music, working out with the environment and ambiance and putting it all together, learning from it and finally putting my creative understanding of all of the movements into a piece that came together. The randomness of thoughts manifested into a glowing canvas complementing the mechanical energy of the dance floor.
5. Reflect
Talk to the challenge and the tools, remember your creative journey until the challenge occurred, let yourself become transparent to the environment, club the challenge and the environment, just start doing, keep feeling what you’re creating and build upon that. The end may surprise you. Don’t forget to keep mental notes of the creative process you chose to tackle the challenge. Reflect on them in future challenges.
You see a piece of paper
Could be a little greater
For more media on the neon doodle. Here’s the link
Fin
Written By: Rahul Sharma
©2020 Doodle Kit Project