thanx for share nate!
you are genius!
seeyou

wow fantastic, I had a project like this a while back, it’s so cool to see how you solve the topic. Wish i had known about this then. :) I love the crane idea by the way. I think that many people working in the editorial field can benefit from this, not only illustrators.

These are the same methods I have used for many years Nate. I read through and try to find most important words which sum up the article, look for any obviously descriptive words and make a list of all the graphic elements and objects that I can work with. Then I use my imagination to invent a scenario using a selection of these elements.

Some academic articles with paragraphs of waffle can be challenging but generally there’s usually at least one concrete element around which to develop an image.

I use a similar method but doodling mindlessly plays a big part. The mindless bit is very important. Getting your conscious mind out of the way to let ideas bubble up from that primeval all seeing super brain that exists in the subconscious. Its amazing what pops out and is related to the problem – sometimes admittedly in weird ways.

I also collect strictly useful links on delicious to help my students. My collection of links to websites covering methods to be creative is here at http://delicious.com/rawstudio/creativity

Cheers All

Brilliant! love your method and it’s inspirational to me! as well as your art…. keep it up..thanks for sharing.

Even without a block, this is a fun method. Great work!

nice one nate! Thanks.

Nate,

I never needed to create ideas I feel you just need to remember the ones you have already had sometimes and that reaction you felt when they sparked your noodle. In this remeberance I find myself (day or sleep) dreaming through these ideas making them visual for me.

I also like to think of a time and place then look for relevant words in a dictionary. Time and place gives me a setting like writing a play. For example I began writing a miedieval play set in a valley for liesure and wrote on seperate pages words that I loved to visualize so that I could reference them later. You should be good at that since you toss words around on canvas. Creating the setting is a good starting point since it sets the mood & is a tool to change or manipulate the mood.

I could go on and on in just ideas on how to have ideas. We should talk more. I love your art. Thanks for the emails.

Hi Nate, been reading stuff on your site for the past 2 hours. I now have widescreen eyes! I still haven’t finished!!
I’m a graphic designer and thinking about going back to really what inspired me which was pencil & paper, so been trawling the net during breaks for material and info etc etc… and came across your Illustration Career page. You could charge people to read these pages ‘seriously good stuff’!

Thank you very, very, very much!

Peteman

Thank you so much for sharing your method. Its always great to see how people deal with a project.
The links you posted are also wonderful.
Thanks again.

I think my work method is more simple. I just note in my sketchbook all the daily things which call my atteption. Sometimes they are stupid things, but, when you have to create an idea, these things can change and are the beginning of inspiration.
However, you method is very interesting for me, and I think I will check it.
Than you for sharing it with all us.
Mar Ballesteros
http://www.borumbara.blogspot.com

I find that if I “think” about it, my ideas come out to complicated in the sense that most people just don't get the visual. So, I try and stop thinking words and try and do strictly visuals… get a little day dream/mental animation going. I try and keep words out of it. Once I get to seeing something good, as weird as it often is… its often a more understandable or at least more appealing result than I would have had with words.
…do like your method… will try it as I sometimes see the same daydream between projects.. and that's not too helpful! Thanks, great art, great site, excellent instruction

Thank you Nate, these are brilliant ideas, which I passed on to my daugher who's studying marketing and advertising. :)

http://www.lavenderfield.etsy.com

thanks for your Tips

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My favorite is a “round-robin” approach, because it’s more dialogical than monological. You pass a beginning idea around a circle, each adding a quick fragment onto the last. Yes there are issues of trust, control and attachment; but if all you ever do is work alone those never get challenged.