Defining the Creative Process
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Education)
Summary: Article published in the newsletter of the American Soc. Botanical Artists (ASBA) No.31 - Spring 2004.
Defining my creative process to facilitate my teaching methods and to recognize my own approach to painting botanical
art works.
The message finally got through to me after teaching numerous groups of eager students – I have to get all these
ideas that buzz around in my head when I am drawing and painting into some sort of order. How could I be
consistent in presenting my ideas and techniques to those who wished to know more about how I developed a
painting when really, truth be known, I had not consciously thought about it myself? My methods I guess had
morphed from numerous layers of - experience, intuition or simply by circumstance. And so it was that a
seemingly haphazard approach, unconsciously developed over a number of years, finally got organized into a four-
stage process that I found useful not only for teaching students at the advanced level but for my own art. I should
add here that my approach to botanical art is not what has come to be regarded as the norm. I have never been a
student at a botanical art class but rather I gained my knowledge and experience from four years at art school and
through my years working as a full time botanical illustrator (working with pen and ink).
Comprehensive printed class notes with references to previous class work at a lower level, as well as practical tips,
were provided for my students in Australia and to a lesser degree for master class students here in the States. They
have yet to be updated and transposed into American English for issuing as class notes to my students here. A note
I include in the preface of these class notes suggests the content may look quite daunting and hardly a text to
promote creativity however, the purpose is to offer a structured base from which to explore creative concepts and
eventually to develop a personal signature. The information below provides an outline of the contents of the class
notes and has been offered with the view that it may be helpful if you are interested in defining your own creative
process.
“STAGES TO ASSIST A CREATIVE PROCESS – for advanced level students of botanic art”
STAGE I: OBSERVING
FIELD STUDY & COLLECTION (Taking time to become inspired)
Field study; Collection methods; Identification process
May include research into formal plant description required for scientific illustration
IN THE STUDIO
Setting up and arrangement of specimens; Photography; Reference drawings including Light & Shade rendering
and Color notes.
STAGE 2: COMPOSING
DESIGNING THE COMPOSITION’S MAIN STRUCTURE
Finalizing structural design; Final design review & procedures
MAINTAINING THE FOCAL POINT & ENHANCING THE PERCEPTION OF A THIRD DIMENSION
Tonal composition; Value Keys
STAGE 3: TRANSFERRING
TRANSFERRING THE DETAILED DRAWING FROM FINAL DESIGN
Outlining; Defining
TRANSFERRING VALUES TO COLOR & PREPARING COLOR MIXES
Color mixing; Color pencil applications (if this particular Saul technique is required); Watercolor wash applications;
Re-evaluation
STAGE 4: DETAILING
FURTHER CREATIVE THINKING
Unity – of color; Enhancing focal point – color intensity or textural detail; Delineating
FINAL DETAILS - Referring back and re-check; Cleaning up; Critique; Storing art work.
Margaret Saul © 2004
Margaret Saul © 2005
