Creative Cognitive Process of Art Making: A Field Study of a Traditional Chinese Ink Painter

This study investigated the drawing processes of a Chinese ink painter through field observation, interviews, and a field experiment. Compared to many studies using a single method such as interview only, this multimethod study enabled us to capture the creative processes from various perspectives. We observed processes of drawing in a temple and asked the painter to draw 16 pictures in a field experiment (8 created from random lines that the audience drew and 8 created on blank paper). We found that (a) the painter seemed to gradually form a global image of the drawing as he drew each part one by one, (b) lines that the audience drew seemed to create new constraints for his drawing and forced him to create a new style of pictures, and (c) the painter moved his brush in the air before actually drawing lines on the paper. This hand movement seems to have one of the following functions: positioning (where to draw), rehearsal (how to draw), and image generation (what to draw). How do artists create artwork? When artists were asked about how images and concepts in their artwork had been generated, the artists told us that they did not know what happened in their minds while they were creating the works, and some of them said, “New ideas and images suddenly fall from the sky.” Therefore, artists have seemed to believe that artistic creations are mystic phenomena. In contrast, psychologists (e.g., Gruber, 1979; Weisberg, 1986) claimed that accumulation of creative activities was necessary for artists and scientists to generate new ideas and concepts. Citing experiences of various types of artists, composers, poets, and so on, Weisberg (1986) suggested that the creative leap is based on artists’ existing works, and that ordinary cognitive processes underline the sudden emergence of images or concepts. To test this claim, it is necessary to capture online processes while artists make artwork. Although there have been some studies with related interests, the great majority of psychological research on artistic creation has not focused on the artists’actual working processes in detail. For example, some studies have attempted to model the cognitive, affective, behavioral, and contextual factors associated with the making of a work of art (e.g., Cawelti, Rappaport, & Wood, 1992; Glueck, Ernst, & Unger, 2002; Jones, Runco, Dorman, & Freeland, 1997; Kay, 1991; Mace & Ward, 2002; Stohs, 1991). Also, studies of creative individuals in various domains have focused on their products and self-report to embrace their creative breakthroughs (e.g., Franklin, 1989; Gardner, 1993; Raina, 1997; Wallace & Gruber, 1989). Although these studies have focused on real artists, they have used techniques such as interviewing to understand what artists actually do during the creation, while neglecting online methods such as observation. Other studies of artists (e.g., Eindhoven & Vinacke, 1952; Israeli, 1981; Patrick, 1937) could not reveal creative cognitive processes in detail either. For example, Eindhoven and Vinacke (1952) compared the behavior of real artists versus nonartists during painting of an ilCreativity Research Journal 2005, Vol. 17, No. 2 & 3, 241–255 Copyright © 2005 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Creativity Research Journal 241 This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid of Scientific Research 2000–2001, Exploratory Research 12871017, from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science to the second author. Because this field study was carried out over 4 years, we indeed want to show gratitude to Mr. K for his participation and cooperation. We also thank Kevin Crowley and many other colleagues and graduate students who gave us useful comments on earlier drafts or at conference presentations. Correspondence and requests for reprints should be sent to Takeshi Okada, Graduate School of Education and Human Development, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464–8601, Japan. E-mail: [email protected] or to Sawako Yokochi, E-mail: [email protected] lustration for a poem. They suggested that the artists restructured their final products more than nonartists did. However, these studies are relatively old, predating the information-processing revolution, which had since occurred in thecognitivepsychology field.Thus, resultsof the studies remained conjectural because they could not capture whole processes of creation using presently available technology such as video cameras, and advanced analytical methods. More recently, Israeli (1981) studied artistic decision making through interviews, examination of sketchbooks, notes and finished works, and observation. Although this study characterized the types of decision making from episodes of each artist, it is unclear what cognitive processes underlie the generation of creative works. Thus, despite these efforts, creative cognitive processes are not yet well understood. What kinds of creative cognitive processes can we find from online processes of an artist’s creation? Through collecting and analyzing the online data of an artist at work, this study focused on the following general questions: (a) processes of image generation in an actual artist at work, (b) processes of transcending the artist’s previous works, and (c) relationship between creativity and body movement. First, how do artists generate their new ideas and images? Do artistic images and ideas suddenly come up in their minds? In the episodic studies of a famous artist, Pablo Picasso, Gardner (1993) and Weisberg (1986) both mentioned that Picasso drew a number of sketches in preparation for Guernica to create great artwork. In addition to the studies of artists, in the field of architectural design research, researchers have claimed that sketches are a good medium for reflective conversation with one’s own ideas and imagery (e.g., Dorst & Dijkhuis,1995;Goel,1995;Goldschmidt,1991;Schon, 1983; Suwa & Tversky, 1997). In other words, design is seen as a process in which each designer constructs his or her own reality by his or her own actions that are reflective, responsive,andopportunistic to thedesignsituation. It seems that designers gradually form their images while drawing their sketches. From results across studies of famous artists and studies of architectural design, we may be able to predict that artists, especially painters, do not have entire images of their works at the beginning, but they gradually form their mental image through drawing objects. Second, how do artists transcend their previous works when creating new artwork? If creation is based on artists’ previous works as Weisberg (1986) claimed, it might be difficult for artists to create a new style of artwork. In experimental studies of creative thinking using undergraduates, researchers have shown that people tend to have difficulties in crossing the boundary of an ordinary concept to create new products (e.g., March, Landau, & Hicks, 1996; Smith, Ward, & Schumacher, 1993; Ward, 1994; Ward & Sifonis, 1997). These studies have focused on the effects of prior experiences and existing category information in the creative idea generation task. They asked participants to generate imaginary animals living on a planet somewhere else in the galaxy. The results showed that people tend to adopt attributes of animals living on earth. Thus, they claimed that people become constrained within the properties of existingexamples ingeneratingnewideasandconcepts. In the case of artists, it seems that their previous artwork is a constraint toward creating a new style of work. How doartistsmanageconformity to transcendtheirprevious artworks? This study focused on cognitive processes in transcending artists’ previous works and overcoming conformity. Third,what is the relationshipbetweencognitionand body movement? Do artists’body movements influence their minds? Creative cognitive processes are complicated. The processes combine a diverse collection of cognitive activities, such as mental activities and physical activities. In studies of embodied representation, researchers have argued that sensory-motor systems, such as body movement, could affect the cognitive processes (e.g., Barsalou, 1999; Prinz & Barsalou, 2000). It seems that artists’ skills and body movements may be needed not only for substantializing their images and ideas in their minds, but also for generating their images and ideas while creating artwork. If so, it is necessary to observe online creative processes of artists at work to investigate the relationship between cognition and body movement. In this exploratory study, we tried to answer these questions focusing on a fine artist. The authors present a field case study based on observations, interviews, and a field experiment with detailed cognitive analyses of the drawing processes of a Suibokuga (Chinese ink painting) painter. We conducted a case study because this methodology is one of the most useful means for understanding talented people. Consequently, it has been widely adopted not only in psychology, but also in diverse fields such as medicine, physiology, history of science, literature, and sociol242 Creativity Research Journal S. Yokochi and T. Okada