Looking Back on Things

     I've learned a lot these past couple days while we have been learning about creativity. This unit has definitely broadened my horizons on what it means for a person to be creative. Having imitated someone who is very obviously beyond creative (if that is even possible), I can honestly say that the words "being creative" have an entirely new meaning to me after this unit. The most fun I had during our escapades into the creative domains was really being able to research more about Alex Pardee. He has always peaked my interest and I have always wanted to know just how he comes up with all the crazy stuff that he creates. I also had a lot of fun making my own creative contributions to surrealism art. It was really hard work to make those drawings, but once they were finished the sense of accomplishment was so great that it made me forget about all of the hardships and take in the fact that I made something unique. Having said this, the most difficult part was also intertwined within the best part. Coming up with the emotions to counter act each other in my drawings not only took a long time, but it was a very abstract process I feel like. Then, once I found that out, I had to come up with a situation in order to put these emotions in order for them to do the opposite of what you would think. It really forced me to think outside of the box and put my creativity to work. The domain that I chose is important to me because I learned about it really long ago from one of my best friends in high school and it always interested me but I never really had a chance to delve deeper into the work that Pardee did. My imitative work differs from my original work because It focuses on a different goal. Whereas my imitative work is there for shock value, my original piece has a much deeper emotional meaning. Creativity to me, as I said before, has been given an entirely new meaning to me. Creativity itself, to me, means being able to think abstractly and outside the box in order to create original ideas that make people think deeper than just what you have drawn before you. I am glad that I was able to take part in this research in order to better my understanding on what it truly means to be creative.