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Are you creative or do you lack imagination?

For me, having original ideas is the very heart of creativity. Or at least being able to put your own spin on things.

I know what you mean, and I've sometimes questioned whether my skill is actually creativity. As I said before, I graduated with honours in visual arts, so I must have done something right in their eyes. :D In life drawing and painting the primary emphasis was on being able to accurately record the subject with the correct scale, etc. Then the individual stylistic elements could come into it. When we were required to quickly sketch a painting (30 seconds) the idea was to record an impression of the subject; even if the style was rushed, messy, odd colours, the subject needed to be recognisable within the work. So this makes me think that analytical and spatial skills are still vital in visual arts, at least.

What you said also raises some other points... If you consider art throughout history you'll see there were many stylistic periods. Before Impressionism the accepted styles were always realistic. One of the hallmarks of the Renaissance period was the new use of perspective, which added a much more realistic appearance. Before the Renaissance the styles were more "primitive" but still were focussed on accurately portraying a subject, be it a religious subject or a portrait. The original ideas were in the composition of the work.

It wasn't really until the twentieth century that individuality or originality seemed to become much more important. Now there is pressure to be unique.


But there are some people in class who have a very creative style that's unique.. It's so cool. One guy makes the models look like Japanese anime characters, another makes them look like cartoons. Another doesn't draw any hard lines, only shadows. I look at their work and wish I had a sense of style the way they do. My stuff always seems so plain and without personal style in comparison. But that also brings up an interesting point, that I still struggle with identify issues and have all my life.. Which apparently is pretty common for aspergirls..

Remember that the way you do things is your personal style. :) It doesn't need to be showy. And it is no less skilled and no less interesting.

Do you know that Bowie mural that was on the news when he died? The guy who painted it, Jimmy C, has developed his own unique style of painting, a type of spray paint/aerosol pointillism. I went to uni with him and when we did our painting major together, he was already heavily into painting with aerosols rather than a brush. He just kept playing with it until he found something that worked for him. But he also had to do the regular life painting with a brush...

Another guy in our painting classes was really into abstract painting and I don't think I ever saw him do what could be called an "accurate" painting. It was always abstract, like cubist and so on. I don't know how he got on with the lecturers...I can't remember :oops:. It was 20 years ago, haha.

You'll find that most famous artists started out with "realistic" styles and experimented until they found their own style. But that doesn't mean it's necessary to express yourself in a fancy way... My way was to be super realistic, and that is ok. :)

If you do want to experiment, spend some time doing that. Be messy, try different media. Try to do a self portrait a day. Nobody will see it, so no need to stress about it being "good" or accurate. The task is to make marks on your paper and play around with how to move your body or implement in order to make them. You could set a timer, say five minutes, and stand in front of the mirror and sketch away until the timer goes off. Feel free to throw everything you make out as soon as you've made it if you don't want to keep it. All you want to do is free yourself up. You might find a new form of expressive mark making that you didn't know was in you. I hope this makes sense. :)
 
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I'm a writer (working on a book, as well as short stories and poetry), and I write 'content' for living too (editor of a magazine).

I know of quite a few creative autistic people, both male and female.

What is your book about?
 
I am creative I like to draw comic book or manga style drawings,I use markers and pens but I use to use pencil crayons,I never been to any art class except in high school but I really am more self taught,I did stop drawing for a while due to my own self critic and Being a perfectionist when it comes to my drawings but I'm slowly learning to not listen to my inner critic and actually did a full drawing on paper recently and feel like I am getting back into it because I realised that being a perfectionist actually stops you from drawing and learning.
 
I like a lot of handcrafts, but I also have more tools than most men, and when I got divorced, I got the the table saw, the drill press, the lathe, the band saw...I have more tools than most men and I know how to use them (I took three quarters of machining, too).

However, housework is hell, and I don't get all that excited about fashion and babies and getting my nails done and all those other 'feminine' things that stereotypical females are supposed to. I reckon that interests on the spectrum are as varied as we are in other ways.
 
jolilabrat
"I don't really have any hobbies. I enjoy reading, movies and LOVE researching stuff.

Am I an odd ball even in the aspie community? Are there any other aspie females who lack interests and hobbies?"

The first two sentences contradict each other.
The 2nd and 4th sentences are also at odds to each other.

In what way is a love of research not an interest?
How is the enjoyment of reading & movies not a hobby?

I don't see researching as an interest. More like a temporary obsession. An itch to satisfy my curiosity. The same pretty much applies to reading and watching movies not being hobbies. I believe hobbies are ongoing, not short lived. Like collecting coins, cross stitching, painting, etc... Activities in which the person's skill level increases over time. I don't watch movies better than I used to.
 
I'm curious. Is it common for female aspies to be creative? To enjoy cooking, sewing, arts & crafts? Decorating? Doing hair and nails? Painting, or anything creative?

I don't seem to have any interest in any of it. I don't have a lot in common with stereotypical females. But I'm not a tomboy either. I don't like camping, bugs, dirt. I am not good with a tool belt. I don't like sports, online computer games. I don't have any typical male interests.

I do identify as a heterosexual female. I don't really have any hobbies. I enjoy reading, movies and LOVE researching stuff.

Am I an odd ball even in the aspie community? Are there any other aspie females who lack interests and hobbies?

To be even more specific, my imaginative part of the brain is an empty white board. Bringing up new ideas and creativity is pretty much impossible. BUT I'm a skilled Tweaker. No, not drugs....Tweaking as in I can build onto someone else's idea, recipe, decoration, etc...
 
Hmm, it's quite complicated to explain! It's what happens when the universe/god/whatever gets sick of listening to people pray for love, so pairs them up automatically.

Universal Shipping.
Yipes. :eek:
 
jolilabrat I am pretty much like you. I cannot imagine anything original at all. I copy well, but I have no capability to think up anything original.

This is me. I love machines and have spent a lifetime working on them. The more complex, the better. I have the ability to understand complicated concepts and see them working in my minds eye. However, I am in awe of those who designed these very devices. They are the creative ones.
 
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