Why Critical Thinking is an Important Skill for Artists
- Leia Emeera
- Jul 22, 2024
- 8 min read
Updated: Nov 9
Table of Contents:
What is Critical Thinking?
In simpler words, critical thinking in art means using reasoning to make decisions on what to create and how to express ideas through art.
Artists usually engage in critical thinking when they reflect on the meaning behind their work and decide how best to convey their message to the audience. It also involves applying concepts thoughtfully to evaluate and shape the meaning of their art.
To quote Michael Scriven and Richard Paul (2003), critical thinking can be defined as “the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skilfully conceptualising, applying, analysing, synthesising, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.”
Essentially, it shapes the way you approach and do certain things. It is suggested that critical thinking is not natural but rather a discipline. Therefore, with time and effort, it can be learnt and practised.
The Role of Critical Thinking in Creative Project Management
To address the main topic at hand—where does critical thinking come into play within creative project management?
Projects aren’t always linear, and often you must consider varying factors, tangible or intangible, predictable or unpredictable. Which can be a difficult task in a world as abstract as art.
Therefore, artists should apply critical thinking to make methodological guesses and thoughtful deductions to best predict the possibilities or “hiccups” you may encounter throughout your project timeline. Besides that, by using rational thought processes, you’re able to come up with efficient solutions quickly.
More specifically, here are other ways conceptual and critical thinking are used within creative project management:
Effective Communication: People have personal biases, which are something not even the best critical thinkers are exempt from. Therefore, we should be clear and concise in our speech to ensure that what we say is not ambiguous.
There should be little room for interpretation if, for example, a client your team is working with explicitly asks for something specific in terms of artistic reasoning and direction.
Research and Analysis: Data gathered should be relevant and precise, so decisions made throughout are well-informed. In an era of digital misinformation, critical thinking helps with distinguishing fact from fiction.
Gaining meaningful insight into your research can significantly enrich your art, which simultaneously aids in avoiding major risks or issues and can help you with creative problem-solving.
Evaluation and Feedback: This is a critical part of project management. It ensures that the work produced stays in line with the artistic visions planned and allows for any problems to be addressed.
Evaluation and feedback must be done critically—avoid applying your own personal biases and think objectively, for the creative project’s best interest.
How Artists Have a Natural Advantage in Critical Thinking
Frankly, critical thinking can be hard to fully utilise; it takes time and experience. Before we head on to how you can develop critical thinking skills, did you know that being an artist gives you a competitive edge in practising it?
Yes, artists often develop critical thinking skills through their craft. Here’s why:
Enhanced Observation
As an artist, you are likely to have sharper observational skills than most. Your craft requires you to carefully examine your subjects or your piece by analysing details, patterns, and perspectives to ensure you create an optimal result—this translates well to critical thinking.
Not all the facts will fall into your hands. More often than not, you may be required to gather information yourself, especially when a topic is as abstract and broad as art can be. To do so, artists tend to take time to observe things and to ensure they have maintained situational awareness and taken note of social cues or minor changes in a body of work.
Observational skills also aid in the communicative aspects of critical thinking. Before sharing your feedback, you should observe both the art and the artist to settle on the communication approach.
Then, your notes should be accurate, detailed, and critical to ensure that your observations are delivered effectively.
Embedded Creativity
Artists are creative—there is no way around it. Whether this be a practiced skill or an innate trait of yours, it’s a definite card under your belt. And critical thinking calls for creativity.
The conclusions you come to are not picked out of a set box; rather, they are special to the context of the situation. When you pick apart a piece of art promptly, you start analysing and interpreting it.
This is not dissimilar to a situation where critical thinking needs to be used. Creative problem-solving and innovation are ingrained in the process. If this stays as a constant practice, you'd learn to approach communication from thorough thought processes before forming a final point of view or aesthetic judgement.
Adaptability and Versatile Skills
Art is not limited to a singular form or medium. Even if you may have focused on a specific expertise, you have likely dabbled in various other types of art. This teaches you two important factors of critical thinking—adaptability and keeping an open mind.
It is important that you have considered numerous factors and possibilities before you come to a certain conclusion, and in doing so, your plans should have buffer space for any sudden change in factors.
A Real-Life Example of Artists Demonstrating Critical Thinking
El Anatsui
A Ghanaian sculptor who uses materials that are typically thrown away. He challenges the traditional art forms of contemporary art, using bottle caps, discarded clothes and broken pots. He creates large-scale structures to give a message about history and colonialism in his home.
Pablo Picasso
A familiar name in the art space, where he creates art to bring awareness to conflict at a global scale by using blocky and sharp styles like ‘Guernica’. Instead of a direct message about the Spanish Civil War, he created an abstract outlook of the horror and chaos.
This art was exhibited at the Paris World’s Fair in 1937 and then to the rest of the world to bring global attention, turning his art into an anti-war statement.
Ruth Asawa
An American modernist artist who uses wire to create sculptures and has a belief that art education should be accessible. To deliver her message, she uses sustainable materials and techniques in her art and through her arts workshop programme for students who otherwise did not have a formal education in art.
Additionally, she works with community and public spaces to bring that awareness.
How to Develop and Strengthen Critical Thinking as an Artist
Storytelling
Whether it be through clay, paint, or pastel, depict a story through your art, if you haven’t been doing so already. While it’s important to do so while keeping personal aesthetics and methods, each stroke must be intentional.
Give meaning to your art, and you learn to think and act with purpose. This helps with communication; if you can convey a story through your art, it’s likely that your speech can do the same.
Analytical Thinking
Take a piece or two and make careful observations. Whether analysing the piece in its historical or biographical context or simply conducting a comparative visual analysis, ask questions and seek answers.
For example, enquire about what you think is going on in a piece and why you think so. Be specific in your personal inquisitions, because analysis translates well into the craft of critical thinking.
Reflection & Self-Evaluation
Take a step back and reflect on the pieces you have created. Why did you create it? Why did you choose a particular colour, and what could you have done differently? If you can critique yourself without bias or unnecessary criticism, providing feedback to others through critical thinking becomes effortless.
Common Misconceptions Artists Have About Critical Thinking
It’s Only for Arguments and Being Negative
The word 'critical' can come with a negative connotation (emotional association with a word). Not just artists, but the generic view of critical thinking has been thought to be only for pointing out flaws rather than constructive reasons and problem-solving.
Blocks Creativity
A common misconception is that being critical could stop creatives from creating, but in truth, it encourages evaluation and improving their creative ideas.
Generic Skill
A common skill, but not part of the creative skill set, is a misconception that’s often held by artists. They’re typically unaware of how often critical thinking is used when doing art on a specific topic or story.
5 Books to Improve Your Critical Thinking
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
A book on how our mind processes information and decision-making. It helps with overcoming biases that improve critical thinking.
The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli
A well-known book for everyone to learn about critical thinking. It’s a summary of 99 moves of thinking: psychological, logical and social. It has examples of how they are done.
The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan
If you prefer a more out-of-the-box anecdote to critical thinking, Carl Sagan put it best by describing it as an invisible dragon living in a garage. His set of practices to promote a critical and reflective mind is called the ‘baloney detection kit’, suitable to be used as one of your critical thinking exercises.
Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull
Catmull is the co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios, so his book shares insights on fostering not only critical thinking for artists but creativity and innovation, too. There are tips and strategies to encourage a community that supports creativity in your workplace.
The Power of Thinking Differently by Andrew Pessin
Developing creative and critical thinking skills through this book by Pessin. It has examples of how to change your perspective to foster innovative thinking.
Key Takeaways
Critical thinking comes in handy in many, if not all, situations—and if it can be applied to your project management needs, what is stopping you?
Ensure the best outcome for the work you and your creative team have put their backs into by planning and thinking critically.
To get you started, here is a checklist to be used as a critical thinking exercise:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why is critical thinking good for creatives?
Critical thinking is good for creatives, as it encourages and aids in refining and evaluating your work.
Are there other ways to improve critical thinking for artists?
Yes, there are other ways to improve critical thinking for artists. One of them is playing games like puzzles, strategy games, and role-playing games. Games can develop problem-solving and strategic skills that’ll improve your critical thinking skills.
How do I foster a creative team that encourages critical thinking?
As a creative leader, you can foster a creative team that encourages critical thinking by encouraging a culture that supports diverse opinions and perspectives.
Authors Bio
From Malaysia, Leia Emeera is a writer at TESSR, and a published author. She has been putting pen to paper ever since she learned how to, and has an anthology to her name, titled 'Ten'. Leia loves music, games and her beloved Labrador retriever, George. She aims to further her studies in English Literature and Creative Writing the moment her gap year ends. 'Till then, you will find her sitting behind a desk, writing with TESSR.
Connect with her on LinkedIn: Leia Emeera
With a background in Arts English, Adilla has been a casual writer for various hobbies, like parodies of animated shows and plots for board games. She loves to read anything and everything from fantasy stories to articles on tips and tricks. Now an advocate for mental health and effective project management for the creative industry. Currently, Adilla resides in Malaysia and is a creative writer at TESSR. To know more about her, check out her LinkedIn.
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