Creative Personas

Written By Alexander Stanton

Whether I was aware of it or not, trying to forge a relationship with my subconscious has been a common thread throughout my life. I’ve always enjoyed doing things that excite my imagination, be that drawing, music or writing. And looking back through my older work it has slowly become apparent that there are a small number of factors at play that help and hinder these processes.

I’ve begun to question things like why I’m drawn to figure sketching; why I enjoy to structure my practice and set myself goals; and the joy I find in improvisation and why I feel the need to explore it.

In order to make some sense of all this, I have begun to characterise my creativity into four personas - THE ANIMA, THE DOUBTER, THE LIZARD and THE TEDDY.

Now, I’m sure Freud would have a field day with all this, but this is all about broad strokes, not absolutes; a simple creative exercise to better connect myself to my inner abstract self. It’s not that these persona’s actually have a voice and talk to me, but it’s more that they are modes of being that I find myself dipping in and out of.

Anyway, I thought I may as well share a brief summary of each of these characters, as much of what I do from now on will relate to them in some way.


THE ANIMA

THE ANIMA is not only the manifestation of my femininity but also a source of inspiration and creativity in general. 

And just to be clear that I am by no means claiming to be an expert on what femininity is or isn’t. For me the connection between femininity and creativity is the result of my formative years and the many symbols, cliches, memes and others associations therewithin. For whatever reason I have always felt that femininity was a creative force and masculinity was in some way destructive, but that isn’t to say it would be the same for everyone (and it’s not like any of this is rooted in any kind of fact anyway).

All I know is that the more I listen to these instincts, the more vulnerable and honest my work becomes. It’s an openness to fail, learn and grow. The nurturing of ideas.

KEYWORDS

  • Love/empathy

  • Inspiration/intuition

  • Creativity

  • Humanity

  • Sensuality

  • Emotional strength

  • Vulnerability 

  • Honesty

  • Ethereal

  • Aesthete

THE DOUBTER

THE DOUBTER is the manifestation of my masculine side, specifically the technical and analytical qualities. My inner-critic with a bias towards the assumption that nothing I do will be ever good enough.

His role is antagonistic, but that isn’t without merit. All in all I’m quite a stubborn person, so having someone tell me I’m not good enough (even if that someone is a manifestation of my own insecurities) is the perfect thing for me to rub up against. Plus, I like the challenge and I’m drawn to discipline (likely because I lacked it as a child).

KEYWORDS

  • Analytic 

  • Discipline

  • Inadequacy 

  • Hypercritical

  • Self-loathing

  • Judgemental

  • Ego

  • Negativity

  • Disappointment

  • Control


THE LIZARD

THE LIZARD is the manifestation of my base needs and instincts. Well-dressed, but ill-meaning, with ideas that appear enticing, but self-destructive or self-aggrandising.

Creativity is the only place that feels appropriate for him to let loose and speak his truths, but it’s something that I often don’t consciously do. We all have dark and sordid thoughts, and even though I feel comfortable letting the Lizard do his thing on the page from time to time, there can still be a level of discomfort in fully embracing his inspiration to share with the world.

So giving the lizard more space to breathe and play out fully is a scary premise, but a necessary one if I’m to grow as an artist, but also a person. If nothing else, suppressing such things will only force it to come out in different ways. The page feels safe to hear him out, purge and create without judgement.

KEYWORDS

  • Need for validation

  • Quick gratification

  • Indulgence

  • Procrastination

  • Libido

  • Self-destructive

  • Violent

  • Base

  • Intrusive 

  • Id/shadow

THE TEDDY

THE TEDDY is the manifestation of the childlike wonder and sense of fun that I have for creativity. They only care to explore and experiment. It’s the part of me that I’ve struggled to hold onto during this time of constant study, and is often the part that most artists strive to connect to. 


It’s the letting go of ego and inhibitions. To create for the sake of creativity, and not the rewards it may or may not bring. 


It’s the purest voice, but also the most susceptible to influence. It only takes a single thought to go from free flow to doubt - to start following the rules again. It can be a beautiful balance, but one that is impossible to maintain for a significant amount of time.

KEYWORDS

  • Fun

  • Play

  • Flow-state

  • Process

  • Experimentation

  • Nostalgic

  • Child-like wonder

  • Freedom

  • Openness

  • Detachment


Conclusion

These characters do interact and bounce off of each other, leading to contradictory ideas and thoughts. The Lizard lusts for objectivity while  The Anima is opposed to it, as The Doubter only wants to belittle the lack of structure that The Teddy playfulness evokes. I imagine that the best case scenario is having each of these voices heard and achieving a middle ground between them.


Outside of continuing to explore these themes, I’m planning to create four short comics (likely a two page spread per theme) based around each persona. Mainly because I need the practice before starting my graphic novel properly, but also because I feel it would better illustrate my point and lead to more exploration.


On top of the comics I have already started persona themed sketchbooks to explore and actively switch between these modes of being.

By the by, these concepts are still quite raw and untested, so they are likely to evolve in time. I’ll be sure to keep you updated.

- Alex

Alexander Stanton