Philip Larkin, a poet, offers a straightforward perspective on the artistic process, particularly when it comes to creating poems. He simplifies it into three stages:
Step one: Intensely Feel Something
At the start of your creative journey, you need to be deeply connected to a specific emotion. It’s like having a passionate fire burning inside you, driving you to take action.
Step two: Convey that Emotion
The next phase involves using words and other forms of expression to enable others to feel the same emotion that’s so alive within you. However, this part can be quite challenging, as not everyone may easily grasp the feeling you intend to convey.
Step three: Let Others Experience It
Once you’ve crafted your artistic work, it’s time to share it with the world. When people engage with your poetry or observe your artwork, it should ignite the same emotions in them that you originally felt. This is when your art truly succeeds.
Although Larkin presents this process as simple, the creation of art often involves complexities, particularly in the stages between these steps. Crafting the actual artwork can be a time-consuming and mysterious journey.
Larkin suggests that to evoke the emotions in others, you must first find satisfaction within yourself. This means that while creating art, it should resonate with your inner self. If it does, it increases the likelihood that others will experience similar feelings when they interact with your work.
One very intresting concept in the text is that some artists dedicate their entire lives to expressing the same emotion in various ways. It’s as though they possess one profound sentiment they wish to share with the world.
While Larkin’s stages offer a simple framework for art, the true artistry often unfolds in the nuances between these phases. Having that one special feeling you want to convey can propel your creative journey throughout your lifetime.