Creative processes in visual arts in education: a conceptual framework
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3846/cs.2025.19333Abstract
The diversity and uniqueness of individuals and the multifaceted nature of creativity necessitate new models in various domains. This study reviewed previous studies and models of the creative process and presented a combined model (Swanzy-Impraim panoramic creative process model) of the creative process applicable to the visual arts in education and other artist-expressive domains. It positions the creative process in seven phases: (1) immersion, (2) problem/task identification, (3) ideation, (4) production, (5) outcome, (6) evaluation, and (7) responses. This conceptual paper explores creativity as a concept and its significance in the artists’ expressive domain, reviews and maps creative process models, and develops a comprehensive Swanzy-Impraim panoramic creative process model. The model can support the creativity agenda in education and creativity enactment within the arts.
Keywords:
art, creative process, creativity, education, modelsHow to Cite
Share
License
Copyright (c) 2025 The Author(s). Published by Vilnius Gediminas Technical University.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
Adair, J. (2010). Decision making and problem solving strategies. Kogan Page.
Aldous, C. R. (2017). Modelling the creative process and cycles of feedback. Creative Education, 8, 1860–1877. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2017.812127
Alter, F., Hays, T., & O’Hara, R. (2009). The challenges of implementing primary arts education: What our teachers say. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 34(4), 22–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/183693910903400404
Amabile, T. M. (1988). A model of creativity and innovation in organizations. Research in Organizational Behavior, 10, 123–167.
Amabile, T. M. (2013). Componential theory of creativity. In E. H. Kessler (Ed.), Encyclopedia of management theory (Vol. 2, pp. 134–139). SAGE Reference.
Amabile, T. M. (2017). In pursuit of everyday creativity. Journal of Creative Behavior, 51(4), 335–337. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.200
Amabile, T. M. (1983). The social psychology of creativity: A componential conceptualization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45(2), 357–376. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.45.2.357
An, D., & Youn, N. (2018). The inspirational power of arts on creativity. Journal of Business Research, 85, 467–475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.10.025
Anderson, R. C., & Haney, M. (2021). Reflection in the creative process of early adolescents: The mediating roles of creative metacognition, self-efficacy, and self-concept. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 15(4), 612–626. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000324
Arendse, S. (2013). Evaluating and implementing a deliberate creativity framework to enhance retail business performance [Doctoral/PhD Thesis, North-West University]. South Africa [unpublished source].
Baer, J. (2011). Domains of creativity. In M. A. Runco & S. R. Pritzker (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Creativity (pp. 404–408). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-375038-9.00079-0
Baer, J., & McKool, Sh. S. (2014). The gold standard for assessing creativity. International Journal of Quality Assurance in Engineering and Technology Education, 3(1), 81–93. https://doi.org/10.4018/ijqaete.2014010104
Beghetto, R. A., & Kaufman, J. C. (2014). Classroom contexts for creativity. High Ability Studies, 25(1), 53–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/13598139.2014.905247
Beghetto, R. A., & Kaufman, J. C. (2013). Fundamentals of creativity. Educational Leadership, 70(5), 10–15.
Boldt, G. (2019). Artistic creativity beyond divergent thinking: Analysing sequences in creative subprocesses. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2019.100606
Botella, M., Glaveanu, V., Zenasni, F., Storme, M., Myszkowski, N., Wolff, M., & Lubart, T. (2013). How artists create: Creative process and multivariate factors. Learning and Individual Differences, 26, 161–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2013.02.008
Browning, K. (2008). Art as transformation. In M. Gardner & U. Kelly (Eds.), Narrating transformative learning in education (pp. 211–221). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230610576_14
Calonico, C. (2016). Towards a multidimensional model of creativity: An analysis of six models of creativity and the creative process [Degree Project, Malmö University]. Sweden. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1493904/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Caniëls, M. C. J. (2019). Proactivity and supervisor support in creative process engagement. European Management Journal, 37(2), 188–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2018.04.002
Chan, J., Bruce, J., & Gonsalves, R. (2015). Seeking and finding: Creative processes of 21st century painters. Poetics, 48, 21–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2014.11.001
Chapman, L. H. (1978). Approaches to art in education. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.
Chapman, S., Wright, P., & Pascoe, R. (2019). Purpose, value, and practice in Western Australian schools: Understanding misalignment in arts learning. Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, 16(2), 120–140. https://doi.org/10.1080/15505170.2018.1550449
Choi, D., & Kaufman, J. C. (2021). Where does creativity come from? What is creativity? Where is creativity going in giftedness? In R. J. Sternberg & D. Ambrose (Eds.), Conceptions of giftedness and talent (pp. 65–81). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56869-6_5
Clark, G., & Zimmerman, E. (2001). Identifying artistically talented students in four rural communities in the United States. Gifted Child Quarterly, 45(2), 104–114. https://doi.org/10.1177/001698620104500204
Clark Winright, E. R. (1991). Martin Buber’s I and thou as model for relationship between artist and visual artwork [Doctoral/PhD Thesis, Texas Tech University]. United States. https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/bitstreams/b60ac5ec-2513-4b7d-97a2-bdda6918840e/download
Creative Education Foundation. (2016). Creative problem solving tools and techniques resource guide. Creative Education Foundation.
Cropley, A. J. (1997). Fostering creativity in the classroom: General principles. In M. A. Runco (Ed.), Perspectives on creativity. The creativity research handbook (Vol. 1, pp. 83–114). M. A. Runco (Ed.). Hampton Press.
Cropley, A. (2020). Fostering transferable creativity: A core role for art education in school curriculum. GUIDENA: Jurnal Ilmu Pendidikan, Psikologi, Bimbingan dan Konseling, 10(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.24127/gdn.v10i1.2635
Cunningham, B. (2018). Re-focusing the creative process: Blending problem-based studio practice and online reflection. Journal of Problem Based Learning in Higher Education, 6(2), 144–152.
Deckert, C. (2016). Tensions in creative products: Using the value square to model functional creativity (Cologne Business School Working Paper Series, Vol. 4). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305900610_Tensions_in_Creative_Products_-_Using_the_Value_Square_to_Model_Functional_Creativity
Dikici, A., & Soh, K. (2015). Indexing creativity fostering teacher behaviour: Replication and modification. Higher Education of Social Science, 9(3), 1–10.
Egan, A., Maguire, R., Christophers, L., & Rooney, B. (2017). Developing creativity in higher education for 21st Century learners: A protocol for a scoping review. International Journal of Educational Research, 82, 21–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2016.12.004
Ershadi, M., & Winner, E. (2020). Children’s creativity. In M. A. Runco & S. R. Pritzker (Eds.-in-Chief), Encyclopedia of creativity (Vol. 1, pp. 144–148). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-809324-5.23693-6
Girak, S. (2015). Forget me not. An exhibition and creative reuse: How rescued materials transformed my A/r/Tographic practice – an exegesis [Doctoral/PhD Thesis, Edith Cowan University]. Australia. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2619&context=theses
Guilford, J. P. (1950). Creativity. American Psychologist, 5(9), 444–454. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0063487
Guo, J., & Woulfin, S. (2016). Twenty-first Century creativity: An investigation of how the partnership for 21st Century instructional framework reflects the principles of creativity. Roeper Review, 38(3), 153–161. https://doi.org/10.1080/02783193.2016.1183741
Harris, A., & Bruin, de L. (2018). An international study of creative pedagogies in practice in secondary schools: Toward a creative ecology. Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, 15(2), 215–235. https://doi.org/10.1080/15505170.2018.1457999
Hartson, R., & Pyla, P. (2019). The UX book: Agile UX design for a quality user experience (Vol. 2). Morgan Kaufmann.
Hartson, R., & Pyla, P. S. (2012). The UX book: Process and guidelines for ensuring a quality user experience. Morgan Kaufmann.
Henker, N., Sonnentag, S., & Unger, D. (2015). Transformational leadership and employee creativity: The mediating role of promotion focus and creative process engagement. Journal of Business and Psychology, 30, 235–247. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-014-9348-7
Hoff, E. V., & Öberg, N. K. (2015). The role of the physical work environment for creative employees – a case study of digital artists. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26(14), 1889–1906. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2014.971842
Hyejin Moon, R., Chun, W., Kim, S., & Chang, J. Y. (2020). The incremental validity of implicit measures of creativity for creative achievement. Personality and Individual Differences, 164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110088
Jankowska, D. M., & Karwowski, M. (2020). Test of creative imagery abilities. Wydawnictwo Liberi Libri. https://doi.org/10.47943/lib.9788363487485
Jones, B. (2013). World economic forum. In S. O. Idowu (Ed.-in-Chief), Encyclopedia of corporate social responsibility (pp. 2738–2740). Springer Reference. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28036-8_564
Karn, L., & Hattori, T. (2018). The creative process, memoir, and redemption. Contemporary Issues in Education Research – First Quarter, 11(1), 23–38. https://doi.org/10.19030/cier.v11i1.10132
Kaufman, J. C., & Beghetto, R. A. (2009). Beyond big and little: The four C model of creativity. Review of General Psychology, 13(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013688
Kaufman, J. C., & Sternberg, R. J. (Eds.). (2010). The Cambridge handbook of creativity. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511763205
Kettler, T., Lamb, K. N., Willerson, A., & Mullet, D. R. (2018). Teachers’ perceptions of creativity in the classroom. Creativity Research Journal, 30(2), 164–171. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2018.1446503
Kozbelt, A. (2020). Book Review. Kaufman, J. C.; Stenberg, R. J. The Cambridge handbook of creativity (2nd Ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press. Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture, 4(1), 131–136. https://doi.org/10.26613/esic.4.1.179
Kupers, E., Lehmann-Wermser, A., McPherson, G., & Geert, van P. (2018). Children’s creativity: A theoretical framework and systematic review. Review of Educational Research, 89(1), 93–124. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654318815707
Lubart, T. I. (2001). Models of the creative process: Past, present and future. Creativity Research Journal, 13(3–4), 295–308. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15326934CRJ1334_07
Mace, M.-A., & Ward, T. (2002). Modeling the creative process: A grounded theory analysis of creativity in the domain of art making. Creativity Research Journal, 14(2), 179–192. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15326934CRJ1402_5
Maras, K., & Shand, B. (2023). Critical and creative thinking as a form of making in art education. Studies in Art Education: A Journal of Issues and Research, 64(1), 23–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/00393541.2022.2154523
Miceli, G. (“N.”), Scopelliti, I., & Raimondo, M. A. (2020). Insight versus effort: Communicating the creative process leading to new products. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 37(3), 602–620. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2020.01.001
Mullet, D. R., Willerson, A., Lamb, K. N., & Kettler, T. (2016). Examining teacher perceptions of creativity: A systematic review of the literature. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 21, 9–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2016.05.001
O’Quin, K., & Besemer, S. P. (2011). Creative products. In M. A. Runco & S. R. Pritzker (Eds.), Encyclopedia of creativity (pp. 273–281). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-375038-9.00052-2
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2019). What characterises upper secondary vocational education and training? Education Indicators in Focus, 68. https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2019/04/what-characterises-upper-secondary-vocational-education-and-training_7ae872d8/a1a7e2f1-en.pdf
Osborn, A. F. (1963). Applied imagination: Principles and procedures of creative problem-solving. Charles Scribner’s Sons.
Pelowski, M., Leder, H., & Tinio, P. P. L. (2016). Creativity in the visual arts. In J. C. Kaufman, V. P. Glăveanu, & J. Baer (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of creativity across domains (pp. 80–109). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316274385.006
Perignat, E., & Katz-Buonincontro, J. (2019). STEAM in practice and research: An integrative literature review. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 31, 31–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2018.10.002
Píriz Giménez, N., Cantero, J., Mallarini, V., Tucci, J., Shablico, D., & López Larrama, M. N. (2019). Quality and applicability: Two necessary requirements in instruments that measure creative potential, for use in the classroom. Creative Education, 10(13), 3316–3328. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2019.1013255
Plucker, J. A., Runco, M. A., & Simonsen, M. A. (2020). Enhancement of creativity. In M. A. Runco & S. R. Pritzker (Eds.-in-Chief), Encyclopedia of creativity (Vol. 1, pp. 440–446). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-809324-5.06181-2
Puccio, G. J., Mance, M., & Murdock, M. C. (2011). Creative leadership: Skills that drive change. SAGE Publications, Inc.
Richards, R. (2010). Everyday creativity: Process and way of life – four key issues. In J. C. Kaufman & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of creativity (pp. 189–215). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511763205.013
Safin, S., Dorta, T., Pierini, D., Kinayoglu, G., & Lesage, A. (2016). Design Flow 2.0, assessing experience during ideation with increased granularity: A proposed method. Design Studies, 47, 23–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2016.08.002
Seelig, T. (2012). inGenius: A crash course on creativity. HarperOne.
Shaheen, R. (2010). Creativity and education. Creative Education, 1(3), 166–169. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2010.13026
Shaheen, R. (2011). The place of creativity in Pakistani primary education system: An investigation into the factors enhancing and inhibiting primary school children’s creativity. Lambert Academic Publishing.
Shriki, A. (2013). A model for assessing the development of students’ creativity in the context of problem posing. Creative Education, 4(7), 430–439. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2013.47062
Simonton, D. K. (2018). Defining creativity: Don’t we also need to define what is not creative? Journal of Creative Behavior, 52(1), 80–90. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.137
Skillicorn, N. (2014). The science of improving your brain’s creativity [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.improvides.com/2014/09/04/tedx-talk-science-improving-brains-creativity/
Sternberg, R. J. (2020). Creativity from start to finish: A “Straight-A” model of creative process and its relation to intelligence. Journal of Creative Behavior, 54(2), 229–241. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.223
Sternberg, R. J., & Karami, S. (2022). An 8P theoretical framework for understanding creativity and theories of creativity. Journal of Creative Behavior, 56(1), 55–78. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.516
Swanzy-Impraim, E., Morris, J. E., Lummis, G. W., & Jones, A. (2023a). Creativity and initial teacher education: Reflections of secondary visual arts teachers in Ghana. Social Sciences and Humanities Open, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2022.100385
Swanzy‐Impraim, E., Morris, J. E., Lummis, G. W., & Jones, A. (2023b). Exploring creative pedagogical practices in secondary visual arts programmes in Ghana. The Curriculum Journal, 34(4), 558–577. https://doi.org/10.1002/curj.201
Swanzy-Impraim, E., Morris, J. E., Lummis, G. W., & Jones, A. (2023c). Gauging Ghanaian secondary visual arts teachers’ levels of creativity: Four C trajectory of creativity. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2023.101318
Swanzy‐Impraim, E., Morris, J. E., Lummis, G. W., & Jones, A. (2023d). How Ghanaian secondary visual arts teachers perceive the role of creativity in their teaching. International Journal of Education through Art, 19(2), 175–193. https://doi.org/10.1386/eta_00134_1
Swanzy-Impraim, E., Morris, J. E., Lummis, G. W., & Jones, A. (2022). Promoting creativity: Secondary visual art teachers’ perceptions and understanding of creativity in Ghana. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2022.101057
Taylor, J. (2025). The creative process (five stages) [Video]. James Taylor: Keynote Speaker. https://www.jamestaylor.me/the-creative-process-five-stages/
Ulger, K. (2018). The effect of problem-based learning on the creative thinking and critical thinking disposition of students in visual arts education. The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1649
Ültanır, E. (2012). An epistemological glance at the constructivist approach: Constructivist learning in Dewey, Piaget, and Montessori. International Journal of Instruction, 5(2), 195–212.
Wallas, G. (1926). The art of thought. Jonathan Cape.
Zimmerman, E. (2009). Reconceptualizing the role of creativity in art education theory and practice. Studies in Art Education, 50(4), 382–399. https://doi.org/10.1080/00393541.2009.11518783
View article in other formats
CrossMark check
Published
Issue
Section
Copyright
Copyright (c) 2025 The Author(s). Published by Vilnius Gediminas Technical University.
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.