The Art of Creative Process

Mar 24, 2026

Aaron Kozbelt, psychologist and practicing visual artist, draws on two decades of studio work to explore creativity. He discusses how changing the structure of your process, not a single idea, sparks innovation. Topics include artists’ developmental trajectories, how drawing reshapes perception, and why tradition, patience, and time often matter more than chasing novelty.

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ANECDOTE

Artist Practice Sparked A Research Agenda

Aaron Kozbelt began as a practicing visual artist and used studio questions to drive his research agenda.
He painted through grad school and asked practical questions like how to know when a work is done, which shaped his studies.

INSIGHT

Restructure The Process To Generate Novelty

Creativity often emerges from restructuring the way you work rather than waiting for a brilliant idea to appear.
Aaron Kozbelt explains that reordering steps (do D before B, etc.) or changing execution produces ripple effects that generate novelty.

INSIGHT

Different Creative Lifespans Explain Early Versus Late Peaks

Creators follow distinct lifespan trajectories: some peak early with conceptual innovation, others improve slowly by experimenting.
Kozbelt cites Galenson's finder vs. experimental distinction and links experimentation to later-life peaks.

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Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/X_zhPu3xCd4

In this episode of The Science of Creativity, Keith Sawyer speaks with psychologist and artist Aaron Kozbelt about what really drives creative achievement. Challenging the idea that creativity starts with a brilliant idea, Kozbelt argues that innovation often emerges from restructuring the creative process itself. Drawing on research in visual art and music, he explores how artists develop over time, why some creators peak early while others improve across decades, and how training—especially in drawing—changes perception. The conversation also examines whether originality is overrated and why patience, iteration, and engagement with tradition may matter more than radical novelty.

Key Takeaways

• Creativity is less about isolated ideas and more about reshaping process.

• Artists follow different developmental trajectories—some peak early, others gradually.

• Drawing training enhances perceptual flexibility and attentional control.

• Enduring creative work often builds deeply on tradition rather than chasing novelty.

• Time and distance are powerful tools for evaluating creative work.

About Dr. Aaron Kozbelt

Dr. Aaron Kozbelt is a Professor of psychology at Brooklyn College, City University of New York. His research program, focusing on creativity and cognition in the arts, derives largely from his outside interests. In addition to his training in psychology, he has spent more than 20 years as a practicing visual artist, and his initial research forays grew directly out of his experiences as an artist. Kozbelt has also incorporated his long-standing interest in classical music into a line of archival research examining patterns of creativity over the lifespan of classical composers. More recently, he has started research on creative cognition, humor production and sexual selection, and metacognition and evaluation in creative problem solving.

For more information

Dr. Aaron Kozbelt's web site

Music by license from SoundStripe:

"Uptown Lovers Instrumental" by AFTERNOONZ
"Miss Missy" by AFTERNOONZ
"What's the Big Deal" by Ryan Saranich