Salvador Dali’s creative process was spontaneous and often random in terms of the materials he chose to use. Salvador Dali is one of the most recognized artists of the 20th century. His best works were his paintings where he would portray scenes from dreams which had distorted reality with spaces that could be considered objects such as burning giraffes or melting clocks.

The reason why Dali’s paintings are so fascinating is that his creative process was very different. In fact, Dali himself said his visions came to him spontaneously and often randomly. He would never prepare sketches or studies before creating a work of art; instead, he would wait for the vision to come to him by closing his eyes, meditating, and putting himself into a trance trying to visualize the scene he wanted to paint.

Dali once said that when he began painting “The Persistence of Memory”, he had seen an image of soft watches like butter in his dream which means that this painting didn’t follow any creative process since all the elements were already present in his mind before he started working on it.

Salvador Dalì’s creative process was very similar to that of a stream of consciousness, like a daydream when your mind wanders. Anything that came to his mind had the potential to become a painting or a sculpture because it was a way to capture these streams of consciousness.

Dali had many ideas and never had to wait to work on a painting. He worked on at least two paintings of sculptures at the same time, so if one didn’t work, he could easily fall back on another.

“The true painter is one who is capable of painting extraordinary scenes in the middle of an empty desert. The true painter is one who is able to patiently paint a pear surrounded by the tumults of history.” -Salvador Dali