💪 Back-to-school artist resolutions
💪 Back-to-school artist resolutions
#35 keep making art on a busy schedule
Hey my demon 👋,
Welcome to the edition #35 of the Art Missive! We are 4,209 😈 in this newsletter. Whether you have been here from the beginning or you have just arrived, thank you so much for reading ❤.
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In this Art Missive
⌛ Reading time : 7 minutes
🥊 Actionnability: immediately actionable
💪 Goals: Create consistently, Find your artistic voice, Improve your art
Introduction.
It's September already! Whether you're a student, an employee, a parent, or a freelancer, you can't escape the back-to-school vibes. Naturally, you'll be busier in the coming weeks, so how can you maintain consistent artistic practice and keep progressing? September is the best time to make some resolutions and finally achieve your artistic goals!
Welcome to edition #35 of the Art Missive, where I share art resolutions to help you achieve your creative goals on a busy schedule.
Plan.
You know me well by now, and you know what I'm going to tell you: to make progress in art, you must start by planning for success.
Far too many artists leave their artistic practice to chance. The consequence? Whenever a drop in motivation occurs, you stop drawing, feel guilty, and enter a vicious cycle. When you finally have time to create, you find yourself in front of your paper without knowing what to do to make progress.
Believe me, when you're very busy, planning your artistic practice is the only way to keep creating art and improving.
💡Your takeaways:
👉 Create a 90-day artist plan including your goals and how to achieve them. If you're not sure where to start, read my dedicated Missive on this topic.
👉 Every Sunday, block out time slots for your art practice for the week ahead. It's better to draw for 30 minutes every day than for 4 hours on one day.
👉 Prepare your artistic practices in advance so that when you sit down in front of your paper, you know exactly what to do.
👉 Not only does this enable you to really enjoy your practice without stressing, but it also ensures that your daily practice aligns with your overall goals and that you're genuinely making progress.
Visualization.
WTF Léa? How is visualizing my drawing going to help me improve? Let me tell you, if there's one thing I've learned from my years of sports competition, it's the power of visualization.
The moment I started applying visualization to my artistic practice, I immediately noticed a surge in motivation, increased discipline, and better concentration during execution.
Visualization is like a mental rehearsal. Incorporating it into your daily routine, even several times a day, will allow you to immerse yourself in your artistic journey. You become more motivated to create, and most importantly, you feel less anxious. Visualizing helps anticipate outcomes and reduces your fear of failure. Plus, having visualized your practice multiple times, you find yourself more focused and perform better when it's time to create.
💡 Your takeaways:
👉Choose three moments in your day to take 5 minutes to visualize your artistic practice. For instance, when you're brushing your teeth in the morning, during your lunch break, and on the bus ride back home in the evening.
👉 During these visualization moments, revisit the artistic goals you've planned and imagine yourself achieving your artistic tasks for the day. Picture yourself sitting at your desk, warming up, studying a specific photo, or drawing a particular object.
Action.
A valuable artist's back-to-school resolution is all about taking action.
We've all been there: you have an evening art session planned for this evening, start the day with motivation, visualizing your art practice all day-long. But when evening comes, fatigue, hunger, and the allure of Netflix take over, and your well-laid plans go to waste.
This is entirely normal and human, especially with the back-to-school season upon us. So, here's what has helped me actually put my plans into action:
💡Your takeaways:
👉 The 1, 2, 3 Rule: Right before an art session, when it's tough to get started, count to 3. At 3, dive into your task without even thinking. Starting is often the most challenging part; once you begin, the rest flows more easily.
👉 Prep and Warm-Up: Sharpen your pencils and kick off your creative session with warm-up exercises. It not only eases you into the artistic flow but also relieves any pressure, allowing you to enjoy the process.
👉 Embrace shorter, more frequent practice sessions. It's much easier to commit to an hour of art than trying to muster a four-hour marathon.
👉 Come prepared. Have a clear plan and understand why you're embarking on this creative journey. This helps you stay focused on execution and the sheer joy of creating.
Learning.
I'll end by sharing a resolution I took today, which is to focus on learning and acknowledge that art is a journey.
For a long time, I sought to create sophisticated and perfect drawings. I would spend dozens of hours on a single piece because I thought that this was what it takes to be a legitimate artist. Seeking perfection constantly led me to compare myself to others and feel 'not good enough.' But recently, I decided to concentrate on improving.
As artists, we never stop learning, and none of our works will be perfect in our eyes. So let's rid ourselves of the pressure to please others and focus on learning, experimenting, failing, and progressing.
💡 Your takeaways:
👉 Enroll in an art course to ensure that you're learning new things every day. It can be a video course, an art book, a physical workshop, a free program by an artist on YouTube… But never stop learning.
👉 Create at least one observational drawing per week. Draw everyday objects, set up a still life, or sketch your grandmother. Do whatever you like, but don't neglect the importance of observational drawing, especially if your goal is to find your own style.
👉 Study a new artist every week. It could be Picasso or your favorite Instagram artist.
👉 Set aside time for a practice session just for fun, each week. Drop any expectations and draw whatever you want, with whatever materials you like, without worrying about the possible outcome. One practice I used to do with my best friend was to pick a random word and give ourselves 5 minutes to draw that word. We used to do this for about an hour."
Conclusion.
The back-to-school season is both stressful and exciting, especially for artists who may have less time for creativity. In my view, the key ingredients for becoming a successful artist are method and mindset. With these resolutions, you have the tools to progress by planning, visualizing, taking action, and focusing on learning.
Remember, art is an endless journey, and every step you take brings you closer to what you believe is artistic success.
May this back-to-school season mark the start of an incredible period of artistic growth for you 🎉
That's all for me. See you next Monday!
Léa, Mama demon for those in the know.
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