It’s that time again – New Year’s resolution time.
That time of year when we get to sacrifice our self esteem on the altar of failed commitments.
Does that seem a little pessimistic? Or, let’s be honest with ourselves, perhaps just realistic.
There are few feelings more toxic to your spirit than the disappointment that comes from deciding you’re going to do something, but just…not.
When that something is connected to achieving your most cherished dreams, it feels even worse.
As if that wasn’t enough, you’re left worse off than if you hadn’t tried at all, because all the negative emotions created by your ‘failure’ make it that much harder to get started again.
All You’ve really managed is to create a stronger barrier to achieving your artistic goals. Hardly the point. Let’s try not to let that happen this year.
Why New year’s resolutions have failure built-in
There can be a few reasons I think. But it’s mostly because we’re not specific enough about what we’re going to do.
Just deciding to draw something every day still leaves you with that horrendous “blank canvas” moment, when you sit down and actually have to decide what you’re going to draw.
That’s an incredibly powerful barrier to getting started. And you’re not going to have to do it just once, you’re going to have to do it every day for the rest of the year.
I hate to break this to you, but you’re not going to manage it.
So, how can we stop that happening this year?
Plan to Succeed
Create yourself a Practise Plan, that’s how. Follow these steps:
- Pick a skill you want to stretch. Make it something very specific, for example: Drawing accuracy.
- Decide on a simple exercise to help you develop that skill. For drawing accuracy, you could decide to take a single, simple object, and do an outline drawing of it in the same position every day. For each drawing, try to make it more accurate than the last one. If you want to improve your values, say, I’ve got a simple value exercise you could try.
- Now do your exercise tomorrow, and then every day for seven days. I say to do it tomorrow, not today, because you need a little time to plan if you want to succeed.
Put aside some uninterrupted time. Early morning when everyone else is still asleep is great. Have your materials set out ready if you can. Set yourself a reminder, or, even better, consider using the simple habit/trigger method at tinyhabits.com to get you through that difficult first week.
Keeping a log helps too. I use a spreadsheet and fill a box with a green square when I turn up for my practice appointment, a red one when I don’t. It’s a really effective way to keep yourself accountable to your goal.
Commit publicly
You’re much more likely to stick to your plan if you let someone else know about it. Tell a friend, or a family member. Post your commitment on your blog, if you have one. Post your commitment on Facebook. Join the Daily Art Practice google group and post it there.
However you do it, commit to letting your accountability partner(s) know every day whether you’ve done it or not.
So. If you seriously want to give this a go, post a comment here. Tell me the specific skill you want to improve. I’ll do my best to give you an idea for a simple exercise to develop that skill, one that you can do every day for the next seven days.
Add a comment now with the single, specific drawing skill you’d most like to improve. We’ll take it from there.
Best wishes,
Paul
Posted: January 1st 2014
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Hi Paul,
Paul, I’ve continued drawing on at least an every other day basis since I last posted on my old account earlier in 2013. I’m still working on the Loomis heads and have also completed several figure studies as well as a Sargent head.
I’d like to be able to post on the google group as an incentive but not being too computer savvy, I wasn’t able to join when I just tried. Anyway, regardless of the computer impediments, I’ll never stop drawing again.
Conrad
Hi Paul,
Your email came at a most important moment for me. I completed a work/drawing/painting just before Christmas. The critique on it wasn’t so great from the person that’s been my mentor for years. I have been mostly been doing computer art on my Painter program for the past 10 years. Several real life changes severely interrupted my art. I found working on the computer easy and fast. However, I wanted to get back to drawing and painting because of some historical reading I have been doing for several years and the idea of these works kept popping in my mind. I see that one can’t just jump back in and take off….I have to start at with my drawing skills first. I appreciate your email and hope I can tap into your resources! Happy New Year to you and your muse!
Best,
Glenda
Paul,
PS…I can’t begin to tell you how difficult it has been to break through the barrier and back to RL Art!
Glenda
I’d like to take up the practice of drawing again. I let go of it after the first couple of months last year. I want to focus on learning more about value and I’d like to learn how to abstract shapes and create a composition with them.
Good idea Paul, I will try! Thanks.
hi paul,
i am a story board clean-up artist..and i would like to improve line quality/value, detailing/precision as well as composition of a shot…so how should I proceed ?
Hi Paul, Thank you for the reminder to be realistic. Your email was very auspicious as I declared to my husband and good friend my New Years resolution to draw more (ideally every day).
My specific goals will be to work on accuracy in both the line drawing and values.
Happy New Year to you!
Great advice! I am just beginning to draw and paint and am having difficulty with perspectives. It would be great to have more exercises in this area. Happy New Year!
Hi Paul,Thank you for the hints. I’m sure that it will be very helpfull. My goals this year will be on work accuracy of value and color.
Thank you so much, and sry for my bad english.
I commit to working on my values this year. I hope to be up before everyone else in the morning to practice. Being a SAHM of a 3 year old, life doesn’t give me too much time on my own or the peace needed to get into the zone. So that is indeed my biggest challenge.
Hi Paul! Thanks for the encouragement and suggestions!
My first goal is to work on values, in grayscale and color. Specifically, I’m preparing for a watercolor class by working and playing with the instructor’s palette. I know that making value scales in color is going to be a bit easier due to trying your value exercises last year. I still find them very hard to do in watercolor.
My second goal is to do multiple, simple thumbnail value sketches and paintings before larger paintings. I’ve started, and find I love minimized challenges. Maybe turn these sketches into valentines.
Best wishes for a productive year to all!
I want to make a habit of drawing regularly. Not as frequently as once a day, just enough to develop myself.