1) This webcomic by Christian Beranek, Tony DiGerolamo and Greg Eales.
“The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.” - Steven Pressfield
— Jason Thibault (@JasonThibault) November 17, 2012
3) This blog post from Scott Hamilton.
PERSONALLY SPEAKING, THE 10 WORST HABITS OF UNPRODUCTIVE ARTISTS…Now, with those three items in mind, let me ask you: WHY ARE YOU STILL SITTING THERE READING THIS? GO MAKE SOMETHING!
Artist’s block.
“Blank brain”.
Creative winter…
Whatever you call it, I’m in it.
It started as a brief ‘pause’ after my 100 Portraits project in order to re-assess the direction I’m headed as an artist, because I was feeling a bit aimless and unsatisfied, moving around in tiny circles. I think it’s ok to take a break if you’re experiencing frustration with your work; wipe the slate clean and take a good objective view at what you’ve done and what you want to accomplish. Am I headed toward that goal? Am I satisfied with the direction that I’m going? Be careful, however, that the intended short self-examination doesn’t stretch into a long-term hiatus.
It’s not that I haven’t done anything at all- in fact I have four unfinished works sitting in my studio at the moment, none of which I will probably ever bring to completion, because in the midst of the process I’ve turned a corner and said, “oh,”. So I ask myself, am I just making excuses? Am I creating roadblocks for myself subconsciously? Time has dragged on, and it has now been five months since I have actually completed a piece of art, save for one morning sketch I did about 2 weeks ago. That was refreshing. However, in my own defence, during this period I have closed my business and gone back to work full time, I have taken on the position of assistant coach for my daughter’s soccer team, and begun the process of rebuilding a motorcycle… And hey, I have four kids. That’s the number one excuse that others give to me freely.
So here is an examination of the ten worst habits that I have developed which keep me safe from being productive. Feel free to add to my list if I’ve missed anything.
Number one: Television. Best creativity killer on the planet.
Number two: Go to bed late and get up early. Being tired all the time is really helpful.
Number three: Put all kinds of non art-related junk in your studio space so that you don’t even want to look at it.
Number four: Become obsessed with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, and check your iphone every five minutes to see if anybody loves you.
Number five: Don’t bother doing anything small- make sure that all art projects you want to do will take at least 50 to 100 hours.
Number six: If you do feel the urge to make some art, make sure there are tons of distractions around; if there are none, see number four.
Number seven: Decide to completely re-invent yourself as an artist. (Never take small steps in this regard- always good for a personal crisis.)
Number eight: Listen carefully to all the voices in your head telling you to give it up, you’re not a real artist anyways.
Number nine: Completely alienate yourself from all of your artist friends, and secretly creep them on Facebook so nobody asks what you’ve been up to…
Number ten: Busy yourself as much as possible with other things- home renos, rebuilding motorcycles… and faithfully do these during your studio times.
Did I miss anything?
Yours in procrastination,
artboy68
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