Hello all! I know I know I haven’t written anything for a year but now I am back! I will try and post regularly. Being away from my studio for 10 months and not thinking about art as regularly as I usually would if I were in the studio, I realized that at times it is hard to stay motivated to make art. Now that I am back in my studio and have my creative juices flowing daily, I realize now more than ever how important it is to keep motivated, not let the outside world affect you, not force yourself to create and let it come to you naturally. I wanted to write about some tips of how you can stay motivated to make art (from the somewhat experience I have). Honestly, I started writing this for myself but then decided to make it a blog post. So here goes (6 tips):
1. Make it a habit, even if it is just for 5 minutes a day. Just grab a paper and pen or canvas and paints or some clay or open a program on your computer and just create. 5 minutes, you say? That is not so bad. I can do that. What is that going to do? As you do 5 minutes each day, you will soon start to enjoy it and naturally want to do more than 5 minutes, and then the time will keep on increasing.
2. Don’t force yourself to create.Let it come naturally. The problem arises when we force ourselves, push ourselves too hard. Like I am going to start drawing today for 3 hours a day non-stop. That’s not how it works. You will just tire yourself out and the next day you won’t want to create and then will be unable to make it a habit.
3. Start with one skill/ technique at a time. Choose your focus area. We tend to have this problem. We want to try everything at once. We say “I want to learn this and learn that. I want to learn all these skills and techniques and I will do one skill a day or one skill per week”. That is a big mistake, a big no-no. You can’t just jump in all at once. First, really learn one skill, master it, gain confidence in it, really enjoy it and then move onto the next one.
4.Start slow- and…. Easy! Ok, I get it, I have been there done that, you see all these amazing creations and instantly just want to create like that. You search for some tutorials and think that looks easy enough, I can get it in the first or second go. But then you try it and can’t even get the first step. You can’t go directly to the difficult expert level. You just can’t. You will give up or quit if you start doing things that are way too hard. You need to start slow and easy, at your own pace, no matter how long it takes, you will get it and rock at it. You just need to do it at the speed and level you are comfortable at, and then see how you fly!
5.Don’t compare, get inspired! In today’s social media world (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Google… the list goes on), it is so easy to compare yourself and doubt your work when you see other’s work. You think there are so many people doing better than you and your work is just… ugh. You so easily get sucked into this competitive world. But, you need to change your thoughts and look at it from another perspective. What I like to do is read their stories, learn about their journey, look at their creations and get inspired by them. I think, ok, some of these people have more experience than me, so this is an opportunity to learn from them. Some of these people are the same level as me, so I can connect to them. Some of them, are just starting out, so maybe I can somehow inspire them like I get inspired from others. I am on my own journey and these people are on their own journey, but what we can do is share, connect and keep inspiring each other.
6.Create an inspiration file with pictures, videos, ideas, artists, creators, whatever inspires you.Have something with you at all times (a phone, a book) for whenever you suddenly get a new artistic idea or vision. Make a list in your journal or on your phone, snap a picture with your phone, sketch it your sketchbook, create a folder on your computer, bookmark some tabs, do what you have to do. It will be a really great motivator and reminder for when you feel like “why am I even doing this?”, feel lost. It will help remind you why you started in the first place.
Well, that’s all I have for you today. Hope these tips are useful. Am signing off for now and am going to create. See you in the next post and have a great day!
