‘Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is a result of good work habits.’ — Twyla Tharp
Discipline is the foundation of any (creative) practice. Every book on creativity and every successful artist insists on the importance of discipline in succeeding in any creative endeavour. Of course, success is a very personal concept, but generally speaking, to become a writer, you have to write every day. To become a drawer, you have to draw, every single day. To become a designer, you have to design, constantly.
There’s also the very interesting concept of compound interest that we can shamelessly appropriate from the world of finances and apply to the world of creativity. A little done every day, for a long period of time, will exponentially build a creative career. Oliver Burkeman defines the principle of embracing radical incrementalism as one of his three principles for harnessing the power of patience as a creative force in daily life. This is the classic quote attributed to Picasso that summarises this principle:
‘But you did that in thirty seconds,’ the astonished woman replied.
‘No,’ Picasso said. ‘It has taken me forty years to do that.’
And there’s also the concept of iteration - the act of repeating the same process or working patterns over and over, obtaining better results in every new instance. I’ll talk about this concept in detail in another post (I have a project I’d like to show you).
Discipline, for whatever reason, comes naturally to me. I like setting up my own assignments. I benefit from time frameworks and need some sort of order during the day to tame the chaos in my mind and thinking. Having something to focus on gives me peace of mind.
Last Summer I bought a set of crayons (you know that already if you’ve been reading previous posts) and set myself the task of doing one drawing a day to build back the discipline of practicing drawing. But even though I might have the inclination to do the work, being disciplined and consistent is never that easy.
These are some lessons learned discipline and consistency I take from my one-drawing-a-day challenge. Hopefully, they can help you build that consistency in your practice as well.
Drawing takes time.
What to draw, where to do it and how to, preparing for it, tidying after… It is even more difficult when you are visiting friends and family because you want to spend time with them and drawing requires being in that creative isolated zone (if you are the only one doing it). It helped me accept that there’s always a trade-off, but there can be balance as well. Preparing before the moment (deciding what to draw, where, and how to days or hours before) was an easy way to make the habit more effective.
But it is a great mindful experience.
I found that drawing daily was a great way to rest the mind during the holidays. The more I did it, the more present I felt, and the more it helped me be consistent. It’s interesting that some people might find that sitting to draw is more like homework rather than rest. It might be a bit of a hassle to get started, but once you are in it, it’s such a mindful experience.
Constraints are your friends if you don’t know where to start.
Sometimes if you don’t have enough time to draw, try drawing the same subject over and over. This not only builds some sort of continuity in your practice but also helps you ease the way into drawing. Try setting up some personal challenges (some writers do this with words), for example: trying a new palette or drawing the same subject at different times of the day.
In this previous post you can find some ideas:
And the best outcomes always come at the end.
This is a big lesson I keep re-learning all the time. Practice and iteration are the backbones of creativity. The best outcomes always come last. Bear that in mind when it gets hard to be consistent and disciplined. Remind yourself of the exciting ideas and outcomes you might miss if you don’t practice today.
I encourage you to try this challenge of drawing daily, or regularly, for at least a month. I must admit I am currently finding it challenging to keep up with the pace of drawing daily after the Summer break, however, at least I try to keep practicing with my crayons on a weekly basis. And that’s precisely the secret, a little bit every so and then, for a long, long time.
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Happy sketching!
Ana
Have you been drawing recently? It would be great to hear about it! Leave a comment and share your thoughts :)