Create an Art Habit

Fork in the Road between starving and thriving artist

Apparently it takes 21 days to create a habit and 90 days to make something a permanent lifestyle change. So I’ve got a goal to work towards with my ‘make art everyday’ challenge that I have set myself. As my previous blog post stated I just need to start my art everyday and do a minimum of five minutes on the piece I’m currently working on. Then over time, if I only manage five minutes a day I’ll still start to see my artwork advancing. When illustrating the Super Scout kids book for Elijah and Crumpet I had created a great habit. I had first carved out a piece of time that I could draw. Then I would do a livestream every night. This would make me accountable for showing up everyday and helped me stay consistent, even when I wasn’t feeling it. Times change tho and that little slice of time no longer exists. So I suppose you need to be on the lookout for other slices of time that you can use to create your art. Currently. I wake up at 5am and get ready for the day; open the cafe at 6:30 and work until 3, kids get to the cafe after school, kids home time activities and dinner, then bedtime. I’m usually in bed the 8:30 and I’m completely exhausted. However one thing I can rely on at the moment is the kids waking up in the night. So after getting them back to sleep, that’s when I draw, when it’s quiet and peaceful. My drawing has a timeframe of a minimum of 5 minutes and a maximum of an hour, as I still need to get some sleep so I’m not a zombie the next day. It’s not a perfect system, but it’s what’s currently working for me.