Working with Consistency.

Consistency

Consistency is one of the things we as artists tend to get away from sometimes. It’s one of the main reasons why we don’t see improvement in our work. Consistency is one of the four principles for reaching success in our goals in life. The group is made of the four “C”s being: Clarity, Conviction, Commitment, and Consistency. Keeping these four basic principles in mind all the time will make our goals more achievable – especially in art.

Now that summer has begun, many students tend to see summer holidays as relax period – as a reward for their scholastic work. Even during the week, they constantly wait for the weekend so that breaks and relaxation is given to them – for whom most of the times it’s even more hectic than the week of school/work. Being a student myself, I try to have a different view on weekends and “holidays”. I study art because I love art…Art is not part of the day, but the day is art itself. If we look at drawing and painting as a means of doing it for school, we will soon lose motivation and interest in doing it. Thus will make us look forward to go out and get away from drawing. If we draw everyday and do it for ourselves in the first place, we will make it become part of our routine; something that will make us fell more “accomplished” at the end of the day. We do art because we like it and we want to be able to express ourselves much more. Honing our craft is our primary goal.

Setting up goals

The fact of writing up small goals we want to achieve will make our mind work harder to fulfil these requirements. We must set goals that are challenging. Most of the times a lot of artists (including myself) tend to fall in what is called “comfort zone”, where we do things we like and know how to do. This makes us feel happy because we’re doing things we know – but doing things we know will not teach us anything new, especially in the long run. Search your weak spots and go for them. Work until you feel comfortable. Put your mind and effort into learning. It will suck at first, but that’s fine because you’ll be learning new things.

Priority

If we want to see improvement in our art we must put it on top of other things. If for you partying and hanging out comes on top of art, then it’s harder to see improvement; but you will certainly feel good hanging out because you put it on top of other activities. Priority will affect the outcomes. It is very good to have fun and do things we like, but a good balance must be there, just like Yin and Yang. Find some time, stay relaxed and look for other artists’ work. Get inspired; let your mind see other artists’ boundaries. It’s a very effective way to keep your body relaxed and learn at the same time. Personally, I do meditation, stretching, chi gong, and some other physical exercises where both mind and body are trained. With meditation and chi gong, the mind will work much sharper. Of course there are other ways like aerobics, walk, jog, run etc.

Work on multiple artworks at the same time. When we go back and forth from one piece to another, we will naturally find mistakes, solve problems, and fix these mistakes. We will see the piece with new fresh eyes. Working constantly on a single piece will make us feel frustrated, tired and somehow in a hurry to finish it up. Make your sittings interesting and challenging. Fun doesn’t mean easy. The harder the challenge, the better the reward. Avoid mindless doodling, that will not take you anywhere! If you say to yourself “I want to get better!”, than there is nothing to stop you but your commitment. Try to stay around or hang out with passionate artists like you (or even more) – it will help your motivation a lot. In art be greedy; push yourself always to that next level. You can travel around the world to try to get better. What you will find out there will be help and teachings on how and what to do (which is fine!), but eventually no one will make you get better except yourself. Remember those four “C”s: Clarity, Conviction, Consistency & Commitment. Now go and draw with consistency you will soon see improvement! Stay humble.

Here is a speedpainting I just finished of my favorite super hero - The Dark Knight:


Peace.