ramonn90
Creating Art Every Day? Or Only When You Feel Like It?
Published: January 21st 2025, 6:01:54 pm
A few days ago, I heard an interesting fact about Picasso. Over his roughly 75-year career, he produced around 50,000 works of art. That works out to about 1.8 pieces of art every day. Hearing this made me feel a bit envious, as it has been quite some time since I kept up a similar routine. These days, my "daily art" practice has gone down to just a few hours per week.
In this context, by "daily art", I mean art that I plan to share publicly, not just personal sketches saved for later but things I want to show others. However, as I got more involved in other projects and busier with responsibilities outside art, this daily routine slowed down. The reasons were many, but burnout was often a big factor. Even with these challenges, I have found value in both making art daily and taking breaks.
This raised an important question: What is better? Creating art every day or only when you feel like it? The answer likely depends on your goals and what you want to achieve. Based on my experience, I have listed the pros and cons of each approach to help explain this.
Creating Art Every Day
Pros
Faster Skill Growth: I have noticed that when I was practising consistently, my skills improved much faster. Even small efforts each day seemed to build on each other, leading to noticeable progress over time.
Less Overthinking: When I worked with short deadlines, I did not have time to second-guess my ideas. It became easier to just create, and anything felt like a valid reason to make something.
Fear of Failure Fades: Regular practice helped me feel less afraid of failure. If I missed a day or a piece did not turn out well, it was not a big deal because I knew I could try again the next day.
Cons
Burnout Can Happen: I found that pushing myself too hard every day could make me feel exhausted, especially when my motivation dropped or when I felt under pressure to perform.
Less Meaningful Work: Creating something every day sometimes left me feeling like my pieces lacked depth or meaning. There was not always enough time to think about what I wanted to say with my work.
Running Out of Ideas: I often struggled to come up with fresh concepts when I felt like I had to create something new all the time. It became harder to stay inspired when everything felt rushed.
Creating Art Only When You Feel Like It
Pros
More Value in Each Piece: I have noticed that when I spend more time on a piece, it feels more meaningful and personal. Putting extra effort into my work often gives me a stronger connection to what I create.
Better Ideas: Taking breaks has allowed my ideas to grow and develop. Sometimes, stepping away brings fresh perspectives, which can lead to better visuals and stories.
Cons
Slower Improvement: I have not been focused on improving my technical skills, but it is easy to assume that practising less often will cause improvement to slow down.
Overthinking: I tend to set goals that feel too ambitious, which makes it harder to start creating. I often get stuck trying to make everything perfect before I even begin.
Finding Balance
In conclusion, daily practice can be a great way to build discipline and improve skills. Sketching every day, for example, can give you a strong base to make more detailed work later. Most great artists had determination and routines, and their constant practice led to breakthroughs.
At the same time, there is value in slowing down to focus on quality. Recently, I have been trying to make my art more meaningful, but this has brought its own problems. High expectations and pressure on myself have made it hard to move forward at times. I do not want to make art just for the sake of it, but I also find it hard to come up with ideas that I truly love.
Maybe the key is to find a middle ground, balancing intuitive, free creation with thoughtful, planned work. As I think about this, I realise that sometimes just doing the work, without overthinking, is the solution.
I will look back at my old habits and see what I can learn from them. Am I overthinking this? Maybe, but that might be part of the process too.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and thank you for your support!