Practice or Procrastination?

I think an artist could get stuck doing practice drills and basic drawing exercises forever, and never really make whatever they have inside of them, waiting to eventually be expressed. The thought is kind of haunting, and it makes me worried when I practice art: am I just wasting my time, “practicing”, when I should be trying to make the art I want to actually have in my portfolio, or make prints of to sell at artist alleys?

But then I remember, it’s not so cut and dry. I make art as a hobby after full time work, and sometimes I just need it to relax, have some calm mindful practice to my day. And simple art exercises and drills are perfect to relax. The goal with this sketchbook spread, worked on today and this past weekend, was mostly to try to relax while drawing: physically and mentally.

I had to make it into a little game too – a sort of ink vs colored pencil memory match game. The colored pencil page was done first, over the course of four-ish days. Drawn in short sessions at my desk, between running to Home Depot, other errands, and gardening. The inked page above I finished mostly today, with a little of it begun last night. I used an ellipse stencil and pencil to create shapes to the fill in.

Surprisingly the inked page was the easier one: relaxing and moving quickly. With the color pencils, I found myself getting super tense, hunched at my desk. Worried about my shoulder pain but stubbornly trying to push through to draw.

Letting go of that tension while creating the ink page felt so much better. Just breathing and relaxing and intentionally choosing to relax and be present. Which can be so hard. It also helped to get up, stretch, go get some water. Stop trying to power through everything.

I feel like these are ridiculous and not really meant for sharing: but they were my creative practice from the last couple days. I could worry I’m wasting my time, that I’m postponing the “real” type of paintings or drawings I want to do: more realistic illustrations, fantasy and sci-fi character art, continuing the idea I had for my Ianthanna character and In Between Series, and more.

But I’m done with worries about whether I’m creating art the “right way”: all art practice is worth it. Sure, if I spend months and months doodling patterns and refusing to let myself draw characters, then that’s a problem. But tonight, I choose to relax into my practice. Ink to paper. Breathe in, breathe out.

I choose to be happy that I gave time to art. We shall see what tomorrow and the next week brings.

‘Til next time.