1.5.24 Friday

Daily Schedule

Dear Art Lover,

I was asked recently about my daily schedule - what does it look like?

It is a great question - and one that anyone who is working for themselves, or doing their own thing in general, will have to provide a (daily) answer for.

Instead of a set time-table of events, I have certain repetitive practices that I make sure to do every normal working weekday.  As “artist” is my job, I would never limit myself to only making art on weekdays, but I do make sure to do at least some form of art-making M-F, and some bit of business practice on that same schedule.  This can take the form of multiple plein air multi-hour painting sessions, working on projects indoors in the studio, or on busier (or business-imperative) days something as simple as sketching the dog for five minutes.  What counts, to me, is that I’ve checked the box of actually making art every day.  If there is a holiday or travel, I don’t put that pressure on those days, but I typically end up doing some drawing and painting anyways.  After all, I got into this game to make art.

While I wish I could offer the romantic vision of making art dominating my schedule, what actually dominates and soaks up countless hours (I don’t track the hours anymore, I used to, it became staggering) is everything that it takes to run my own business of making and selling my art.  With ownership comes a drive and an imperative that I couldn’t access if I didn’t own what I do.  I enjoy the stakes, I enjoy the pressure.  I set goals, I try to align with math instead of against it, and I am constantly trying out new ideas and working as much as possible within proven processes.  My strategy is long term; I am going to be doing this work for as long as I’m alive.  I’ve found over and over again that the person most qualified and most invested in the selling, promotion, and general upkeep of my art practice is… me.  I know there are methods of outsourcing my business, galleries, dealers, etc, and I’m always open to trying out new business relationships.

What allows this process to work is just that: relationships.  One cannot just make art alone in a basement and expect that practice to be sustainable (I’ve tried!).  Art thrives when other people see it and engage with it, when the people making the art and seeing the art are aware of each other, in conversation, engaged, or partnered.  I love working with the organizations and people who I get to work with, and at this point am expanding my professional network.  You might even say these emails I send are one way of offering people who enjoy paying attention to my art an entry point beyond a sale.

Back to my daily schedule.

I get up at 4am and exercise until 7.  At 8 or 9 (unless I’ve jumped in immediately post-workout) I’ll begin an art-making session, anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 or 4 hours, depending.  From there, I’ll try to take a quick break, walk around, eat, what have you, then I’m on for the actual work of the day anywhere from 9am or 1pm until 5pm or so.  On bigger work days, let’s say the packing shipping process is taking up the day, or I have approaching deadlines for opportunities to apply to (grants, residences, juried shows, etc) I’ve worked late until maybe 9pm… I try to cut myself off at 5pm, otherwise there isn’t enough time before bed at 7:30 or 8pm to wind down.

So - the daily schedule very closely resembles a “9 to 5”, with perhaps the added fun of an earlier wakeup to allow for early morning exercise.  Forget any romantic, incorrect notions of artists working only when they feel like it, or staying up late into the night “creating”.  On the very rare occasion I’ve stayed up late to draw or paint my rate of quality return goes away down.  I make worse work, slower, and then feel the fatigue carryover into the next day.

To anyone looking to do anything creative well, I’d advise moving away from fits and spurts and towards disciplined practice, something every day, preferably at the same time.  Make it a part of your schedule.  Time yourself and when the timer goes off, stop.  Putting in one massive day or couple days followed by several days off is going to, long-term, be less overall work than consistent, day-in-day-out production.  There is untold magic and miracles in the simplicity of disciplined practice, especially in art.  None of my breakthrough pieces were made on the day they were made - they were set in place to be made by countless days beforehand.  And if you feel like doing more, you can always do more, when inspired.

What about the weekend?  I try to keep weekends completely work-free.  I put down the art projects I’ve been working on, and I (try to) do no business.  Sometimes a deadline approaches and it cannot be helped.  For example - this weekend I’ll be dropping off a large painting for a local show.  The only drop-off days are the 6th and 7th, so that’s that.

Cheers and Have an Enjoyable Weekend,

David