Routine, Discipline and the art of being an artist

Something came up recently and I've been thinking about it: this notion of discipline and the value of either taking time off after you produce a body of work or pushing on, and leveraging that energy into the next body of work.

I believe - strongly - in work. I think the cultural myth of artist as dilettante is the opposite of what's required to produce good work. I think good work comes when you paint every day. It's not glamorous or exciting. It's lonely. Sometimes it's tedious, sometimes it's amazing but just like any work, it happens daily.

Here's a great article, one of my favorites, because it discusses Chris Ofili and a number of other well-known artists in the context of their discipline. They all go to their studios and paint every day. It's what works.

Click here to read Wake Up. Wash Face. Do Routine. Now Paint. by Michael Kimmelman, May 5, 2005, New York Times.

Comments

loriann signori said…
You are sooooooo right Lisa. Daily work, in a schedule, is what works for me too. Never wait for inspiration, through hard work she visits over and over again. Cheers!
November 1, 2010 at 2:00 PM
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