Patience is extremely underrated. In the world where we all look for speed, high productivity, and instant gratification, impatience lurks in the back of our minds.
Content:
- How impatience made me suffer…
- #1 Burnout
- #2 Negative self-talk
- #3 Demotivation
- 5 Ways Patience is the Best Attitude for Artists
- #1 You’re kind to yourself
- #2 You enjoy the process with patience
- #3 The results don’t faze you
- #4 Time is not an issue to you
- #5 You embrace mistakes and actively seek to improve
Table of Contents
How impatience made me suffer…
I listed a few other mistakes as an artist the other day, but now I want to focus on impatience.
About 2 years ago, I forced myself to churn out watercolour paintings twice every week. So that I can edit my process videos and upload them online.
Thing was, I was an amateur, and this kind of schedule was driving me insane. I thought the stress is supposed to keep me going. (Check out eustress)
But I was wrong. My train-speed schedule was unsustainable. All I got was distress.
Impatience – #1 Burnout
Physically as well as emotionally, I was so tired. I questioned why I was doing this in the first place.
In the back of my mind, a voice told me that I needed to rest. I agreed, but there was still so much to do. And so I got a guilty conscience as well.
Impatience – #2 Negative self-talk
With the guilty conscience, I told myself I was a lazy person and suck at what I do, even though I initially enjoyed doing art.
Not only was I talking myself into believing that “I’d never be good at art”, but I also told myself that I was a terrible human being!
It might sound overkill. But it didn’t start off like this. At first, there were only mild complaints about myself. Then, the words piled up and the level of viciousness increased.
Impatience – #3 Demotivation
General demotivation is the worst. You know the only solution to picking yourself up is- to go to something, anything. But you just can’t lift your hand.
If you suffer from a lack of motivation to draw, try to take a look at Bobby Chiu‘s advice videos (here’s the playlist!). He has a lot of suggestions about what artists can do in improving their skills, networking, promotion, and so on!
5 Ways Patience is the Best Attitude for Artists
With patience in our mind, there are 5 benefits to both your mind and your artwork.
Patience – #1 You’re kind to yourself
With patience, you understand that things take time. No matter art, relationships, work, or life in general, results never really come with a blink of an eye.
So even when you need to spend more time than expected to do your work. You tell yourself: “It’s okay. We all get that sometimes.”
Patience – #2 You enjoy the drawing process
Drawing is never a chore to you. Being process-oriented, you enjoy the flow of working through your art.
The best artists put their mind in every small detail, even if they have to spend days and months on an artwork. What aren’t they tired? Well, they love their work! Why would you get tired from doing something you love?
Patience – #3 The results don’t faze you
Many people are used to instant gratification. That why results matter to them. If they don’t get the results they want, they consider the time wasted.
But with patience, you enjoy the flow of the process. Because the process is always there for you, the results are only a small part of the game.
Patience – #4 Time is not an issue to you
And so, you’re never stressed because of art. You’re not a deadline fighter. But you’re not slow, either.
For example, you can set your schedule to drawing 1 hour a day, so 7 hours total in a week. But when you find out that 7 hours is not enough to finish your artwork, you carry on to the next week. Or simply add one more hour in the schedule.
Time is for you to plan out and adjust, like a sheet of blank paper. Time itself shouldn’t make you stressful, or make you dread the coming of tomorrow.
Patience – #5 You embrace mistakes and actively seek to improve
Mistakes- of course- take up our time and are unexpected.
Even though we understand the concept of learning from mistakes, sometimes time-consuming mistakes frustrate us.
Being patient means letting it go, and letting it be. It is not a fault to make mistakes. With patience, you can spend time studying your mistakes so that you won’t do it again in the future.
With time, you improve.
Conclude: Patience is the key
Patience. Because an artwork takes time and effort.
To avoid falling into the impatience trap, you can set up timetables to know which hours you’re supposed to draw. Be sure to set realistic goals, or you’ll feel overwhelmed.
Here are some related posts, where you can find out more about good attitudes of an artist:
- 7 Rules of a Disciplined Artist
- 9 Ways not to be a Beginner Artist
- 6 Steps to Kill Procrastination for Artists
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