“Be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid only of stopping.” An awesome Chinese proverb that I live by daily.
Almost daily I feel gratitude for Optimize.me and the ancient and modern wisdom distilled down into manageable chucks that I can apply to my life by Brian Johnson. This Chinese proverb was from on of his +1 videos.
I love this proverb so much because it hits very close to my heart. I could even use it as a mantra for my daily art practice. At 2844 consecutive days of art I fear stopping and breaking the streak. But, at the same time I’ve committed so much that daily art is a part of my life, like brushing my teeth or eating breakfast. I just do it.
The best wisdom that any artist can pull from this proverb is the power in moving forward, no matter how small. So what if you can’t complete a painting every single day or, finish a drawing. We can all feel empowered and accomplished by simply continuing and taking that small step.
Minimums, micro wins, baby steps, moving forward. No matter the label, it’s powerful.
The tenth doctor is finished!
The normal 15 minute warm-up in graphite.
One minute gestures exercise from the The Natural Way to Draw book and I’m trying to draw all these clothed figures with as many precise lines as I can come up with. I got some good sleep last night, super important, and my mind is ready to take on this level of focus. I feel I accomplished it well.
It’s not even 9am and I’ve already had a super productive day. Plus I’m really loving this proverb.
“Be Not Afraid of Going Slowly. Be Afraid Only of Stopping.”
Chinese Proverb
I may have filled my day too much without enough time to oscillate.
Add in some blank time into my schedule tomorrow.
