After years of doing art daily it has become a deeply ingrained daily habit. And because I do it everyday I’ve noticed that distraction doesn’t bother me as much as it used to.
Becoming accustomed to distraction is, as I think about it more, a good thing. I’m reminded of years ago when I worked at Seaworld in Florida doing caricatures. This was a job where you had to get over any shyness right away. Before this job I used to hate it when people watched me paint or draw. Then I was thrown into a crowd of people staring at nothing but me drawing, their child and expecting good results, quickly. I still get a bit nervous thinking about it.
So my little studio/office is much different but I’m still able to deal with distractions well. I feel that the more I do this the easier it is to stop, feed cats, get snacks, then sit back down and resume with the same focus as before.
I tell other artists all the time that daily practice, even only 30 minutes is the best thing you can do. Most wonder what can be accomplished or learned within that time, heck I wondered the same years ago. Well, here you go. You can learn focus amidst distraction. Along with a multitude of other personal and technical improvements such as willpower or dexterity.
The more I think about this skill the more I think of how useful it can be. I hope that years from now I can give some workshops or demonstrations. At that point I’m really going to need the ability of focusing on what I’m doing while being watched and distracted.
For today’s session I finished the arms and started on the back of the model again. I’m working this in layers of paint so my initial first and second layers don’t match my original rendering on the top of the back, so I still need some work here.
At least your distractions aren’t lame anymore. I’m still fighting over the lame distractions I struggle with- Facebook, games. Using them as fuel for my focus would be ideal. If I’m on Facebook, it should be to post or create a ZooFit Challenge, write up a motivational post for a workout group, promote my blog, or some other task. My games should be strictly reinforcement for completing tasks. It takes certain amount of discipline to cut out distractions and carry on with what is truly important.
I have my minimum word count, but I feel I should be doing so much more than that every day. I’m capable of doing so much more, but I lack focus, motivation, and discipline.
Your commitment and discipline to your art is really admirable. I hope you know that.
I know what you mean, there were months when I just did the bare minimum. It takes a special event to really get the motivation wave going, and I’m trying to ride it as long as I can.