Ever since I read Why We Sleep I’ve focused on getting the best out of my creative power plant, sleep, and it’s changed my life.
Sleep is the foundation of health that all other pillars rest on. If you want to lose weight, have mental acuity and perform better in everything get 7-9 hours of sleep a night.
That’s 7-9 hours of actual sleep, not 7-9 hours in bed. I’m in bed every night for about 9 hours and I get roughly 7 hours of sleep, not great but I’m working on it.
“A balanced diet and exercise are of vital importance, yes. But we now see sleep as the preeminent force in this health trinity. The physical and mental impairments caused by one night of bad sleep dwarf those caused by an equivalent absence of food or exercise. It is difficult to imagine any other state—natural or medically manipulated—that affords a more powerful redressing physical and mental health at every level of analysis.
Based on a rich, new scientific understanding of sleep, we no longer have to ask what sleep is good for. Instead, we are now forced to wonder whether there are any biological functions that do not benefit by a good night’s sleep. So far, the results of thousands of studies insist that no, there aren’t.”
Matthew Walker from Why We Sleep
I highly recommend the book or the audio book. It’s full of decades of scientific research and studies that prove how important sleep is for all of us and debunks many myths about sleep.
I’m working on the light side of Snape’s face now and I think I’ve introduce a bit too much texture in his skin. Tomorrow I’ll begin to dial that back as I don’t want it to interfere with his expression.
The normal 15 minute warm-up in graphite.
The extended gesture study from The Natural Way to Draw book is done with over many session and switches between nude and clothed figures. I have many favorite exercises in the book but this one ranks up there. I feel as though I’m finally putting into practice all the exercises I’ve done before.
My sleep wasn’t the best last night but I was able to focus on art this morning and move though my routine with calm tranquility and get things done.
Still dialing in my sleep every day, I need my creative power plant if I’m going to achieve what I wan in this life.
Keep consistent with my bed time, watch what I eat and also continue with my nightly shutdown routine.
