WHY I DON’T PAINT EVERY DAY (PART 1)

If you are a full-time artist, you should paint every day. 40 hours. At least. If you don’t paint for 40 hours, then it must just be a hobby.

I used to think that.

And I get the impression a lot of other people do as well. Last week a longtime friend I don’t see very often asked me how often I paint and for how long. When I told her, she laughed and said, “Well, you need to paint a whole lot more than that.” She meant well, and her comment was intended to encourage me. I’ve been doing this long enough not to take it personally.

But, she’s not an artist or a business owner. Here’s the thing. There are two main reasons that I don’t paint every day.

The first is because creativity doesn’t work that way. You don’t have to paint every day.

Let me expand upon that….creativity needs time, space, and nourishment to survive. It can’t sustain (or at least mine can’t) day after day, for hours at a time. There are artists who are ‘daily painters’ or participate in daily painting challenges, but not me. At least not anymore. I’m betting most of them don’t even paint all day, even if they paint every day. Creativity needs rest and renewal, and encouragement. I’m good for about three or four hours of painting, and I start getting messy. Or messy-er. I have to do something else for a while and come back to it. Which is the same reason I work in layers and on multiple paintings at a time. I probably have five unfinished pieces in my studio now. And that’s ok. I have to step away and come back to see things I didn’t see before.

It’s also important to be out in the world to get inspired.

Creativity isn’t always renewed if you stand in front of an easel all day with your own thoughts. Yes, it gets restored when I paint, but I’m also inspired by beautiful places, people, and energy from interesting surroundings. It’s always fun to come back to the studio with new ideas and inspiration.

This isn’t an excuse to wait until creativity strikes to paint, create, or make something. But you don’t have to paint every day.

No, if anything, it’s the opposite. I have regular studio hours, and I believe establishing a consistent routine is essential – just not all day, every day. Consistency is important if you want your art to be more than a hobby. There’s nothing wrong with painting as a hobby. But if you want it to be a business, you have to look at it differently. Yes, sometimes I don’t feel like painting. Yesterday was a day like that, and I kept painting anyway. Because it’s my job. Eventually, I pushed through it and found my way.

‘Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.” Pablo Picasso.

Just not all day, every day.

The second reason I don’t paint every day? I have other things to do.
Running a small business involves more than painting all day. More on that in part 2.

Want to see what I DO paint during my regular studio hours?