Making Time for Painting
When I ask students in The Membership or Just Paint what they struggle with the most, their biggest obstacle is not color mixing, technique or style. Their biggest struggle is making time for painting!
When you’re in a painting course like Just Paint you know you have to show up week after week. There’s a set timeframe and a set class time. But what happens when the course is over and you have to motivate yourself? It’s so easy to think, “I’ll paint when I feel like it” but don’t be surprised if that feeling rarely comes around. Eventually you let so much time pass that fear sets in… fear of perfectionism, fear of messing up, fear of wasting your time and fear of being bad. And of course you’re going to be bad, you haven’t practiced! How can you expect yourself to grow or create a nice painting if you haven’t painted in weeks or months! So you don’t bother taking the paints out and think, “I’ll get to it when I have more time” but the thing is you’ll never have more time. You have to create more time. You have to find little pockets of time and you have to make yourself and your painting time a priority.
You may think this sounds harsh, but I say it all with love and from experience because I’ve been there. Painting time won’t happen by accident. Even as a full-time artist painting doesn’t happen unless it’s scheduled and I deliberately set aside time to do it. Running a business, emails, laundry, marketing, social media… they all suck the day away. So I make painting a priority and I have to say, I feel so so so much better when I do! There’s truly nothing better than being in a flow state!
We are all busy and have so much going on in our lives, the last thing you want to do is add one more thing, even if it’s good for you! But you have to make time for yourself and for things that bring you joy! We only get one life and we have to prioritize the things that are important to us. At the end of the day it’s up to you to make time to paint if that’s important to you - and if it is important, I really hope you make it a priority! I’m cheering you on!
Here are some ways you make more time for painting -
Schedule it - Like I mentioned above, it’s so easy for my week to be filled up with all the things except painting… and I paint for a living! Schedule painting time, have that time locked in your calendar and don’t let anything except a real emergency change it! Whether you feel like painting or not, show up anyways.
Keep it small - Don’t have time for a big full painting? Create something small! The smaller you go the less time it takes, the less materials you use and the less pressure you put on yourself to make it good! You can just let loose and have fun painting for 5 minutes or 30 minutes. Painting doesn’t always have to be this big grandiose thing, sometimes it can be small and quick!
Get creative with a friend - This doesn’t mean you have to get together but you can help hold each other accountable. Agree to both paint on the same day or check in with each other each week. It’s like a gym buddy, they help you show up even when you’re not in the mood and you always feel better for showing up!
Set up your supplies ahead of time - Setting up your supplies the night before means you don’t have to waste precious painting time on setting up. If your supplies are already out you’ll be more likely to sit down and get started. If you have a designated painting area, leave your paints out so you can pick them up and get going at any time!
Get rid of distractions - Instagram and emails are my biggest time sucks. I can sit down to paint, pick up my phone and suddenly an hour has passed! Leave your phone in the other room and turn your emails off while you paint so you can be fully present and enjoy your painting time.
Let yourself be bad - Like I mentioned above, if you haven’t painted for a while you might put a lot of pressure on your painting. If it doesn’t turn out it can be really frustrating and feel like a waste of time. Instead of expecting yourself to create something amazing every painting sesh, focus on the process, get curious and experiment, and just enjoy the time you’re taking for yourself. Not every painting I create is good but out of all the paintings I create there are several good ones because I’m painting frequently. The more you paint the better you’ll get but also the less pressure you put on each painting to turn out!
Put together a collection of photos - Ok so you sit down and you’re ready to paint but you have no idea what you’re in the mood to create. You hop on Pinterest for inspo and all the sudden you’re down a home decor rabbit hole and haven’t created anything in the last hour. Just me? Keep an album on your phone or computer of painting inspo. When I take a photo that I’d like to paint I add it to the album, that way I have a bank of inspo for the times I can’t think of what to paint!
Just Paint - I don’t know who needs to hear this but sometimes you just got to stop making excuses and sit down and put paint to paper! It doesn’t have to be super complicated, just let yourself have fun and get messy for a few minutes, a few hours - whatever you can make time for!
I hope these tips can help you get started and I can’t wait to see what you create! Email me a photo of what you created this week or tag me on Instagram! I want to celebrate with you and cheer you on!
Remember, you’re a creative person capable of creating magic!
