Staying motivated to create art regularly is a practiced skill so these are habits that are developed over time. No one is born with these skills so we all have to build these over time. Here are some tips to help you stay motivated and inspired to make art regularly.

Tip #1 Set Realistic Goals

The reason New Year Resolutions usually don't work is because the goals are set at an unrealistic pace. If you don't draw regularly right now, you aren't suddenly going to draw for long periods of time every single day. This isn't to say that you shouldn't set goals but they have to be grounded in how you currently are.

Daily Habit

So lets say you dont make art on a daily basis right now but you would like to develop that habit. First start off by setting a schedule, what time of day do you want to do this and where will you be set up. Pay attention to when you will most likely have time to make art, do you have to wake up early in the morning to make time for it? Do you have more free time in the evening?

Once you have a time and place for your habit, then set a goal for the amount of time you will want to spend each day. Set the bar low enough so that you can achieve it even on your bad days. I recommend 10-20 minutes of art per day to begin with and then slowly increase this number.

You can always go over the allotted time when you feel good, but we want a steady number as our bare minimum. 

Artistic Ability

We also want to make sure we set realistic expectations around what type of art we make and the level of skill we currently have. You cant expect yourself to suddenly make art at the level of your favorite artists, setting the bar too high can be demoralizing and will only make things harder. I'm not suggesting that you don't try to improve, but we want to focus on incremental growth.

I also want to note that it is natural to feel frustrated with your work, it is completely normal to feel like you want to do better and that your current abilities arent at the place that you want them to be. In those moments make sure to be forgiving and to note that it is a good impulse, there is a part of you that recognizes your hidden potential and is urging you to push further. 

Tip #2 Celebrate Small Wins

To stay motivated we need to take time to actually applaud our efforts and take time to acknowledge that we are taking on new challenges. Even if we arent happy with the results we need to celebrate the effort itself so that we reinforce the habit of tackling difficult problems and trying new things. 

Make sure not to diminish your small wins by comparing to what other people are doing. If drawing 20minutes per day is challenging for you, do celebrate it and dont let that accomplishment seem small just because other creatives are spending more time. Take the time to truly pat yourself on the back and be proud of small accomplishments.

All big wins are made up of small daily wins, you become a great artist by creating regularly and making incremental improvements. Treat all your small wins like they are the big wins. 

Tip #3 Reduce Social Media Use

Social media can be a place of inspiration but it can also be a place that creates unrealistic expectations and a feeling of inadequacy. Social media is designed to keep you distracted so it doesn't lend itself to a life of focused craftsmanship. 

This is especially true if you are using social media during your art making time. If you keep your art making time and your social media time separate that can be a great way to keep things balanced. I also highly recommend turning off notifications on your phone or keeping it on silent mode while working. Uninstalling a lot of my social media off my phone and only using it while on the computer has definitely helped me stay focused while working.

It is important to pay attention to how things affect you, take note of how you feel after consuming a piece of content. Does consuming this particular thing improve your life or take away from it? You have to ask these types of questions for yourself because no one can truly know what will help you other than yourself.

I have found that staying off social media for the first half of my day helps me stay in better touch with my own desires and feelings. Do take the time to be critical of your daily habits and how they are affecting your life. 

Key Concept: Two Types of Fun

I think this is a really important concept to understand to stay motivated. Not all fun are created equally. So Type 1 fun is something that is fun right at the beginning but the longer you do it the less fun it becomes (think of social media use or eating ice cream), Type 2 fun is when something isn't particularly fun at the beginning but becomes more fun the longer you do it or the better you get at it (ex. Working out or drawing).

Drawing is Type 2 Fun when you start off because you are trying to learn a new skill and it can be frustrating at first but it only gets more fun the better you get at it. I definitely enjoy drawing more today than I used to in the beginning, take note of the fact that you might not be ‘feeling it’ on a certain day but once you sit down and actually practice you may find yourself deeply inspired to make art. 

The key here is that with type 2 fun it is the initial phase that is uncomfortable, it is getting your butt into the chair that is challenging but it only gets better once you do it. Keep this in mind as you build your drawing habit. 

So those are some tips on staying motivated and inspired to create art on a regular basis. Make sure to subscribe to the youtube channel if you like this type of content! And also check out the rest of the blog posts :D