How to Set Artistic Goals as an Artist

Goals can be tremendously useful but how you set them can make a big difference. This one concept has completely changed my life including my artistic goal setting approach. 

Outcome vs Input goals

An outcome goal is a goal that you only accomplish once you get to the finish line, for example this might be to “draw beautiful roses in pencil within 6 months”. This is a great goal to get you started on a new hobby. 

However, an outcome oriented goal can make it hard to feel motivated to do the work that is necessary to achieve the goal. It doesn't reinforce the process of learning.

This is where input goals come to save the day!!

An input goal is focused on the energy and time you want to put into an activity. So for drawing roses, this goal might be to spend 60 minutes per week drawing flowers in pencil.

These types of goals work so well because they focus on the process that will eventually get you to the goal. This gives you the room to celebrate on a regular basis because you are winning along the way.

Everytime you finish a drawing session you have won. Regardless of the specific progress you are making. This way it's easy to maintain your motivation throughout the artistic journey. 

So take a moment right now and answer the following questions in your sketchbook:

How much time can I realistically spend drawing per week? Maybe per day?
Which day(s) will I be doing this drawing?
At what time in the day and where will I do this drawing?

This will help you set a clear input goal to aim for. Now use a page in your sketchbook, or maybe a separate piece of paper to track your progress. Use a timer to make sure your drawing sessions aren't full of distractions.

Deep Work

To get the most out of your time you want to focus deeply when you work. 1 hour of focused work can be more effective than 3 hours of shallow work.

So how do we do this?

The first step is to use a timer when you draw. I like to use the timer app on my phone. While the timer is going you are not allowed to be distracted by text messages or other small distractions.

This way you can get a realistic sense of how long you are actually focusing on the task. It can also help to turn your phone screen side down on your table so you dont see notifications.

The second step is to figure out when in your week or what part of the day you are able to maintain deeper focus. I have found that I struggle to focus deeply right after a meal, so I make sure to do my deep work sessions before dinner or many hours after.

This second step can be challenging if you have a busy schedule, I know not everyone has the freedom to change their schedule. But if you are serious about learning how to draw, it might be worth waking up 20 minutes earlier on certain days to get more drawing done.

That is my advice for goal setting as an artist. If you have any feedback on the topic feel free to email me! I would love to hear what has worked for you!

°✧ Drawing Roses ✧°

If you want to be able to draw beautiful roses for custom made greeting cards for loved ones or cute drawings in your sketchbook then this course is perfect for you!

In the course we will learn how to draw beautiful roses using these simple step by step lessons with printable worksheets so you can make real progress.

I have taught over a thousand students and they all improve rapidly with the use of printable worksheets because it makes it very easy to learn new concepts and see where to improve.

Let's draw together! I will see you over in the course!