TURNING DRAWING GOALS INTO A REALITY
How many times have your good intentions to draw failed? You buy a new book and become inspired by someone else’s journey. You visit an art store and beguiled by the shiny pencils and inviting paper, load up your shopping basket and leave the shop with your wallet lighter and a spring in your step – only to find that life gets in the way and before you know it, a month or two has passed and you haven’t even opened your sketchbook. Goal setting can seem a bit left-brained but we all need a kick-start every so often and if it gets us drawing does it matter?
Here are five steps to turning your drawing goals into a reality.
Five Steps to Turning Your Drawing Goals into a Reality
- Make a list of drawing goals and write them down (writing them down means you are more likely to stick to them).
- Be realistic (there’s no point in setting yourself up to fail)
- Make a date in your diary – ideally in one month, no later than in three – to review and revise your goals. It’s okay to change and let go of goals but do consciously and deliberately, rather than just letting them fade away in embarrassment. It’s natural that what we want now might be different to what we want in three months time.
- Share your goals with a friend (they can be a non-drawing person!). A ‘goal buddy’ can support you in your endeavors (and you can support them in theirs). Be accountable to each other as well as giving each other moral support and encouragement.
- For every goal you set, make a plan now about how you are going to achieve it. Be as specific as you can break things down into small manageable steps and write them down.
and finally…
Give yourself permission to start again… if your drawing has fallen by the wayside, so what. The sky won’t fall in. If it’s something you really want to do, just do it. Start now.
SEIZE THE DRAWING MOMENT
- Carry a sketchbook with you at all times. Seize the drawing moment!
- Make a specific time each week for drawing (each day if you can) to draw. Keep this time sacrosanct and don’t let it be hijacked by chores, friends or family. Even 15 minutes will make a difference.
- Book a workshop or a class. Mixing with like-minded people can be really motivating. If you can’t do something regularly perhaps attend a one-day or residential workshop. Check out your local museums for classes – they often run drawing events for adults. Check their ‘What’s On’ and book early as they are often over-subscribed.
- If you are not near any museums, look online – there are some fantastic e-groups out there where like-minded people from all corners of the globe share their frustrations and triumph in drawing and creating.
- Don’t wait for the muse to strike – you’ll be waiting an awful long time. Draw regardless of whether you feel ‘in the mood’. Just start drawing and see what happens…
- Buy a box file or other storage container and collect images that inspire you… magazine cuttings, postcards, photographs, bits of fabric. Create an ‘ideas’ box you can draw on.
- Keep your drawing materials accessible and to hand so it won’t be a big performance to start drawing.
- Make an artist’s date with yourself once a month. This is a time for you to do something to nourish your inner artist – perhaps visit a gallery, go sketching, visit somewhere new, do something you wouldn’t normally do – whatever you want but do it by yourself and make it fun. Step outside your comfort zone. When we struggle, we learn, when we learn we grow.
- At the back of your sketchbook make a list of things to draw and each time you want to draw just pull off the first thing on the list. Here’s a start: draw a shoe; an egg beater; the first thing you pull out of the kitchen implements draw, your hand; your foot; objects on the mantelpiece; a pair of spectacles…
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