Here's Why Not Painting Can Make You a Better Artist Too.

You hear all the time that you have to practice, practice, practice...

That you need to log those 10,000 hours then you’ll be a master. That the only way to get good at anything is to work really hard, keep your head down and just do the work.

That’s true...but there’s another piece to that story that gets left out.

It’s the idea that not painting can also help you improve.

Read on, and you’ll see what I mean.

Have you ever been so committed to getting to the finish line on a painting, with a deadline you created and said I should be able to do this by this date--and so I will?

So you grind and grind away on it--wearing yourself out so that you can prove to that voice in your head that you are serious, you’re the real deal, you’re an artist, for sure.

The work is going just so-so, but it’s going...

You are banging out piece after piece (because sometimes quantity is better than quality, maybe), and you’ve got something to prove, so on you go.

That time period becomes a memory, you’re in a place when there’s not as much time to paint, life’s happening, and you haven’t broken out your art supplies in a while.

You start feeling a little wistful--but on the other hand, you remember how you used up every spare minute in the past, and what did it get you?

You’re content (if a little guilty feeling) to just kinda think about painting instead.

You find yourself appreciating art more, maybe some other styles are more interesting too. You start noticing how other artists work, and find yourself imaging how they might have gotten a certain effect. You find some unexpected delight in some amazing graphic design work you see online, and wonder how you might use those colors in a painting...

It’s all good, because you don’t seem to have the time right now--but you are staying connected to the idea. Meanwhile more and more appreciation is seeping in. More and more references. You start to appreciate art that is more simple or more complex than yours, and wonder how you might bring some of that into your work.

You love the look of the colors in that boutique hotel room, or something from a decorating book you have lying around. You make a note to try that palette sometime soon.

You notice the paintings of your work that are on your walls. You think, hmm, if I were doing that now, I would do it this way instead...

You also remember all the steps and side steps you made while figuring out how it was going to come together.

You think...huh, I could do another one like that--maybe start a series in the same style, and take what I learned from this one and do it better. I bet I could do it a lot faster too, but for sure I know I could improve this thing or that technique. Can definitely see a series idea, if I feel like doing it.

So you’re getting the idea...

By giving yourself time away you forget some of the frustration and noise in your head, and you can just see what is. It’s like the concept of looking at your work with fresh eyes, but in this case, enough time has passed that you are looking at it almost as if it’s new to you.

You start to see that you have new painting ideas. New things are inspiring you, and different approaches come about to improve on what you were doing.

Maybe new ideas for a series, or even a similar painting to immediately capitalize on those tricks you are starting to figure out now that you’ve had some time away.

So you make a plan to work on something similar, but different. It’s your style but you are working with those new colors you’ve been loving. This time you are deliberately adding simpler areas, or more complex areas than usual.

You have a better plan on how to execute this one, based on what you learned on the last one--and what you can see now that you have some distance from it. You feel a connection to the stuff that interested you in the first place, and you feel more confident as you start sketching ideas in your notebook-- and making written lists of plans you’d like to try this time out.

If you can do all these things, and add to it the time to step back and really observe and be intentional about what you are adding to the canvas, while leaving enough space to follow ideas that may appear out of nowhere--you’ll find that you’ve done one better than picking up where you left off.

You are bigger and better than you were simply because you’ve got some wisdom, perspective, inspiration and references that you didn’t have before. Be ready to surprise yourself with what you are able to do with these little extras. It can make ALL the difference in your growth as an artist.

Remember that the 10,000 hours isn’t all spent brush in hand.

It’s thinking, feeling and appreciating too.

Those are the things that make the hours fly by, and give you a real sense of purpose, and make you the kind of artist you’ve always wanted to be.