I love to make art. I really do. I love seeing colors explode on the page in surprising ways. I love dancing my brush around, exploring the difference in textures that can be made. I love trying to capture the feeling of whatever it is that I’m experiencing. I love being “in the zone”, or experiencing “flow state”, where the whole world disappears except for my art and my subject.
But as much as I love these things, it’s sometimes difficult to sit down and do it. I’m constantly waging a war against burnout — long work hours and two young kids leave little time for self-care and hobbies. So how can I keep up my skills? I wrote in my swatching post about how I am content to swatch out my paints in these times. And there are plenty of benefits to this practice, as I mentioned before. However, I recently realized I need to practice more specific skills/techniques/subjects that I don’t explore through swatching along. For example, rendering water or birds!
To try to get past this, I’ve come up with a daily watercolor practice schedule that I am hoping will allow me to grow my skills and remove some of the decision fatigue that holds me back from starting.
The Plan
With the following plan, I aim to practice a specific skill each day of the week for just 15 minutes a day. I really like alliteration, hence the arrangement of names here. I know, it’s cheesy, but it will help to remember what each day’s focus is!
In addition to the daily skill focus, I’ll also have a weekly (or monthly — I haven’t decided yet) subject focus. This allows me to apply the specific daily skills to a practical use. For example, if my focus of the week is water, I can practice mixing ocean colors on Monday and then work on brush strokes to render a wave on Tuesday.
Without further ado, here’s how I will set up my schedule:
Mixing Monday
Mondays will be for mixing colors! It will be nice to start the week with my favorite activity :).
Technique Tuesday
Tuesdays are for practicing brush skills, perspective, water control, or anything that would be helpful to render my subject focus.
Wild Wednesday
I had a hard time coming up with alliteration for this one, so it’s a bit of a stretch! I hope to get outside the house to paint on Wednesdays. I’d love to do this more often, but with my current schedule, I need to be very, very selective with how I spend my time.
Tutorial Thursday
I love a good tutorial! I think they can be very valuable aides, as long as that’s all they are. I learn a lot by watching someone do what I would like to, as long as I make time to practice the same materials. So, on Thursdays, I’ll work from a tutorial.
Free Friday
On Fridays, I’ll be free to do whatever I’d like. It could be more swatching, more tutorials, really anything I want to do as long as it’s related to making art.
Study Saturday
Saturdays are for focused study. I’ll be rendering a subject of any sort relating to my focus: still life, photo reference, master artwork, etc. I will practice this, intending to observe my application and will critique my work.
The Pursuit
Okay, but what about Sunday? Well, I figure I don’t have to paint on Sundays. Instead, I’d like to reflect on the week’s work and likely share thoughts and photos here.
Well, the plan is in place, and now there’s nothing left but to do! I’ve been thinking about how to make this work for a couple of months, and I’m really excited to finally have a sense of direction. I miss the days of being able to render full paintings daily, but some day, I will again — and I’ll have really sharp skills to do so!
How about you? Do you have a practice schedule that you stick to? Would you like to give this one a try? Let me know what you think in the comments!
