NEW YEARS FOR ARTISTS

New Years is always a fresh start to begin again and try and improve yourself and your bad habits from the previous year. Every year people choose impossible resolutions and end up forgetting about them or just give up after a few weeks or even days. Each year we even try to make them easier and try so hard to keep them. Why is it so hard to keep our goals? How about this year we help each other?

GET A BUDDY.
Not only will you have yourself to remind you to work on your New Years Resolution but someone else to either remind you or to work with you to achieve the same goal. This way you can push each other (and have someone to blame other that yourself when you don't accomplish your goal) I also suggest keeping notes or reminders everywhere to really keep you focused (Post-Its, phone reminders, locking yourself out of a certain room until you are done each day).

Now, what are some of the best New Years Resolutions for Artists that are maintainable?
I asked my many Twitter followers this question and got nothing in response so we'll just have to figure it out ourselves.

Artists are dedicated to their work. We just need to promise ourselves to work on those things we struggle with so here is a great list of things to use for New Years Resolutions:

1. Using your sketchbook... DAILY. Yes that means meaningless sketches or writing or playing around with new materials EVERYDAY. That shouldn't be too too bad, just set off a half an hour everyday and open your sketchbook and do something, anything.

2. Create an actual piece of artwork once a week. Using your mindless sketching or experiments and create something full fledged and finished. It doesn't matter if it turns out terrible since it is only for you. It'll keep your mind in the creating mode and it'll help you figure out the kinks of what works and what doesn't.

3. Take in a commission. One of the best things I could've done was accept a request for a commission of a genre of art I don't find I am the strongest in. Now I don't suggest it to everyone because it is stressful and it is always better to accept a commission of something you will work confidently in, but for those who want to challenge themselves do it. Even if it is just a Birthday gift for someone that you are commissioning yourself to do, just share your art.

THIS website has 10 pretty good New Years Resolutions for Artists that I suggest checking out.

But MOST IMPORTANTLY DO NOT COMPARE YOURSELF TO ANY OTHER ARTIST, THE WHOLE POINT OF HAVING A NEW YEARS RESOLUTION IS TO DEVELOP YOUR SKILLS MORE. If you are having a hard time check out this older post about it.

ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE INSPIRED BY CHAIRS

Recently everywhere I turn people have been talking about their Dream Boards and other similar things. Now, I don't know much about Pinterest, I already have a Tumblr so why should I set up another similar account when I've already got one, plus 3 sketchbooks I use daily (soon to be 4). But I've heard it is pretty much a Dream Board at least something along those lines. Even Ron Funches on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon says he started using a Dream Board. 

Now to break it down, there are many different types of dream boards or walls or books or whatever. You can put up pictures of things you aspire to own, or you can have pictures of things you just enjoy and inspire you, OR you can have pictures of just literally anything that you find yourself liking (from a rug, to an advertisement)

As an artist I think it is key to surround yourself in what you like and allow it to always be present that way if you ever look at it differently or have it randomly catch your eye, you'll be inspired. I have so many artist prints framed and surrounding me at most times. TIP: I've found that when going to museums it's cheap to pick up a few postcards of your favorite pieces you saw there and use them as art around the house.

But most recently, while looking through an IKEA magazine, I found some things that I was drawn to visually. Yes I also do just want to buy the stuff in the image and decorate my house exactly like how they do, BUT I also found it aesthetically pleasing. Then it hit me, I liked how this particular room was designed because of it's similarity to what I want to do as an artist. The color palette was similar, the lines and it had aspects of it that I needed to put in my work. 

I know it shouldn't be surprising or innovative to think that interior design or the design of a chair or the way that this advertisement is photographed is linked to the fine arts because I mean come on, have you walked around the MoMA? There is a whole section devoted to artistic designs of furniture and I mean their stores alone have everything and anything there but somehow it's artistic... 

What I'm trying to get at is: use your sketchbook, or the walls of your house, or just a bulletin board to put up EVERYTHING you find yourself attracted to, not just the artwork. You never know what will make you see something in your work.

Related Post (with Artist References): http://artotterblog.blogspot.com/2014/03/inspiration-can-come-from-anywhere.html
Here's the Ron Funches video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slrgBNOmhTI

DEBATABLE: SKETCHBOOKS

From my experience, teachers of art classes try to ingrain in their students that having a sketchbook is necessary and crucial to success. Having a sketchbook on you at all times = success in the art world. I understand how this works because there have been times where I am about to fall asleep and had a great idea to write down or sketch out and my sketchbook is down by the TV. But then again I know many people who don’t use any sort of a sketchbook and don’t write anything down. Now these people are still successful so can we really relate that back to whether or not they use a sketchbook? 

Yes I agree, it depends upon the person. I am very forgetful so I have my sketchbook at hand (almost) all the time. But then again, I rarely draw in my sketchbooks instead, I write things out. Like I said in my mini bio, it helps me understand things better and I visualize everything in my head so a small detailed description is all I need to remember.

Some people use their sketchbooks as if they are their brains, scribbling everything down and constantly doodling mini masterpieces. I honestly wish I could be one of those artists. But are these people always going to be more successful than people who just write words down or people that don’t even own a sketchbook? 

Let’s look at some examples.

-Claude Monet used his sketchbooks to draw, often times whatever surrounded him or inspired him. http://www.clarkart.edu/exhibitions/monet/sketchbooks/

-Mexican director Guillermo Del Torro uses his sketchbooks for mainly writing things down but he also includes some sketches

http://flavorwire.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/sketchbook11.png

(For further pictures of famous artists sketchbooks heres a good group I found this interesting post: http://flavorwire.com/232810/inside-the-sketchbooks-of-famous-artists)

I guess it comes down to personal preference. My boyfriend is very successful at his art but because his work is all electronic he finds that he doesn’t need to write anything down. In my opinion, he should still write down the process and therefore he can easily duplicate processes or fix them down the road. But, for him, it works.

What do you guys think?