Art & Language: One and the Same?
- Faith Ee
- Mar 5, 2022
- 3 min read
One night I was lying in bed, thinking about my art and how to improve and make it better. I was wondering about what different artists (designers, singers, creatives) did that helped make them successful. Something I realised they had, that I was lacking, was one simple word: DISCIPLINE. I think there's this misconception that artists are always inspired and making fabulous works all day, every day--but unfortunately, that is certainly far from the truth. In fact, living the life of a freelance creative requires a lot of discipline, because you're not always going to feel inspired or "in the mood" to create.
Lately, I've been experiencing a rut in my creativity, and I really struggled with motivation to work. But after observing what other creatives did (especially singers and musicians), I realised they were always doing one thing day in and day out: practicing. Whether it was practicing their vocals, their instruments, writing songs, composing music, forming lyrics, beats, or dance routines, it was always the same thing--practice, practice practice, and to me this was somehow a mind-blowing concept. I've always thought of myself as a dedicated, conscientious person, and I, to some degree, felt I had self-discipline. But since beginning my journey into the freelance world, I realised how little discipline I actually had, and how much I was struggling to stay focused and on track. I asked myself, "Why is this? Why am I feeling so stressed and distracted?" That's when I knew, it was because I lacked a routine. I lacked purposeful hard work. I couldn't always count on my feelings and moods to steer me towards success. I had to earn it, I had to work and push myself.
It was like learning a language. You need to practice and use it every day, and bit by bit you'll get better and start to make progress. When I first started learning the fundamentals of art, I liken it to learning the alphabet and characters of a language. You then transition to creating original pieces and concepts, which is like forming sentences and words. Soon you're using expressions and crafting words that help you communicate and relate to others better. And so on and so forth. I personally feel I am at this stage currently: learning how to use expressions and crafting my works to reach out and connect with people better. So in actuality, learning Art and learning Language, are pretty much the same thing! You just need to PRACTICE, PRACTICE, and PRACTICE.
While it may sound mundane and far from the glamorous life of a creative, I truly believe it is something I need to instil in my own life in order to create a good framework for me to work within. I thrive on routine and order. Lists are my friends, and I've always worked better with certain limitations. So what are some things I've started doing to help get me on track to being successful in my creative practice? Let's check it out below:
Sketching 2 things every day in my sketchbook (big or small, good or bad, it doesn't matter, just as long as I draw and get my ideas out. This is also useful to archive ideas that you can go back to in the future. Just think of it as building up your creative bank account.)
Starting a newsletter for my Golden Mole brand, that I can send out approximately once a month to keep people updated on what I'm working on. I figured that having a repetitive task that still has some variation in content will be helpful and useful for my business and journey to building good habits. :D
Breaking projects into smaller parts and focusing on doing, more than thinking (overthinking tends to discourage my motivation, so I try to focus more on doing and trusting the process)
There's so much to learn and so much to experience, but I felt like sharing small tips like this can be helpful in understanding and finding ways to deal with lack of motivation and progress for all you young creatives out there. While I by no means have all the answers, I feel that it's always encouraging to have peers open the discussion on things they struggle with in their journey.
So try it! My science teacher always used this expression and it's stuck with me till this day: he said he always repeats the explanation of concepts "ad nauseam" so that it will be firmly implanted in our brains and we won't forget it. It will become 2nd nature, and the process will get easier with time. So focus, take your dedication seriously and cultivate DISCIPLINE.
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