Cultivating artistic discipline by sketching daily

Ballpoint pen drawing on recycled paper (daily drawing goals).

I am an artist who procrastinates a lot. My first attempt at vlogging on YouTube was centred on the habit of procrastination and my struggle to overcome it. I have an overwhelming amount of “great ideas” which unfortunately, can never be fulfilled completely. At the time I published my first vlog, I thought I would make the next episode within one or at most two weeks, but that didn’t happen. 2 years later and I am yet to publish a follow up.



In my quest to reinvent myself as an artist, I am convinced that sketching every day is an important ritual that I must practice to achieve artistic discipline. For example, each time I take a long sabbatical, I notice that I have to paint or draw for a few hours before my hands remember how I hold and use the tools.



In the Bible the whole-number or ‘number of completion’ is 7. However, personally the number that symbolise completion is the number 10. Coincidently, I have reached the tenth year on the internet trying to publish and market my art. I got online just after the ‘great internet art bubble bust’ (in the year 2007, which was the peak of online art sales). That year, people were making tens of thousands of dollars just selling their original art online then all of a sudden it just drop (like it’s a hot object). Had it been I knew then, what I know now; I would probably be a millionaire by now.



I have been doing some sober reflection and at this stage, even without releasing a great amount of ‘finished’ work, I have amassed a verse quantity of knowledge on online marketing. It is really time to apply these knowledges.

STARTING ANEW

Back in 2007, when I was first experimenting with the internet, I was able to make a religious paining called ‘Anew’. Now looking back at the work, I know that the young man who created that painting has drastically changed from the grown up man that I am today. My philosophy about art, religion and life are no longer the same. I feel showing some of my old artwork in the year 2019 would not be a true representation of who I am or what I want. Those works belongs in my personal archive. For this reason I have resolved to start afresh. I intend on making new set of artworks that would take almost 2 years to have a full set.

Displaying the old work would not only make my work lack coherence, but some of the old artworks are actually contradictory to the new once.

That means apart from about 10 works of old art, I would stock my personal website with works from 2018 and beyond (Gods willing). So to fill up the website (so it doesn’t only have 2 or 3 ‘finished’ works), I have embarked on a huge sketching frenzy while I work carefully to create the more detailed and ‘masterful’ gallery worthy works. Hence the daily sketch undertaking.

THE DISCIPLINE I ACQUIRED OUTSIDE OF THE ART INDUSTRY

I have a day-job (as a part time artist) where I spend an average of 10 hours on the job and my phones are always open for work related emergency calls. I refer to is as my shi**y job because of the very poor income but priceless experience and exposure. As someone who use to suffer from severe SAD (social anxiety disorder), interacting with the public on a one-on-one bases has given me the exposure and strength of character that I would have otherwise never had (especially if I isolated myself in an art studio).

Another advantage acquired outside of the art industry is the work ethic and the ability to work long hours on things I don’t like. When I was 12 years old, I could paint right after school 2pm until 5am the next day, only getting up briefly to eat or urinate but I was ‘fuelled’ by my love for art and passion. There was a time I got a 12 hours a day job and I quit after 2 days because it felt as if all I was doing was sleep and work. Now, I can easily pull an 18 hours surprise extra time (and still be on stand-by during the remaining hours of that day). At my place of work, I am the person to stand-in for anyone who quit their job or fall ill. I recently discovered that the fastest way to lose 10 pounds of body weight OVERNIGHT is to pull a surprise 18 hours shift, it is far effective than just fasting due to the stress.



It is my intension to incorporate these work ethic to my art career (which is my dream career), regardless of whether I have the free time or not. The only hindrance is the medication I often take to sedate me from having a panic attack during the day (part of the side effect is tiredness as it was originally meant to be a tranquiliser).

THE STRUGGLE WITH PROCRASTINATION

I am aware of my struggle with procrastination as an artist. EVERY SINGLE DAY, I tell myself I would make art today but as Steven Pressfield would say; ‘Resistance’ out smarts me. Resistance is the name the author called an innate self-sabotaging personality that most armature-artist has to overcome to become (as he themes it) “pros” (in his book ‘The War of Art’ which I recommend all career artist read).

The only difference is that this time, I have gained a lot of knowledge from following people like Jorden Peterson (who I respect and also hate at the same time), Mal Robbins and Brian Tracy (who I almost warship because I know what I have learnt from them, are the most influential and powerful truths that would eventually lead to my ‘freedom’ from procrastination). I am more aware of what am doing to myself subconsciously now, than ever before (and whenever I applied these knowledge, I always see the powerful results, as expected. It is the old fashion law of ‘cause and effect’).

WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO IMPROVE THEIR ARTISTIC SKILL AND ACHIEVE DISCIPLINE?

Even an armature artist (who does it purely for the love of making art), would profit greatly from artistic discipline because it would make them skilled enough to successfully execute any idea they have at record speed (the excitement of manifesting multiple ideas is priceless). The consistent practise would result in greater efficiency.

THE MASTER PLAN

Well, as I said before, I have over a thousand ideas that I have compiled over the year. I have about 700 voice recorded ideas and many others I wrote down on papers.

So the new goal is to pick one idea after the other. Once I execute one, I rest for a day and start working on the other (yes, part of the knowledge I have gained recently is the importance of rest/break for peak performance). Some of the ideas are long term (meaning it is not something I can do in a month or a week), more like a lifestyle or a continuous activity. Two example of this long term idea is to continuously have something on my Instagram Story (probably a live sketch) or to spend 30 minutes each day reading something about contemporary art or art history.

Then there are the once where I have concept for an artwork or caricature which can be achieve and ‘tick off’ within a day or a month (I have many of these). The unfortunate thing is that it takes me weeks to ‘finish’ a single artwork and an average of 150 hours of deep concentration, so indeed I would go to my grave without working on some of these concepts.



I would start by creating an episode 2 of my Vlog, almost 2 year after episode 1. From there, I would move on.

DOCUMENTATION AND PRIVACY ISSUES

It is my intension to document almost every aspect of my artistic progression. As a new student of Gary Vee, I know the importance of these if not for today, but for posterity. However, I am the private type of person. I am sure, if you have not seen me in real life, you probably don’t know my voice or ever seen me smile, well even my next door neighbours has never seen me smile.



I don’t feel comfortable when people look at me and now I intend on posting my activities online to be judged by anyone and everyone. I am sure I would not have been able to do this 10 years ago when I first came on the internet but thanks to my day job, I have a little tolerance for this now. I intend on ‘silencing my thoughts’ as if no one is there or no camera is watching. Unfortunately, during the live section, you might hear me whisper an idea to myself or ‘think aloud’ (embarrassingly).

TECHNICAL CHALLENGES OF DAILY DOCUMENTATION

I expect to face some major challenges while trying to fulfil this plan of mine to document my daily ‘studio life’.

First; I get knocked-out after work from the tranquiliser.

Secondly; There is the challenge of not having enough spare-time, which I would overcome.

Then there is the major challenge of electricity. My phone battery drains quickly so I occasionally must stop to charge it, The phone also overheat a lot (it is my camera). I am currently investing in education and it’s my dream to complete my degree (even though I no longer believe in a university degree, I feel I need to complete what I have started), so buying a new phone is out of the question for now. Couple that with an unstable supply of electricity this raining season. We are currently in the raining season and this year, it has been more of a wind than water. So after a windstorm, we often experience power outage for many hours (sometimes days). I believe my battery started developing fault because I was always charging it with a petrol generator and the current from the generators damages battery over time.

The fifth and last challenge is; internet and its cost. A ten minute video in HD is about 2GB. Only a Nigerian would understand what that means in terms of finance (not to mention the network quality and time to upload such a huge file). That means if I try to upload a 1 hour HD video daily, it would require a daily data usage of 12GB. That is why I have opted for the lesser resolution videos for now, until the time is right and I can afford the elaborate once.



Then there is the time constrain as I have to play the ‘jack of all trade’ until I am able to hire professionals who would save me the time in doing some non-artwork related work (although creative but has nothing to do with the creation of the physical artwork). Example is the editing of video (which I do poorly), and the writing up of great blog post and description, scheduling my time, research, social media engagement, photography, and etc.

All five of these challenges shall be conquered. As the good book said, the person that waits for the perfect weather condition before planting, would end up having a fallow farmland during harvest season. So it is vitally important that I fully utilise the limited resource at my disposal. I remember asking a subsistence farmer if he was able to conclude his farming before sunset, he laughed and said “that is not how farming works, the farmer does his best each day and return”.

THE CRAZY REASON WHY I WOULD FOREVER BE A PART-TIME ARTIST

It is my opinion that being a part-time artist is equivalent to freedom. I also think it is healthy.

The stereotypical image of an artist is someone who might be creative, but also weird. I don’t know why a lot of the famous once have been strange and many of the living once seems a little ‘out of touch with reality’. That is why sometimes when I see some artist explaining art creation at exhibitions, I wonder am I confused or is the artist confused? Some of them look crazy from a far so you can only imagine how much crazy they be when you have come to know them personally. Sometimes insanity is contagious and if you listen to a mad-person long enough, you too would be crazy.

Making art can sometime be a lonely occupation. One has to isolate themselves from others to tap into the ‘muse’ and get inspired or develop the ideas they might have gotten during the day, they also isolate themselves while making such artworks. Too much isolation often is a sign of an unhealthy mental state of mind. It is beautiful but if done too much would harm the practitioner. Even artist who were socially active and skilled (like Picasso) often still produce strange works of art (indicating that in the solitude of their studio, they started thinking ‘out of the box’).



I dream of one day re-opening a brick and mortal studio in Nigeria (exclusively for the creation and appreciation of art, not a gallery for displaying art but a studio for creating art). Although Tugis Art Studio is fully incorporated, I still haven’t paid for a studio. I use to have fantasy of making art all night long from my studio with the lights on and the large store door wide open for the pure natural fresh night air to blow me while I create alone or alongside a handful of artists who are fully involved with their work. This fate awaits other profession that requires focus and concentration (like the stereotypes for mathematicians and scientist). It is no surprise that Hitler was a skilled but unsuccessful artist; he woke up one day like a mad scientist and felt he would take over the world by manipulating the Aryan race. If only he had a part-time job to compensate his dream job of being a painter, he would have made controversial artworks instead of getting involved with unionism and subsequently politics (okay, that is a tasteless joke).



Being a part-time artist would make the artist a little less crazy (not completely though).

The disadvantage of being a part-time artist is that; if I try to concentrate too much on my art, I might lose my day job (which is the major source of my income and the source of my artistic freedom). You see, when you don’t depend on your art to pay for the bills, you can make a thought provoking work that might upset your collectors or intended buyers (for example; if I own a big national gallery, I can’t criticise the sitting government while begging for grant and support from that same government, I might praise it even though they don’t deserve it which adds to the delusion of the leader who is detached from the reality of his incompetence and how it affects his subjects).

BACK TO SCHOOL AND ITS CONNECTION TO MY GOAL OF HAVING AN ONLINE NIGERIAN ART GALLERY/STORE

A few years ago, I wrote about leaving school after two brutal years of schooling. Today, I have finally gone back to school but this time I want to get a degree in Business. The first exams I wrote; I studied and sat for it with the attitude of a student that just wanted to pass an exam with a great GP. After that examination, I noticed that the entrepreneurial strategy that was been taught academically was ‘creating some sparks in my brain’. I felt I would actually apply some of this ‘academic knowledge’ in the pursuit of my art career. I currently aspire to be am “Artist-Entrepreneur”. If I succeed, I would open a galley just like that of Chief Nikki but mine would be online instead of a brick and mortal gallery. It might be called ‘The Nigerian Yessy Gallery’. Back in the days, Yessy doesn’t accept Nigerians (due to the influx of scammer who were ruining the shopping experience of its users) so I intend on creating an online art hub for Nigerian artist who have been personally vented by me to be genuine (so the struggling local artist can have a shot at eCommerce).

Back in the days, Yessy.com use to dominate the online gallery sector. They bought google ads at a low price and gained greatly from it. However, they must have had issues with internet scammers and decided to ban all Nigerian IP Address from selling art on their website. Sometimes I feel like they take delight in telling the aspiring and upcoming Nigerian artist to elf off (many of whom at that time, didn’t know that there were hundreds of art galleries that accepted Nigerians but didn’t tap into the cheap Google advertisement placement on keywords in those days, so they didn’t get much traffic and sales because no one knew they existed, both buyers and seller).

Now I read with interest. It really supplemented the knowledge I was gaining online (already) and guided me to search for terms I wouldn’t have otherwise thought of researching (if I wasn’t exposed to the academic aspect of Business Management).

CONCLUSION

Ten years on the internet and it is just now I am doing what I ought to have done from day one. Although I am a little ill-equipped, I intend on optimising the current infrastructures I have at my disposal. With this limited time that I have, I have also realised that the only way I would execute this intention is if I re-ignite the passion for art that I had when I was at the early stages of discovering how to make art and practice daily by making a drawing a day, every day.