The famous Polish pianist and composer, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, is known for saying, "If I miss one day of practice, I notice it. If I miss two days, the critics notice it. If I miss three days, the
audience notices it.”
We read about dancers spending hours working behind the scenes, we see baseball players doing their routines prior to a game, and we know musicians go through many hours honing their skills.
What do visual artists do out of sight to enhance their skills and creative expression?
Prowling through the notebooks of Leonardo, seeing Michelangelo's preliminary sketches, and reading Delacroix's journal give us insights
into their behind the scenes work. We discover that a lot of working out of ideas and germinating preceded every work they produced.
These were not done for us to admire centuries later. Rather, they were the creative process in action, raw energetic explorations,
discoveries and rehearsals for what was to come. These were their behind the scenes workouts.
What are your workout routines?
Most of mine happen in my sketchbook. Here are a couple of excerpts along with the resulting painting.
My sketchbooks are my playpens. I can't imagine life as an artist without them. My daily visits within one of them keeps my inner artist
fed and alive. If I neglect a day with it, I get a bit off balance. If I skip two days, I feel the artist taking a nap. If I miss a week, the artist just might go to sleep.
If you're not doing so already, I recommend you get yourself a sketchbook, no larger than 8 1/2 x 11 inches. The larger ones are not as intimate as the smaller
ones. And the hardbound ones are a lot more durable to those spiral bound with soft covers.
Use it as your personal space. Give nobody else access to it.
It's invaluable to every artist to claim the freedom to be an artist without being a performer. In your sketchbook, you are never performing, but investigating possibilities, exploring your thoughts, finding what the true inner artist wants to say. Play in it every
day. Play with pencils, pens, a Prang watercolor set, crayons -- anything goes. Write your stream of consciousness thoughts. Be free.
Be utterly free!!!
Enjoy an exhilarating weekend of discovery!
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