Having read my previous blog post, you’ll be aware that I took on a personal challenge over December where I vowed to do something creative everyday, without limit, rules or the goal of sharing finished work. A month later, I can confirm that I was successful in that pursuit.

To celebrate, I thought I would share five interesting things I noticed during this experiment…

5 minutes is all it takes to make a difference

A mere 300 seconds - 1% of the average working day.

Just 5 minutes of mindful creativity was all it took to see a simple shift in my mood.

After putting aside my own itching expectations, my paintbrush rapidly led me to a place of refreshment and inspiration. Oftentimes, a lightning-fast doodle session sparked new ideas, snowballing into an hour of creative play, or providing me with artistic plans to bank for when I next pulled out my watercolours.

Gone is the excuse, ‘I can’t find the time for my art.’ Anything and everything counts - a hasty scribble on a restaurant napkin or a day spent paint-splattered in front of a canvas - I know both will bring me that same joyful refreshment (albeit for different lengths of time!).

There was a lot of repetition

Looking back over last month’s sketchbook pages, I noticed clear patterns, motifs and subjects that I drew repeatedly - without even realising I had done it. I guess it must have been muscle memory, or just a pull to those specific shapes, but I think it’s interesting nonetheless.

It’s this sort of repetition in our art which eventually morphs into an individual art style as we gravitate towards what excites or fulfils us creatively. So, with a regular art practice you will eventually establish your own unique style of art, which highlights what makes your work so special - nobody else creates what you do.

Experimentation is difficult

When I sat in front of my sketchbook, it was sometimes difficult to pull myself away from the expectation that I must create a well-thought out masterpiece and just throw myself into a state of experimentation; to create without rhyme or reason.

It took a lot of mental strength to carve out the time to experiment artistically, especially when my attention was drawn elsewhere. As discussed in my first point, a 5 minute, no-judgement doodle session was often what launched me past that mental block - where I would just take some time to scribble shapes and rough ideas, without any sense of forethought.

Once over that hurdle, I could play with an enthusiastic carelessness: colours could mix, lines could cross and paint most definitely could be splattered.

Growing up we are taught that play is something of childhood - but why should that be the case?

Have fun. Make things messy on purpose.

It’s okay to dislike what you’ve made

Getting a bit careless in my creative pursuits meant that, eventually, I was going to make something I disliked - or, as I found the case to be, I continued to create what I was indifferent to until I eventually made something that I loved.

That’s just the risk you take when trying new things.

Although I didn’t love everything I made at the moment, after a day or two, I could look at that page in my sketchbook with gratitude for the feelings that each ugly doodle allowed me to process, feel and create.

It also taught me that not every piece of art is going to be my next favourite, and that’s okay - it doesn’t mean that I have automatically lost my capacity for creating good work, despite what my own anxious perfectionism might make me believe. Eventually, I will create a new favourite piece as my skills grow and style changes.

Art is a fantastic form of therapy

This is no big news, art therapy as a professionally-practiced concept has been around since the mid 20th-century - and for good reason.

The art-making process itself is an act of mindfulness, since it takes you out of your own thoughts and worries and allows you to focus on merely creating something. Artistic expression and emotional release go hand-in-hand, meaning you can process thoughts and feelings in a freeing and fun way.

Creating something everyday allowed me an outlet and a place to explore emotional problems during the day. It was also just calming - after a busy evening at work, I could come home and sketch away the stress for a few minutes whilst winding down for the night.

Key takeaways...

Regular art-making is a fantastic way to improve your mood, express emotions, establish your own artistic style and supply creativity. Even just a few minutes a day helped me to build resilience, confidence and joy in my art skills.

Whilst making extended time to sit down and paint a masterpiece every single day is impossible, carving out a simple 5 minutes before or after work is likely do-able.

This whole challenge was the perfect way to pull me out of an extended artistic block - and showed me a lot about what a creative practice actually is. It’s definitely something I will try to implement again when inspiration is needed!

‘When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?'

Psalm 8:3-6 (NIV)