Avoiding the Siren Call of the Shiny and New (also Known as Procrastination)

I was distracted today by temptations of what kind of art to do. So many choices, so little time. Which to do first? A friend has shown some watercolor abstracts she’s been doing and that seems a lot of fun to explore.

Another person on Facebook shared a pencil drawing of a stack of some lobster pots along a pier that he’d been working on. The detail and complexity seemed delightful to get lost in. I have pictures from Maine that I could use.

I have two books that I want to start working my way though: Modern Watercolor Botanicals by Sarah Simon and Pen & Ink Drawing, A Simple Guide by Alphoso Dunn. Both seem like they will be great as I improve my skills in watercolor and ink working through their practice examples.

So many interesting things to start and to explore! I’m sure you know that feeling of excitement and anticipation before a new project. It’s going to be so much fun!!

Then I looked at my list of artistic to-do’s which sit on my desk languishing waiting for my attention. Sigh.

I ended up deciding to work on one of my older projects first before the shiny and new ones. I set a timer and started it so I had to start working. What I found was that in settling down and focusing on my project, my interest was piqued and I got involved and caught up in working on what was in front of me. I got caught up in the petals of this water lily: what colors to use, how much water, how can I blend the colors more, where do I need to add more value, etc. And then before too long, I finished it. One project done. Easy.

That’s the way it often is; once I put my attention to something, it becomes fascinating and I’m usually happy that I spent some time with that thing. I didn’t spend that much time, only about 30 minutes, but I got the added satisfaction of knowing I put off procrastinating and now I am free to start in on one of my new ideas. Now the decision making isn’t procrastinating but is enjoying the process of making a choice.

How do you get yourself to stop procrastinating?

Procrastination - Starting's really not so bad!

Botanical watercolor of a tulip.

My botanical watercolor of a tulip is all done! I’m very pleased with both how it turned out and also for getting it done. I have so many unfinished drawings in my sketchbooks that part of what I’m doing with my dailies* is to work on some of them and get them finished before starting new drawings on empty pages. I’m hoping that will clear some of the clutter and distraction in my head.

What I found interesting about working on this tulip from a creativity point of view is how long I resisted and procrastinated working on it - 2 years. I was very good at coming up with excuses to avoid it. Many of my reasons had to do with color matching and blending colors. There was a lot of internal whining.

The funny thing was once I started, it was surprisingly simple and straightforward. Once I mixed a color and put it down, I could leave it or change it by adding another layer of color. It was that easy. And if I really messed up by spilling water across the page or big blobs of color got on the picture somehow, I could chose to continue or I could turn the page and draw it again and start over or not. The choices weren’t difficult but my mind before starting did a great job in over-complicating things.

Procrastination is all about fear but if somehow you can take a first step or action, then you have something to react to and make a decision on. It’s no longer the unknown. Progress is made.

What are you procrastinating on? How can you take a step forward with it? What will you do?

(* I am currently taking the online class, The Creative’s Workshop, and they encourage the participants to show up daily with something they’ve been working on. Rough and incomplete is fine. Just show up. I posted in the class for 4 days running with progress on this tulip.)