So, I took the day off today. My normal routine sees me up anywhere between 6 & 10 depending on how late I worked the night before. Check e-mail while coffee is brewing and right into the work mode. Today was different.
Slept till 10ish. Coffee while playing with the cat. Shower and a leisurely walk to the L stop of the train. Then off to The Metropolitan museum of art. Sketchpad in hand I tackled several exhibits. I left my cell phone at home - unintentionally but on future days like this I think I'll make that 'intentionally' as the messages I got when I got home would have just annoyed me at the museum. I got three sketches in, only one I really like, and I'll post them soon after this.
I fell off my 'hour a day' routine for creative work very quickly. That method wasn't very realistic in retrospect as I rarely have a spare hour in my days.
So here is the 'day-off' strategy. Sundays. If I can possibly manage it Sunday will be my new day off. I've found that with computer work, 10 straight is about my limit. When I was in theater I'd work 6 months without a day off, but that was different. Different things daily, different venues, and largely physical work - which, in my situation, was easier than what I do now.
The idea behind this is to keep me more productive on work days, and set aside the time I've always said I would for things like - going to the met.
Today was good. I'm much more focused than I was this morning. I'm three sketches ahead of where I was this morning. I picked up some nuances of why I should probably start sculpting wood before I launch into stone. I piked up a few ways I might try doing that.
I also thought out a lot. Sketching has always been somewhat meditative for me. When I do it right I let my eyes and my hands do the work and I think things through. Got through a lot of my impatience I've been feeling and not expressing in a certain situation I'm working through. It's just plain gonna take its time, and I'm OK with that. Rushing decisions rarely gets them made correctly, so its much better just to sit back, wait, and draw.
Talk to ya'll soon.