Put in the Work

05.06.10

Put in the work

Life is funny then it’s not so funny then its funny again. Being an artist can be fun and then at times not so fun. Theres ebb and flow. I’ve noticed that it’s not so fun when I fall into a wave of thinking that awesome things will just happen by themselves. I can just sit there and watch amazingness pop out of nowhere, but I’m always waiting for it, dreaming about it. I confess, I have been a lazy artist. Instead of putting in the work, I end up believing all the excuses my mind can come up with on why I need to put this project off or wait till friday to start that project… then the ideas fade and nothing happens.

LAME!

FRUSTRATING!

I’M OVER IT!

Anyways. My latest 2 and 1/2 year excuse for not running after my dreams was because I’m married, have 2 kids under 3 years old and I’ve got an 8-5 job only for the money. Well, my wife is insanely supportive of the artist and free spirit in me, my kids are just awesome and I do want to spend as much time with them as possible which I need to do in the evenings and on the weekends, my job- its serving its purpose by paying some bills. So I have no excuses for what is actually just straight up laziness.

This morning I woke up at 5am, was at Starbucks working on art from 5:30-7am. My new creative schedual booster. Instead of waiting for inspiration. Create it. You guys feel me?

Art-artist-create-graphic design-inspiration-Photography

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zachariahdh – So, as always I must respond with a quote:

“The harder I work, the luckier I get”
Samuel Goldwyn

Anyway, yes, it is all about the work. No artist always wants to do whatever it is their art is, but we have to. We are driven, we do not drive. We are mad, in a way. So we fight it, but we always end up with pencil/pen/brush/instrument/hammer/whatever eventually. Sometimes it takes years, but that is life. Sometimes we cut off our ears, or go homeless, or leave the country, or raise a family, but it is all a process of getting to the place that we are going. It is always a different journey, but it won’t end, and it is hard.

es muss sein

jarrod – so true man.

anyone else feel this? how do you rise above the resistance?

bryce – By the way, read this a while ago and I really echo some of your thoughts. As an artist, for some reason, it is easy to put in the minimal work and then have this sense of entitlement almost, like ‘Hey, it’s me. The starving artist. I’m doing some work. Why am I not being recognized for this?’ But if it was easy to be great at art, there would be many more artists. You know? I think it’s easy to be good, right? I mean, it doesn’t take much. Lots of people can be good at something, but there is a drive in artists because they want to stand out. They want their art to be life-long, universal, touching a strain in the human existence which speaks to all of us. So it is necessary to make your life all about art. That means having an unwavering commitment to something that at first–and perhaps always–people will think you are crazy for having. That’s one of the biggest sacrifices of the artist I think, those people who will never understand the drive to create, they are way too logical for us, but aren’t we logical too? Many would say no, but following art is logical. It’s our love. We would be dead inside if we didn’t.

jarrod –

Jarrod Renaud – Colorado Photographer » You on Film

Put in the Work