“Do not fail as you go on, to draw something every day, for no matter how little it is, it will be well worthwhile and will do you a world of good”.
Cennino Cennini, The Craftsman?s Handbook, c1400
Some 600 years later, people are still promising themselves that they’ll sketch or draw or paint every single day. Give up already. It’s not going to happen. You’re simply setting yourself up for failure.
There are those days you’ll feel like you’ve a “proper excuse”, when you can rationalise that it wasn’t your fault you didn’t, and so that day doesn’t count. But what about those days when it’s because you simply don’t feel like it or forgot? Instant failure, you’re doomed artistically forever.
Is it a good idea anyway? Taking a break from an activity can regenerate the enjoyment of it. If you’re slogging away at it because you have not and not because you feel compelled to, there’s something wrong.
Yes, 30 days of doing something creates a habit, supposedly, but I think 30 days in which you sketch or draw or paint more days than not is what we should aspire to be doing. Drawing 16 of 30 (or 28 or 31) days in a month feels decidedly achievable, and yet it’s more days than not.
It’ll be you drawing on four of the seven days in a week, which somehow feels like more but still doable. And if then in the first part of the month you’ve missed too many days, you’ve still time to catch up with yourself. Recipe for success, you’re on a path for artistic development.
