Think First of the Givens
Do not focus on your goals or your dreams.
Think deeply about what you have. What you have to work with.
Not only will you be more realistic, you will be more inventive.
My main given is my family.
In the case of this drawing, I had time to spend with my daughter. We made it together. She was 5, now she’s 10.
Most of my drawings are made in the presence of my kids and/or my wife, and sometimes with them. Embracing this given, instead of fighting it, is one of my better decisions.
Yesterday, I was anticipating teaching the last meetup for my cohort, The Durable Artist Blueprint.
The 3 central themes are:
thinking deeply about the one thing you need to focus on
eliminating the things that no longer matter
identifying your limitations, to make them your unique advantage
Most days I pick up one of an assortment of books that have a daily message. Yesterday it was Daily Laws by Robert Greene. He’s a master at writing about specifics to get to the universal.
For Sept. 17 he wrote about the strategies of wise generals.
I stole his central theme to begin this post. It applies directly to the way I think about making art and the course I teach.
I want to share it with you:
If you made it this far, today’s writing by Robert Greene will resonate as well.
I teach my students to break their ideas down into the most important next steps. Complete one small thing towards a larger direction.
Don’t overwhelm yourself in thinking about everything you need to do or want to accomplish. Focus on the next step.
Robert beautifully explains this below:
Before I go, I’ll leave you with another drawing.
My daughter came to work with me, and when I asked what she wanted to do for lunch, she said I want to draw birds.
I was thinking about the last time principle.