Timed = Less Angst?

Who knew that timing oneself when painting could led to less stress and less angst rather than adding to it? In Kat’s online class for lesson 3, she asked participants to keep track of the time they are spending. I decided to do this, plus also time myself more actively. The self-designed rules are that I get unlimited drawing time and before I start painting I decide on a set amount of time. Whatever amount of time it is, I divide it into 3 chunks. For each chunk of time, I set a timer which goes off. I have been using a visual timer (as an app, not a clock) rather than a countdown timer. When the timer goes off, I stop, walk away for a moment, regroup, and set the timer again. After the last timed segment, I take another short break and give myself a few more minutes to add a few finishing touches. After the timed painting of Dorian, I have finished these two paintings in this way.

There have been a lot of positives and I think I need to add this to my mental tool kit. Most important is that it keeps me working at a reasonable clip without feeling rushed and without overthinking things. Plus, it forces me to step away, which I know I should do but don't. It's also prevented me from falling down the rabbit hole of "something is not working and I must dwell, focus, and fixate on it until I can make it better", which by the way never works. While I am not necessarily reaching that magical feeling of flow, it does help me turn down my analytical mind and turn up my doing mind. I've been walking away from painting feeling refreshed and happy, even if I look back at my painting and see things I wish I would have done differently or better.

Here is my first attempt at painting a beautiful handmade mug that a friend gave to me last year. Total painting time was 15 minutes. I don't like the shadow or the colors that I used in the shadow, but I think I am happier with the overall painting than I would have been if I used unlimited time to paint it. I really think painting this way might help me develop some better habits.

#324 - Favorite Mug - 6" x 6" - paper

Last night, I painted from one of my many, many butterfly pictures in my backyard. I grew a section  of zinnias along the alley just for the butterflies and was richly rewarded. Also, there is something very special about painting a plant which I grew from seed.

#325 - Backyard Butterfly - 6" x 6" - paper

This one was painted in 30 minutes. The stamen of the flowers became a gloppy mess, although the flower "reads" better in the picture than in the actual painting. It also seemed like I got closer to painting how I felt about the background, rather than trying to paint each individual green thing in the background. That felt good.

Who knew that using a timer could be such a good thing?

As an aside, I've been using a visual timer when I work. I set it for 45 minutes and focus on whatever task is at hand for the 45 minutes. When I am done, I take a short break or a long break and repeat. It's been helping me feel more focused and productive. When I am working, I am working, and when I am not, I'm not.