058: Slowing the Hell Down!
058: Slowing the Hell Down!
Wherein we discuss slowing down in a fast moving world
Before we get into this week’s topic…
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In a world that wants us all to move very fast,
there’s something very gratifying to me
about slowing the fuck down.
At first, I was afraid to slow down.
To not be moving super fast or churning out work, it feels like if you stop, you’ll fail.
THEY want you to give and give and give… post every day. Post MULTIPLE times a day.
It’s a monster to feed that will never be satisfied. AND, by the way, they want you to feed multiple monsters.
But now, the idea of slowing down flies in the face of everything we’re being told about living in modern society. Let alone what it takes to be a pro creator.
SLOWING DOWN = a big F-U to the system!
That’s my jam.
Some so-called experts make it seem like if you don’t follow their suggestions, you’ll be “shadow-banned” or completely worthless.
For creators and artists there’s an enormous pressure to produce and publish that usually only leads to burnout. Even for the biggest accounts.
For many artists I know, they pull down their posts when they only get a few likes or zero comments. It feels like nobody cares!
On the flip-side, I’ve spoken with creators who pull their posts down because they didn’t get ENOUGH in the first hour. One said:
“If my post doesn’t hit a 1000 likes in an hour I take it down because it drags the channel down. You only have a limited window of time for instagram to show your work to strangers.”
That makes me kind of sad for them.
I get it. You want your work to be seen or discovered, but at what cost?
Is your only validation for your art measured in likes and comments?
Are you just chasing an algorithm?
That’s bullshit and you should stop that immediately.
What you might do instead…
Shut off all of the noise all around you, and just draw.
Draw FOR YOU.
Nobody else.
Draw for no other reason but to just draw.
PRACTICE THE CRAFT!
And you don’t have to feel pressured to always be showing everyone everything. Not everything has to be a masterpiece or instagramable.
While it’s true that everything
COULD BE content,
it doesn’t mean it SHOULD BE.
While I show a good bit, there’s a lot I don’t show.
And it’s not because it’s bad, or under contract…
Sometimes it’s just for me. For my eyes only.
✏️ The other way I slow down….
A good old fashioned pencil. Y’all know I prefer BLACKWINGS yo.
While most of my professional work is drawn digitally, I make myself use a pencil and a notebook, and it’s part of my every day carry.
What’s become kinda weird is how this simple act makes me stand out. That I’m pulling this pencil out or sharpening it before I’m drawing. People notice.
One guy asked me why I don’t use a mechanical pencil instead, because I have to stop and sharpen the lead. Or why not just a pen?
And that’s the point for me. There’s something I like about having to pause to think for a minute. The act of sharpening.
The feeling of the grind into the cedar.
You can even smell it sometimes.
You know when you’re sharpening a good cedar pencil like a Blackwing.
Yeah. That’s the stuff.
It makes even my bad drawings or scribbles feel good. 😂
✏️ “Draw Every Day” isn’t meant to be a “grind”.
The idea of me telling you to draw every day doesn’t mean I want you to draw a masterpiece of feel that pressure to produce and publish and burn yourself out.
Even if you only take 5-10 minutes and draw something small, you’ve done it!
A pencil in motion tends to stay in motion. This is proven science guys. I’ve had enough people now tell me that just taking this action every day… suddenly they ARE drawing tons more. And feeling inspired.
This shit works.
But it works both ways.
Draw to keep drawing.
Stop drawing? And you’ll stop drawing.
Ready to rock? Let’s go?
🔥This Week’s Drawing CHALLENGE!
This week’s drawing prompt is… “SLOW and STEADY”
Be sure to tag #drawordieclub on the platform of your choice so we can all find each other (we’re mostly on instagram) Maybe we’ll feature your art in future livestreams and content!
✏️☠️♣️Join the DAILY DRAWING CLUB!!!
We have a special challenge happening in MAY!
Our daily drawing club is only five bucks a month AND you get some NICE PERKS including a quarterly sticker, daily prompts and more. CHECK IT OUT HERE!
In the Month of May we’ll be doing this thing called “Don’t break the chain” and you’ll be seeing the daily members taking pics of their calendars as they mark off every day they drew in may.
Just check the hashtag #drawordieclub to see what some of the community are up to! AND feel free to use it when you post so we can find you as well.
Want to watch today’s video? Check it out!
Hope you’re drawing FOR YOU today!
☠️ Draw or Die MERCH!
✏️ DIGITAL TOOLS FOR ARTISTS: Custom Brushes, Templates & Prompts
▶️ DRAW or DIE on YOUTUBE (Tutorials & more)
Looks like the turtle from the Art Instruction Schools commercial from the 80s and 90s. :) “If you can draw one of these characters, you may have what it takes to be a serious artist!”
Yeah, I’ve removed some posts from Instagram. A few I took down because I had reworked the piece, or just started again. It comes with being critical of my work after it’s done, and I’m thinking this won’t do. Do better next time.
I don’t post every single thing I draw, that’s just insane. We’d break Instagram if that happened lol. Some stuff I keep to myself, sketches of ideas for drawings/paintings etc. One of my art professors at college balked at the idea of having a sketchbook for ideas. I balked at her response. Gotta have a sketchbook to scribble down the 1001 ideas rolling in my head before they disappear into nothingness. Poof!