Scheduling Your Drawing Time

Scheduling time to draw is important. As an example, I’ve set out below my personal log of a recent drawing project – generalized for your benefit – for which I’d scheduled one hour.

1. What if terrorists are attacking at this very moment? One must keep up with what is happening in the world. Spend 20 minutes reviewing the news on the web.
2. To draw well, being relaxed is important. Go down to the kitchen for a glass of wine. A snack might be nice too. Better, if you have a sweetie, a massage is a good way to get relaxed. Perhaps your sweetie has other ideas on how to relax you. If your sweetie moved fast, you now have twenty minutes left.
3. It is important that your drawing instruments be ready. Sharpen each with care.
4. Stare blankly at the paper for 5 minutes, because you know that the second your pencil leaves a mark on the paper you are going to begin defiling the beauty of whatever you are trying to draw.
5. Finally, begin. But wait: weren’t you supposed to check in with your friend about getting together? Damn, he wasn’t home.
6. Your drawing looks like a surprised ghost of a deformed old man. Know what would help? More wine.
7. Finish the drawing two weeks later, under the press of the due date for an impending article.
8. Realize that delays are merely avoidance behavior. Next time, set a drawing schedule for one hour, and use it all for drawing.