My Word for 2023 is Consistency
Have you ever looked up the definition of consistency? I certainly hadn’t. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the definition is:
consistency noun (BEING THE SAME) the quality of always behaving or performing in a similar way, or of always happening in a similar way: It's important to show some consistency in your work.
1913 Stanley Touring Model 76
Marshall Steam Museum Automobile Collection
I work full time and I have pursuits and goals outside of painting: rock climbing, cycling, quality time with my husband, travel, hiking, the list goes on. I have spent the last couple years learning a lot when it comes to painting. Exploring lots of tutorials and other artists, signing up for a couple online memberships to learn a particular skill or style, working on my own art a little, and even completing some painting projects for other people (mainly car or house portraits).
But I want 2023 to be all about me. I want to create and share only my own paintings using my own reference photos or my own imagination. I might do some tutorials or classes, but only because there is a specific skill or technique that my work is missing. I want to experiment and explore and probably create a lot of ugly art along the way, but I’m also hoping for a few gems.
Ink Drawing, Mill Creek Waterfall, Moab, Utah
I think consistency is the word I need this year because progress is slow, whether I like it or not. But slow progress is progress nonetheless. At the end of the work day, it’s much easier to sit on the couch and scroll through my phone than to sit down at my art desk, but I’m trying to embrace the 15-minute rule. I don’t have to get a lot done every day, but I have to do something. So that is my goal for 2023: to just show up, consistently. I’m not going to lie, I have some big goals on my art list:
Start a website
Register for an LLC
Start blogging/ writing about my work
Echo Lake, Watercolor, Mt. Evans, Colorado
We’re almost done with January, and no I haven’t done fifteen minutes every day, but I have done it many of the days and that is what really matters. Sometimes, I don’t want to paint at all or think about all of the things I could be doing. Sometimes I want to relax at home with my husband because we both have a free evening. And that is ok too. There has to be balance. But in December 2023, I want to reflect on all of the progress I have made, little by little, by just being consistent.
What tips and tricks do you use to stay motivated and consistent? Leave a note in the comments.
Until next time…
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