As a self taught artist, I am continuously learning through my own experimentation and self observance, and I make mental notes, and sometimes write these notes in a notebook for inclusion in a future book which I plan to eventually publish to help other artists, especially beginning ones. After several years of writing notes and not having enough time to actually organize them into a book, I decided to just start posting my ideas on this website. Such posts will be called “My Tips for Artists” followed by the post number. The numbers don’t mean anything, in the sense that #1 is not more important than #31, and vice versa. Well, here we go.
Tip #1: Regarding Tiredness
Working when very tired can be good for starting new pieces. Tiredness makes you looser and faster, because you just want to finish whatever you’re doing and go to bed, so you definitely don’t overthink things. The execution will not be top notch, but it will do for a sketch, since what you’re interested in at this point is composition, subject matter, etc.
If you challenge yourself to complete 5 small sketches before going to bed, your brain and intuition just might lead you into new. Having said that, any painting that is close to being finished should not be worked on when you are tired or not at your best, because you can quickly ruin it. I don’t hesitate to begin something new, especially something small, when I’m not at my best, but I always put on the finishing touches when I am well rested, alert and focused.