1. schedule and priorities

Assessing your schedule

Take a close look at your daily or weekly schedule to identify any gaps or pockets of time that you can dedicate to sketching. See if you can identify any less important activities that can be minimized or eliminated.

You might be an early morning person or a night owl, either way, see if you have any small pockets of time that you could dedicate to drawing. If you find it challenging to find time during the week, see if you can plan any time during holidays and at weekends when you have fewer commitments.

Making Art a priority

Most of us know that creating art offers us huge benefits, from creative thinking to improving our general well-being and relaxation. It’s important to remember this and consider its importance when prioritizing your time. It’s a good idea to think about which hobbies are the most important to you and identify your top priorities so you can make conscious decisions about how to allocate your time more efficiently.

2. Embracing quick moments

Finding small moments of creativity

Life is unpredictable and perhaps carving out larger chunks of time may not be possible for you. It’s important to remember that even small creative moments and quick sketches will help you to progress, which also works wonders for your well-being.

You could consider trying to do a quick sketch during your lunch break, during your commute, or whilst in a waiting room. Every where’s a studio if you look hard enough!

Even 15-30 minutes can make a difference and by embracing these small moments of creativity, it helps us to keep focussed, come up with new ideas, and to keep on learning.

Ian Fennelly’s quick sketches from our Sketch Barcelona course

ON THE GO TIP: Have a small notebook or sketchbook with you at all times when out of the house. It’s a great way to draw quick small observations, thoughts, and doodles throughout your day, and you never know when inspiration will strike!

3. Limit distractions

Digital Detox

You might want to try putting away your phone for a little while (unless you’re doing an online course on there of course!) You could also consider using an app blocker or turning off your notifications for a short period to focus on the here and now.

Holding Space

Once you have decided on a slot for creating your art or for progressing with your sketching classes, it’s ok to make others in your household aware and to hold boundaries so that everybody knows that this is ‘your time’. Letting them know just might help to give you some peaceful and uninterrupted time. 

ART TIP: Try creating a dedicated and inspirational space for your art. It doesn’t need to be a whole studio or room, even the corner of a table will do. But working in this space regularly may help you to create a mindset of focus and intention.

Ideas for working with others

These are some tools that you can use when working alongside other artists for support:

• Find a partner who shares your artistic goals and hold each other accountable
• Try regular check ins
• Join weekly/monthly art challenges and prompts
• Ask for feedback and give feedback using our student gallery space

You got this!

Life is unpredictable and things can change quickly, so prepare to be flexible in your routine, build new creative habits and try out new things. By incorporating some of these useful strategies into your routine, you can learn how to carve out some valuable and peaceful art time to help you grow as an artist and to improve your well-being.