The Ability to Focus Takes Practice

This painting took about 10 hours to complete.  It is 14 x 11, oil on canvas, painted wet into wet.  I painted it in two sittings on consecutive days.

It turned out to be the last painting I would do for a little over a year.  I had a major life event that took me away from my art for that period of time.

Now, a little over a year later, I am painting again.  In addition to the deterioration of skills that will take a few weeks to sharpen, I have also lost the ability to focus for long periods of time.

It turns out that the ability to focus gets out of shape like a muscle that has atrophied after a period of being out of use.

There are other activities I perform that require focus.  But, nothing I do or have ever done requires the focus that producing art requires.

Non artists have made the statement to me, “I bet painting is very relaxing.”  Obviously, they know not what they say.  There is nothing relaxing about producing art.  It requires such intense focus that relaxing is not a word that ever comes to mind to describe what I do.  It is mentally exhausting.

While it is true that you can get in the zone, so to speak; it does not happen without intense focus.

I find that even when I am in shape to focus, there is still a limit to how long I can last at one sitting.  When I am producing art, I usually paint for about 45 minutes, then rest for 15.  During the 15 minutes, I walk around, relax, talk to someone; anything to get my mind away from my task.  Then I go back to my easel and go hard again.

Now that I am out of shape, I find that I need to cut down to about 30 minutes and then take a break.

It takes discipline to be an artist.  You have to learn the skills.  You have to get in shape.  Don’t get frustrated and give up.  You will improve with disciplined practice.