As you may have read in this post, I have been swamped with lots of new responsibilities lately! This not only means that I’ve had less time to spend on social media, but also on illustration portfolio work.
This can feel a little discouraging, as if I’m not a real illustrator who spends hours per day dedicated to their craft. However, I think I’ve found a sustainable system for me to keep consistent with my creative practice.
I’m just going to call it: the 15-minute rule.
Every day, I spend a minimum 15 minutes on tasks that work towards my goals and keep me mentally or physically happy. For me, these activities, spread throughout the day, include: yoga, reading, doing a Duolingo level, practicing Cantonese and drawing.
The exceptions here are that Duolingo usually takes less than 5 minutes, and my minimum for reading is 30 minutes.
I find that having this minimum of 15 minutes is very effective because it makes the barrier to entry very low. It also helps to stay flexible on when and how the task ought to be completed, so, for example, I can’t always do yoga in the morning, and sometimes I’ll listen to a podcast in my target language instead of revising vocabulary.
Preliminary sketches / practicing side profiles.
Having these minimum requirements is important for me, because mostly it’s the starting that’s hard, not the doing. It also cuts me some slack for when I’m having a bad day.
Obviously this isn’t a completely novel idea, and though I can’t quote the source exactly, I once heard that it usually takes 10 minutes for a person to get into the flow of work.
I find that this is completely true for me, and usually I can go beyond the 15-minute mark. Still, as long as I can hit the minimum, I give myself a tick for “Task Complete” – and though it’s such a small gesture, it does wonders for my mental health! Not every week is a 7/7 for each task, but overall I am able to stay quite consistent. I feel that I’m able to keep putting a foot in front of the other, and that all those accumulated steps will take me to where I want to go.
Currently, my drawing practice time is dedicated to illustration portfolio work. I’m still fleshing out this concept:
Thumbnail created earlier this year, since then the concept has changed a bit.
I have to admit that sometimes I do have to kick myself in the butt a little in order to get a move on, especially when I start thinking about not having the creative energy or time. But usually it’s smooth sailing after that – like I said, the barrier to entry is quite low.
The first few watercolour experiments; I was still thinking about abstract ways to represent renewable energies.
Especially for this piece, I’ve been experimenting with watercolours quite a bit, and I always find that working with watercolours puts me in a certain playful, dreamy mood, especially with music on. I guess that’s called the flow state? Well anyway, it’s just nice.
For the side profiles I asked a bunch of my friends to send me photos of their faces, and I ended up with more than I needed, which immediately sparked some ideas for other future art pieces. Similarly, as I was doing leaf-studies for the same piece, my thoughts somehow meandered to visions of other experimental watercolour pieces that I could do.
Truth be told, I haven’t felt excited about making art in a while. I’m sure fellow illustrators will know what I’m talking about, but normally the process looks like this: 1) crunch through the ideation process and then 2) execute according to a rigid style schema. It’s rare to encounter that pure, explorative fire. Both modes of brainstorming and work have their legitimation, and I’m sure whatever idea I execute will present their stumbling blocks eventually – it’s just nice to have that variety in creative motivation.
If I want to keep a thriving freelance illustration career next to a part-time job, however, 15-minutes per day will clearly not cut it. I have a bit of anxiety about how I’m going to make this work once the commissions start rolling in again, but this is likely a bit of trauma from a previous full-time position that I had.
Honing in on how I want to execute the final; watercolour masking fluid started playing a bigger role.
Back then, so much time was spent not only on the job itself, but the commute back and forth, that I did not have the will to keep working on my illustration portfolio in my free time. I was also of the hustle culture mindset that, if I loved my passion enough, I would forego sleep and leisure time just to work on my portfolio. I completely disagree now, and if I had any advice for my younger self it would be:
If you need more dedicated time for illustration, find a job where the hours, including commute, aren’t too long
If financial stability is more important, then it’s OK to be an illustrator “on the side” (which doesn’t mean not getting paid adequately for the work you do)
Forgive yourself for your mistakes and have faith that you do better because of them.
Anyway, I am definitely not the only one having to juggle work, life, and goals, nor am I the expert. So, I’d love to hear from you! Again, there is a very underutilised comments section beneath each of my blog posts, which you are free to populate! Otherwise send me an e-mail.