How to Create Clarity and Focus in Your Art Practice – EP 284

So many artists desire both clarity and focus in their art practice. We yearn for a practice that is stable, dependable, and free of distractions and confusion. Yet often, that is far easier said than done. On this episode, I’ll show you how to gain greater clarity and focus in your art practice so that you can focus all of your energy on the art you want to create.

Outline of This Episode

  • [1:57] The role clarity plays in art and decision making
  • [5:02] How being clear and focused helps you create personally meaningful art
  • [11:21] Three tips to develop clarity and focus in your art practice TODAY
  • [17:47] The power of thinking differently

Know your journey

There are three main ways that developing clarity and focus improves your art practice and helps you create personally meaningful art. The first is that clarity and focus help you to know where you are at in your art journey. It’s easy to get distracted when you think you should be somewhere in your practice that you’re not. The art world can place so much undue pressure on artists early on. When starting out, you should be focused on developing your skills and building your vocabulary by learning about materials, drawing, values, color, and composition. Clarity and focus allow you to be present for that part of your journey without worrying about where to show your art or how to sell it. All of your mental energy and time goes into the craft.

Develop your voice

The second way that clarity and focus facilitate a healthy and productive art practice is that they help artists find and develop their voice. Once you build your technical skills, you get better and faster at what you do. You start to get a sense of who you are as an artist. You can now discern what fascinates you and how you want to communicate that while still honing your skills. When you have clarity and focus, you can hear those whispers that make your art unique. That clarity allows you to make intentional choices from all the information you’ve amassed. You get to sift through all of the people: teachers, friends, family, and fellow artists (living and dead), and YOU get to decide what you want to keep from everything you’ve learned and what you will set aside for now.

Share your work

Creating art with a voice refined by focus and clarity means you are probably ready to start sharing your work. Even selling it! When you have clarity at this stage, you know whom to show your work to. You know how to talk with them about your work. AND, you know you are not trying to talk to everyone in the whole world about your art. You know yourself enough to know the specific person or people who will be interested in your art. When you have clarity and focus, you are clear on your pricing. You know the value of your art to your collectors, so you can talk about it without having heart palpitations. Clarity and focus give you the confidence you need to be the exact artist you want to be. Listen to this episode for three tips for gaining clarity and focus in your art practice!

Resources Mentioned on this episode

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