Every Artist Must Read This Book!

Making art is a habit. It is a daily practice similar to sports and you quickly deteriorate if you don’t practice at least several times a week.  You don’t wait for inspiration before you start - rather you start and then there will be moments when the inspiration flows to you. It almost never happens the other way around.

Every time I have a painting block, I read Steven Pressfield’s “The War of Art”. It reminds me of what exactly is going on and gives me that spark I need to get moving again.

In the War of Art, Steven Pressfield says:

“The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more resistance we will feel towards pursuing it”

In other words, it wasn’t important to you, you wouldn’t be resisting getting started so much! No wonder everything  - yes even sweeping the floor - suddenly seems more important than painting!

He even says that you can use resistance like a true north needle on a compass. Whatever you are resisting most, that is exactly what you should do. Ouch!

Think about it.

The first few minutes of any creative pursuit are the hardest.  I often think of a locomotive pulling a train: It takes a lot of energy to get started but once the train is in motion, it goes moves forward with much less energy.

And so, I try to remember that it is resistance that is telling me “don’t even start”.

I put one timid brushstroke and often that is all that is needed to break the ice. And even on “bad” days –like when the drawing is all off or the painting clearly isn’t working – I still give myself credit for just showing up. That is all that matters.

Finally a few more wise words, even a warning,  from Pressfield:

“Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.”