Monday, March 25, 2013

10,000 hours of painting

I am currently reading an interesting book about success.  One could apply it to business, or sports, or art, or anything you want to be good at really.  The name of the book is Outliers by Malcom Gladwell and it is based on the premise that to be really successful at any one thing, it takes practicing it 10,000 hours.   It's daunting to imagine painting for 10,000 hours.  I often feel robbed of my art time, now that I have to work 40 hours a week.  There was a season in my life when I only worked part time and I had so many more hours in my week to spend painting.  But even working full time, I can still find precious art hours to invest each week.  My plan is to just be thankful for the hours I have already spent painting, and build from there without stressing about it. Even if I start on a canvas and gesso the whole thing over to start again, according to this book, it is time never wasted.  The hours were spent practicing... so they do matter.  They make a difference, and they count.  So I continue to paint. 

“Practice isn't the thing you do when you're good. It's the thing you do that makes you good.” 
― Malcolm GladwellOutliers: The Story of Success