Do You Make Time for Personal Growth Artwork?

Why It’s Important

As working artists, taking time for personal growth artwork can be one of the hardest things to do. There is a slippery slope where one loses sight of creativity for your own sake and instead, only works on commissioned work. After all, that’s where the money is coming from, right? With your focus on keeping a steady stream of work, you might even start to feel guilty about working on something for yourself. But how can you argue with getting paid? That can’t be a bad thing, right? So what’s the big deal?

One word.

Burnout.

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While commissioned artwork is fantastic in terms of money and your art career, personal growth artwork is essential to prevent burnout. (Photo Credit: 123RF.com Image ID: 42219223 Copyright: ra2studio)

The Mayo Clinic defines burnout as “special type of work-related stress — a state of physical or emotional exhaustion that also involves a sense of reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity.” And most of us know that mental and physical exhaustion can lead to any number of illnesses.

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Not allowing time for your own artwork can lead to burnout as personal projects can sit on the back burner indefinitely leading not just to exhaustion, but also extreme frustration and lack of motivation. (Photo Credit: 123RF.com Copyright: dolgachov and Igor Fjodorov)

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Yes, it’s fantastic being able to make money creating art for someone else. But let’s face it, creating art for someone else is still considered work. You might enjoy the work for the most part, but it isn’t the same as creating your own artwork, or your personal growth artwork. Even if your commissioned work revolves around a subject matter you like, it’s not the same as creating something you want to do. Granted, the piece might be sold later, but initially it was all for you and for the pure joy of creating. Sure, it’s your creativity that brings your client’s ideas to life, but in the meantime you put all of your creative ideas on hold until you “have the time.”

Time that you somehow never seem to have.

Keeping time for your own work is just as important as the time you spend on commissions. (Photo Credit: 123RF.com Copyright: Sergejs Rahunoks)

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Think about it this way…

In corporate America, there are laws for businesses in regards to how much you can work your employees. In most cases, people work Monday through Friday for eight hours each day with two breaks and a lunch. These employees get Saturday and Sunday off. Studies have shown that we avoid burnout by taking breaks and having a couple days off to recuperate and restore ourselves. In turn, we are more productive throughout the work week..

For entrepreneurs, which includes working artists, those laws don’t apply to us. And in fact, many work all week long. Others manage to keep very similar workweek hours. If you’re one of the all week long folks, consider keeping Saturday and Sunday for your own artwork. Even blocking out a short period of time to do a daily sketch can help you avoid burnout. Granted, you’ll still be working, but you’ll working on something fun and for yourself instead of what someone is paying you to do (ie. work).

And avoid feeling guilty about it by calling it a mental health break!