Managing delay

Ironically/Unfortunately the amount of time to be given over to procrastination or contemplation in the completion of a painting is never a neat, set amount of time; furthermore, without establishing personal guidelines for the amount of time to allow for inspiration to strike one risks an inventory of unfinished works, which disorganizes the subconscious mind and creates an unattractive feed loop of clutter begetting more clutter. Elton John once wrote, when asked if he waited for inspiration when composing songs to the words Bernie Taupin wrote for him, emphatically declared that as a professional he couldn’t afford to wait. There are many ‘types’ of artists: among these are those that consider themselves professional, with deadlines, who produce on time with or without inspiration; those who understand what it takes to ‘prompt’ their inspiration; those who indulge in ‘paralysis of analysis’; etc. I would say the import of Robert’s letter is that artists need not ‘fear’ blockages, but instead should observe, write down, list, and be aware of the ways inspiration and resolution can be prompted in the most timely and efficient manner, such as when a passage grinds a painting to a halt with no resolution in sight, to take a walk in the woods, or to play with your dog, or romance your sweetie, or go shopping, or play drums in your sweat lodge, or book a mani/pedi at the salon, etc. Once you ‘know’ how to prompt inspiration/resolutions, you then become closer to a professional, you produce more, you likely produce better, and you are managing your artistic life with consciousness instead of hope.

Above, Robert says ‘procrastination or contemplation’ but I see it as more contemplation rather than procrastination. Procrastination is a time waster, there is no doubt, and it can become paralysing and detrimental depending on what you are procrastinating about. In this case, I would think contemplation is the word to use, or in my case ‘mulling’. Whenever I need to ‘mull’, I step away from what it is I need to think about, and it is only then, when I have to conjure the image or words in my brain, does the answer come. I often see patterns, shape or colours in my mind which are not there when the actual words or pictures are in front of me. The best time for me to mull is early in the morning whilst still in bed. There is quiet and a fresh mind which has not been clogged with the daily detrious of ‘tasks to do’ and places to go. I have had many Eureka moments in this way, managing to think outside the box and coming up with a new take on things. Whatever works works, but try to find some ‘mulling time’ away from the piece of work.

My father, Ralph Kellogg, was said to have said, “I was going to join Harvard’s Procrastinators’ Club, but I never got around to it.” Perhaps it was an old joke. I find your words about leaving solutions to your unconscious mind on target. Poetry, life strategies and solutions both to problems (also words in tough crossword puzzles) sometime reach the conscious mind during the morning shower. It never fails to amaze!

Eventually I will wait until the last minute to decide. But not quite yet.

I agree that it is more about contemplation, not procrastination. It took some time for me to realize (just recently actually) that I should not beat myself up for having so many unfinished paintings laying around my studio. I have become ‘aware’ that this is not procrastination or that the creative spark has died for each of those unfinished paintings, but that I really needed to step back from them and contemplate the next step(s). I now allow myself to walk away from an unfinished painting without feeling the guilt. Sometimes, I have waited so long for the answers that the answer is, ‘start over’ because it just isn’t working for me anymore. I have grown so much in the interm, that I am in a different place now. It could be that the painting did not have anything to teach me within itself. I believe this is part of the learning curve of being an artist. The word, “mull” is a good word for me too. I think it is an important part of the creative process to mull over what it is you are trying to say with a particular piece and to mull over the technical parts of a piece. Now if you don’t take the time to mull over the unfinished work, then that might end up being called procrastination!

I had a really cool idea for right here…but I’ll hold off until later!

Dear Robert, It seems there will ALWAYS be some schmuck that comes along with a theory about this and that. The Atkins diet is one of my personal favourites for idiotic ideas. But this thing about procrastination has to be the STOOPIDEST idea of them all. There is something about taking time to build up emotional resources so we can communicate something in our works. Taylor Swift was very hurt by her critics after her grammy performance. She went on to write one of the biggest hits of her career expressing her hurt feelings. But to tell an artist that procrastination is actually a good thing is irresponsible and WRONG! Yet, I know more artists who are sitting back, waiting. Waiting to get signed by a gallery, waiting for the response on a government grant, waiting for the Guggenheim to sign them or just waiting for someone to come along and tell them they are good. It is a long lonely wait and they are usually just burning day-light. I would say to any artist, before anyone will sign them for a contract of fame and fortune, they have to have 25 solid paintings and many more on the way. An artist needs to treat their career like a job, that means putting in the hours. I would want to know an artists journey, where the ideas came from, what they are communicating and where is their voice going. Nothing wrong with grabbing a quick coffee with a friend on the way back to the studio. But having coffee all day turns you into nothing more than nothing… John Ferrie

Thanks for making me feel better about delay. I am going through a rough patch as a human being the last few months and have been stymied creatively and feel like a failure at life and art. I’ve not been sleeping and can’t think properly. I know I am an artist and a writer but just could not admit it. I needed help to move forward and some time to figure out who I am as an artist and a writer. It coincided with a fear of moving forward in my personal life where everybody had a different opinion for who I am and who I should be. When you are starting over everybody has an opinion on where you should be in stead of giving you a wee bit of time to figure it out yourself. I’m a hard worker and very creative but have been stuck in procrastination junction while I let fear and others opinions almost make me give up everything I am to be safe. So time to take a risk and move forward and I think I will be traveling so packing my art supplies and notebooks first. Thanks for all the posts I’ve read that seem to answer a question of my artistic journey just when I needed to read them.

I cannot tell you how many paintings over the years that I have taken back and reworked. When you don’t have a painting around to look at for a period of time, because of a rush to get it to the Gallery, etc., this can happen.

This morning I was looking at a painting I’m in the middle of. Happy with the flowers, and some of the background, however I’m feeling like it needs more. I was tempted to start painting even though I wasn’t sure what the next step should be. I walked away, logged on, and pulled up your e-mail re Managing Delay. It always amazes me – timing is everything in life. Thank you for making me realize that I need to step away sometimes in order to see things clearly.

I think that my whole life strategy has been determined while I was a kid in elementary school. I never did homework on time, but I was always a grade A student. There were no busy bees in my family who would interfere with my procrastinating habits, and I guess I always appeared as I knew what I was doing. Don’t I still?

John Ferrie is right, as usual, but 25 paintings may not be enough (well, he did say “solid”). I’ve told many a beginning student that after 1000 (watercolors) they’ll begin to understand what’s happening. The Puritans may have taken busy work to extreme, but working and practicing is the way to success..period.

But what if you are a collage artist? It is all a maybe I’ll use it later.

On the art of procrastination; I sauté and simmer an idea in my mind for days before I put that first brush stroke on the canvas. However, as the painting progresses, many changes will take place until I have a satisfied work of art.

I don’t think you’re talking about procrastination, I know some real art procrastinators and I was in fact one in school. Contemplation was not the reason at all, putting it off until the last minute, rushing and finishing and handing it in (in the case of a student) without contemplation because there was no time to contemplate ……… just say’n.

This is for artists but it might apply to other creative types?!

To your last two sentences I say, ‘Amen”!

I have just one thought on ‘delay’ as I sit here looking at a painting all matted and framed and dust cover applied professionally (and expensively). If I could only just fix that little spot on the apron tie which is just one value too dark….but alas I can’t ….a little more ‘delay’ and I would have spotted that!

Never do today what you can put off for tomorrow.

Your comments regarding delay ring true if one is an oil painter, acrylic painter, printmaker or even a pastelliste. However, those of us who paint outdoors in watercolor do not define “delay” in the same manner. Watercolor, especially one painted on site, is not easily modified. It is crucial for a watercolorist to know when to stop painting because saying too much is equivalent to overstatement and failure. Yet, after years of working this way I still can’t tell exactly when it is I should stop. Nevertheless, the adrenaline rush that comes over me when clues signal me to put down my brush is probably why I have fallen in love with this unpredictable beautiful medium. Painting in watercolor on site is similar to walking a tightrope! Montreal, Canada

time spent not applying material to a work of art is as important as applying it. I think it’s kind of like music, where the pleasant order of a composition is only due to the calculated silence between the audible rhythms. For me the process is predictable; no matter what the medium, I always start a piece with outbursts of devil-may-care energy. The length of time spent not doing increases, until finally, like the end of a song, it becomes apparent when enough is enough.

This is such WISE advice…Your statement regarding some collectors who will look at your work for generations to come, left its mark on me, and I shall pass your words on to my students… Thank you for the time you devote to sharing your insightful thoughts and conclusions drawn from experience… London, Ontario

I write poems as well as paint, and what you say about delaying decisions is certainly true in the literary arena! Often, I find, a poem that seems “done and dusted,” when read six months later (sometimes even later than that….a year or two) reveals obvious slippages or places where the language could be tightened or torqued or turned up a notch. Delaying sending poems out for a year is for me a wisdom, and perhaps it’s the same with paintings.

Thanks for this one. It seems to be something very essential that our culture has lost the value of. We push ’til we drop. I am wondering also if there are certain personalities that this waiting process works optimally for? I do find that the answers sometimes need the space of time, and that stepping back from the painting is just as essential as picking up the brush.

The “delay” you are talking about can be compressed into a “shorter delay.” This comes with the territory with professionals. Experienced eyes are quick at finding faults, even their own.

Procrastination has too many negative connotations thanks to the Protestant stanza. I’d rather look at it as foreplay. Of course waiting too long defeats the purpose also. Had I procrastinated on my first paintings 60 years ago nothing would’ve been accomplished by today since upscaling one experience in a forever learning curve. I believe in letting go of the painting within a reasonable time and try to not listen to to many inputs. I write much poetry lately and god forbid taking in too much information from workshops. Every other writer loves to rewrite another’s lyrics.

Oh my, does this speak to me! Much as I love my art form, sometimes a project stalls and I don’t know why. I look at it daily but don’t touch it because I’m not sure WHERE to touch it. In bed, in the dark behind closed eyes, I rehearse working on it. With mixed media sculpture, one must think four dimensionally, time-sequence being the 4th dimension, with the added challenge of having to think time-sequence in reverse: I must do B before I can do A, and C before B, and D before C. This is a lot easier in mental rehearsal, I can tell you! Still, a chasm of mystery may continue to gape between decision and the correct next step. Is there a Q to do before P? Procrastination can guard against making the wrong choice too soon. Or it could just be mental laziness. Been there, too.

My father used the word “dilatory” when speaking to me or my sister for chores left undone. I didn’t believe it was a word and I could never find that word in the dictionary because he verbally said dillatary and now having the on-line Dictionary word of the day, it finally came up and of course sums up our delay then as well as mine now when painting. The dictionary defination is: dilatory DIL-uh-tor-ee, adjective: 1. Tending to put off what ought to be done at once; given to procrastination. 2. Marked by procrastination or delay; intended to cause delay; — said of actions or measures. At least “dilatory” sounds much better to me than “procrastinate”.

This letter hit home for me. I had a still life painting on my easel: lilacs from my dad’s garden in a huge face, surrounded with bowl of lemons, boo, cup, etcetera. Let the thing dry. Couldn’t say “finished”….so I let it look at me, while I began work on something else, and then suddenly I saw what I needed to do! Did it, and its now finished. I just let it sit there and talk to me, when the time was right!