March 9, 2021

Creative effort is never wasted

It happens a lot. I get home from work and I can’t muster the energy to sketch. “What’s the point?” I tell myself, “I don’t have a project on right now and the idea of trying to ‘invent’ after I’ve been in deep problem-solving mode all day just seems too much.” But sketching seems to be a bit like exercise. Going for a run (or any exercise) sounds like a horrible idea before I do it, but I’ve never returned from a run and thought, “that was a waste of time.”

Our brains are inherently geared to conserve energy – so whether it’s sketching or running, it’ll do almost anything to get out of it. But, where exercise has an immediate payoff, I never quite know when sketching will pay off – the only thing I do know is that it always does.

Here’s just one example. Four years ago, I created a set of images that, at the time, was nothing but ‘fun’ – I created the images because I felt like it. And now, four years later, I can see how that moment of ‘fun’, sketching something ‘for nothing’ has subtly but absolutely influenced what I draw, how I draw it, what I notice in the world, and, more surprisingly, a paid contract.

A paid contract was never the goal. And most of my creative ‘play’ doesn’t end up like that. In fact, most of it feels like it goes nowhere. But, after a continued practice, years in the making, I know that sometime, somewhere, that creative will pay itself back, and I may not even notice.

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