Daily Practice- Artist Spotlight: Diane V. Mulligan
How do you commit to making art daily when you've got a high energy job?
This is the challenge Artist Diane V. Mulligan looked to tackle with her #20for20ArtChallenge project. She wanted to see how sustainable it was to START the day with art. So she set that alarm and embarked on the 20 days.
She also used the 20 as a starting point, and in the interview she explains how that really helped her with motivation.
Learn more about Mulligan here.
HABIT/TIMING
How did you decide where in your day to put your 20? What kinds of things were you considering when planning that schedule?
I decided that I would spend 20 minutes each morning before heading off to work. I’m a teacher, so my work day starts very early.
To meet my goal, I knew I’d have to wake up at 5:30 each day, but I wanted to put 20 for 20 first and have no excuses to miss it.
I was worried that I would have a hard time not hitting snooze because I have tried waking up early to write back and I’ve tried morning exercise and never been able to make either stick, but I actually was excited to get up early each day to paint.
On the weekends, I didn’t wake up quite as early, but I did still make it a priority to paint for at least 20 minutes before doing anything else on my to-do list for the day.
You expanded beyond the 20. How did having it be “just 20 minutes” help you get into your space and start creating? How did having a specific number (but a low one) help you get into your work?
You are quite right, I often spent more than 20 minutes.
Usually, I had my 20 minutes before work and then another short painting session in the afternoon or evening to finish whatever I began in the morning.
I noticed throughout the challenge that a lot of people interpreted 20 minutes as a limit. In the Facebook group, folks would comment on my painting and say, “Wow, that was a lot for 20 minutes,” except, of course, I had spent more than 20 minutes.
For me, the commitment was 20 minutes first thing in the morning, and anything else I managed after work was a bonus! I think having a low daily goal is a great way to establish a routine without overwhelming myself. Once I am at my desk painting, I seldom want to stop.
MATERIALS
How and where did you keep your materials the same? How much did keeping your materials the same benefit the challenge but also a daily practice?
I work primarily in watercolor, and for the challenge that is all I focused on.
I have a bad habit of stock piling supplies. I noticed I had an 8x8 Arches cold press watercolor block and a Blick 8x10 cold press watercolor block that I bought at least a year ago, so decided to try to use those up.
I knew that I would being painting a series of seashells for at least part of the challenge, and I thought the square format would be nice. I used the 8x10 format for landscapes and florals. I have a 24-color metal Daniel Smith watercolor set that lives on my desk, so I used those paints and those paints only throughout the 20 days, and I probably only used about 8 of the colors. I found I only needed one large round and one small round brush.
It was really helpful to decide on these materials in advance because it eliminated a whole bunch of decision making once I was in the flow of daily painting. A challenge for me was that I usually work in my sketchbook as a way of freeing myself from concern about the outcome–it’s just a sketchbook, and I’m in it for the process–but working on “real” paper meant I was more worried about not “messing up.”
That said, every day I knew that if I did mess up, I would have another chance tomorrow!
Did you prep materials before? If yes, how much of a help was that and why?
Let me tell you why I love watercolor: There is no set up and clean up is as easy as shutting your palette. That is actually why I started painting with watercolor about two years ago. I found the set up and clean up of other mediums made me not want to bother, but with watercolor, I had no excuse not to paint.
PROJECT
You were trying to finish a painting each day. Knowing that going in, what did you need from your references?
First, let me say how impressed I was by the references you provided! They were well chosen and the various grid methods you prepared were amazing.
That said, I didn’t use any of them, but only because I find it very hard to get excited about painting from photographs.
My preference is to paint from life as much as I possibly can. I also knew I needed to choose subjects that I felt I could convey in a short amount of time (even though I often went over 20 minutes, I theoretically wanted to be able to do it all in 20).
In April, I went to the beach and collected shells, and I had a pile I could choose from each day, so I painted those for more than half the days of the challenge. The two landscapes I did were both weekend projects, painted from my own photographs taken on walks the same weekend I painted them. If I could have painted them on location, I would have, but my hubby and dog aren’t that patient.
What benefits did you find working daily even if not for a long time?
I felt my confidence grow so much in just 20 days! It was great to get out of sketchbook and make finished paintings instead of studies. They aren’t all masterpieces, but I did end up with several that I felt were wall-worthy.
I think sometimes I sell myself short in my sketchbook, rushing or calling it quits on a painting too soon.
Now I’m ready to get to work on some of the bigger paper I’ve been stockpiling, and I feel much less anxious about “ruining” good paper.
Any days jump out as having aha moments? Could you share what those were?
There were two days when I tried to use hot press paper. It was a disaster! I knew it would be different from cold press, but I had no idea just how different.
It was a good lesson in how important it is to really understand your materials. I’m saving my hot press for gouache now and sticking to my cold press paper.
ADVICE/MINDSET
If someone wanted to follow your lead and do this the way you set it up for yourself, any advice for them about what you’d change or what you’d make sure to not change? Why?
My top advice is that each night before bed, choose your subject for the next day. No one wants to have to find something to paint at 5:30 in the morning!
Other than that, I think I’d advise them to be flexible. If you set a plan and it’s not working, scrap the plan, but don’t scrap the challenge. The point of the exercise is to learn, and learning what doesn’t work is every bit as valuable as learning what does.
What was the most helpful mindset for you to try and keep during the 20for20?
The area I needed the most mindset shift on was posting my work online.
I have a sort of tortured relationship with Instagram and Facebook [In the Podcast Art Club on Patreon], which is actually why I committed to posting to both places every single day, to help myself get over my hesitation about posting.
I have a lot of imposter syndrome around sharing my art, so I had to keep reminding myself that I was sharing to show my progress and keep myself accountable to my goals, not to show off, and that I was doing so to communicate with people who care, not with people don’t.
The response has been so encouraging. Many people in my real life have told me how happy it makes them to see my posts. Here I was thinking people were probably saying, “Oh, so she thinks she’s an artist now?” And maybe some people were, but the people who matter were thinking, “She’s doing something she loves,” and that brought them joy.
I still had to guard myself against caring about how many likes a post got or how views a reel got. Like I said, a complicated relationship with social media, but I think I’m getting better about it!
Learn more about Mulligan here.
About the Series: The #20for20ArtChallenge inspires artists to commit to 20 minutes a day for 20 days to jumpstart a daily art practice. In this series, you'll learn how past participants have set up their 20 days and discover pieces of insights for designing your own daily art practice.