Creative Efficiency

Cross posting some favorite Robert Genn weekly newsletters.

Mood: Reading
Listening to: Vienna ~ Ultravox
Reading: The Impossible will take a little while PR. Loeb
Watching: Art 21

Back in the dark ages I used to take whole days to stretch
canvases or build shipping crates. I rationalized that I
needed the exercise and the change of pace. One day I realized
that all I was getting was substandard canvases, shaky crates,
and blue fingers. It was really all about avoidance. I saw
that I needed to spend more time working up my ideas and
performing my art. And in my main focus--in those things that I
figured I did best--I had to be more efficient.

Creative efficiency powers creative acts. I've noticed that
artists who develop their own unique efficiencies--time-motion
improvements, paint-order expediencies, labour-saving
devices--tend to do fresher and more interesting work. Boring
art, I notice, is often performed by bored artists who happen
to be stuck in one process rut or another. At the risk of
leaving out some good ones, here's a short bombardment of
studio efficiencies that you might find useful:

Have your canvases or supports made to your specifications by
pros. Carry out dull jobs such as priming and varnishing in
assembly-line manner. Give thought to your current processes
and habits. Study your workstation to try to limit areas of
awkwardness. See that things are handy. Know your tools, their
individual wisdom and capabilities. Pre-mix colours when
possible and avoid the tedium of re-matching. Use glazes (if
appropriate) to tone down, pull together, or to execute
otherwise difficult gradations. Use rags, scraping devices,
sticks, sponges, etc., to add shorthand variety to your range
of effects. Never underestimate the value of sponges--they suck
up and they put down. Rethink the order that you normally do
things. Cut back on time-wasters--the procedural ones and the
two-footed kind. Do your work in a logical and yet creative
order. While you're at it, re-evaluate your workplace
furnishings. A hard, spring-backed, armless, rolling chair, for
example, can lessen position fatigue and other problems. Know
that your peculiar efficiencies keep you up front as captain.
Creative efficiency hones style.

"What could be?" is my question for all seasons. Here's another
for the studio wall: "Do I have to do this in the same way that
I've done it previously?"

Best regards,

Sponge Bob

PS: "Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the
noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists
in the elimination of nonessentials." (Lin Yutang)

Esoterica: Efficiency frees the creative spirit. The idea is
to clear the deck for maximum inventive flow. The idea is to
make it possible to let go and surrender to the "queen-bee
syndrome." "You cannot govern the creative impulse; all you can
do is to eliminate obstacles and smooth the way for it." (Kimon
Nicolaides)

As always, used with permission of Robert Genn.