DweezelJazz Art Blog » achieving goals

What Does An Artist Need To Know In Today’s Technological World?

DweezelJazz — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:46:29 +0000

This seems to be the time when ebook readers and very small portable computers are starting to really catch on, not to mention all the ways it’s possible to read content on smart phones.

I recently read an article, The End of Book Publishing As We Know It, on Michael Hyatt’s blog. In the article there’s a video showing a slim, portable, color-format reading device Time Inc has developed for magazine content. It allows for audio, video and normal text print content to be accessed very easily all in one place at the touch of a finger.

Time (no pun intended) will tell just how much these new devices and combinations of media will affect the conventional publishing industry, but it is already true that the publishing industry is experiencing tremendous changes.

There are many new opportunities available for the individual in this evolving technical environment. Software applications at relatively low prices have made it possible for individuals to learn how to accomplish things that used to only be possible for experts with very costly equipment. One such area is the ability to print a book using, for example, Adobe InDesign or even one of the applications made freely available by online book printers such as Blurb.

The tricky part that comes with having direct access to performing these highly specialised tasks is that in order to create quality products there’s a great deal for an individual to learn. It’s crucial to assess which facets will be important to forwarding one’s own work. There are a variety of reasons for limiting just how much you intend trying to learn to do:

learning a little of everything results in doing most things in a mediocre manner because there just isn’t enough time to truly develop more than two or three things fully and deeply
time spent on one thing means less time spent on another which could be more important in achieving your goal
you might end up spending much more time than you intended doing something you really don’t enjoy very much

So it’s really important to pick and choose what to learn, finding the balance that allows you to move forward with your goals, but doesn’t drain too much from your primary ambition and passion.

My primary passion is stories. I think I could do without many things, but not stories, and stories with pictures, well, I just think that’s the ultimate. I love movies, but have no interest in being directly involved in the film industry. So I’ve been concentrating on understanding what it is about the visual elements that go into art that make it successfully communicative, and what elements are important to a story to make it really interesting and exciting.

I’m still experimenting with just how my passion will express itself in my art. To try to get closer to this, I’ve been delving more deeply into color theory, composition, technique, and all types of art from fine art to illustration, cartoons, animation — everything I can set eyes on. I’ve experimented with digital painting, and more watercolor and egg tempera painting techniques.

I have also been studying writing, visual storytelling and story-boarding, and am writing a couple of fiction stories to see where they go. For the more practical side of how to communicate the art, and possibly stories, during the last year I have completed courses in all of the Adobe Creative Suite applications. My year’s subscription with Total Training will end on January 1st and so this spurred me to complete the InDesign and Illustrator courses during these last few weeks. I have also studied web design, print design, composition, layout, and a little about typography.

So that’s it for the heavy-duty studying for me, thank goodness! Now I need to develop my artwork so that it expresses my passion – and I’m not quite sure what that is yet in terms of style or subject. I think it might be bound up in expectation, and if I can let that loose, my style should just be there. When I write I have no expectation and my writing style seems to be there just simple and unsophisticated, for better or worse. I haven’t yet reached that with the art.

So here’s to the New Year, bringing new discoveries and challenges. If you have any comments on what you think it’s important to learn in today’s environment, and/or if you have any advice on reaching your own style, I’d love to hear them.

Optimizing The Way We Spend Our Time

DweezelJazz — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 07:00:00 +0000

A few months ago I was desperate to improve my work output. I had outlined my goals and set timescales, but could tell that I wouldn’t reach them with my typical daily routine. At the end of each day it was becoming more and more excruciating to find that I was no closer to doing what was needed in order to reach those goals. I just had to figure out if there was any practical way to reach them.I started by analyzing all the ways in which my time was being spent and in what amounts. This was a crucial and extremely revealing step in understanding where my time was disappearing.Some areas of our lives may be less under our control than we would like. There might be aspects of our lives that we’re not aware of taking significant amounts of our time. If we have a situation that we hope someday might change, we might unwittingly plan for the future without taking into account that circumstance’s full impact on our present activities. Understanding all the demands on our time gives us the chance to assess the realistic timescale for achieving our goals. This in itself can remove an incredible amount of frustration and pressure.But even with circumstances that we may not be able to directly change, it may be possible to find ways to more effectively work with or around them. And once we know where our time goes, we have the opportunity to prioritize all our activities, and even eliminate those that aren’t essential and don’t give us the return we’re looking for.Around this time, I came across a book called: “Getting Things Done” by David Allen. It covers all aspects of setting up a personal system to organize ourselves so that we can become more efficient and productive. It was very helpful and got me moving forward in a way that has really made a huge difference.Following David Allen’s recommendations in this book, I did a few basic things. David Allen points out that a tremendous amount of energy is wasted by trying to remember tasks that need to be completed. If we write them down in a place we know we can rely on to find them, then we don’t have to pointlessly keep mulling them around. We can free up our minds to think of more creative things instead.I also understood from the book that it’s important to break up tasks into one-step actions. Once we know what to do it becomes easy to do it. For example, if we write down ‘organize party’, it’s not clear what action is needed first in order to accomplish this. Once it’s broken down into a list of actions to complete, we can just do them and tick them off as we go.David Allen also suggests, in the office framework, to delegate, or in a more personal framework, to ask others for help. This may not be an obvious option for someone to consider. If we’re not used to asking for help, this can be difficult. But it’s well worth considering, because this can lead to many unforeseen benefits and possibilities.I don’t think I followed strictly everything David Allen said, but this is what I did as a result of reading his ideas:Wrote down absolutely everything that needed doing, small and large tasks alike.Created categorized lists of tasks.Created categorized lists of projects (a project being anything that required two or more steps in order to be completed).Created a list of tasks that could be completed either by me or by someone else, and then asked for help.Put recurring tasks in the calendar on my computer so that each day a list pops up of things that need to be done that day. This is a tremendous help. For example, I no longer have to think, keep track, or rummage through random bits of receipts to find out how long it has been since the water filter was changed and when it’s necessary to buy replacement filters for it. Or when the kitchen needs its next deep clean.Defining all the tasks that need to be completed, both routine and one-offs, enabled me to really address how those things are accomplished and when. It also allowed me to ask others for advice on how to tackle some of the things I didn’t directly have control over. This has resulted in some dramatic changes that I would never have been able to make on my own.I keep looking for ways to change and improve and, with the passing weeks, have been able to add more to the schedule than I had previously thought possible, but that were in fact in my original set of goals for the future. Now, each day generally provides me with more accomplishment in a way that’s directed towards those goals. And that’s a great feeling.I thought I’d mention this process in case you might find it helpful too. Life is a lot more fun when we can play the game with a better hand to win more victories.I didn’t realize until after this photo was on the computer that there looks to be an 8 card behind the 10… well, there’s even more there than first meets the eye!

Managing Tasks, Time and Balance

DweezelJazz — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 07:00:00 +0000

What do you do when you have more to do than you have time? Today many people live pressured lives at home and at work. If a person also has hobbies or some endeavor they wish to accomplish independent of their work, life can become very full and high-paced.New technology was expected to reduce the amount of time people worked. Instead it has made many more things possible, and so we often spend more time on something than we would have in the past. The product of our efforts is usually more polished than its previous equivalent.The general public is more sophisticated these days and more and more is required of businesses and employees. As the competition for jobs increases, completing work tasks often spills into what would otherwise be a person’s leisure time.A recent article in The Independent: “High-stress jobs ‘double chances of depression’” illustrates the importance of managing our time and expectations of ourselves. The article reports that a “survey of young people in their early thirties has found those in high-stress jobs run twice the risk of suffering serious depression or anxiety as those in lower-stress occupations”. Researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London say that time pressure is the single most important cause of stress and of the illness it leads to.When we have more to do than we feel we have time for, and this continues for long periods without being addressed, it definitely creates pressure. A person is induced to work harder and harder, becoming more and more tired, until eventually they’re also less and less efficient. Things can spiral out of control in a cycle for which there seems to be no solution.It can lead to a struggle in which the person doesn’t ever seem to win: the accomplishments become less meaningful in light of the many things still remaining to be done.In our high speed modern life, it’s very important that we maximize our productivity. In addition, it’s vital to know what our priorities are: in our daily tasks and also in our lives. Having a list of short and long term goals sets our sights on what’s important to us. Once we actively pursue our goals, we need to regularly assess whether we’ve set ourselves reasonable aims and timescales.Some things that can be done to manage our time and tasks:maintain a healthy balance between work, or serious pursuits, and relaxed leisure timeget plenty of sleepexercise regularlyfigure out more efficient ways of accomplishing repetitive menial tasksprioritize goals lists and move some goals to a later timeask others for helpif within means, hire help to do the tasks that don’t need to be performed by youdecide what aspects of life are most important and make changes to avoid blatant and ongoing conflicts of interestOccasionally there are high pressure times, and these can be very beneficial for motivation. But if we find we’re constantly pressured for time with no end in sight, and perhaps crotchety in the process, it’s most likely that we need to figure out how to change our expectations.Striving to accomplish our dreams can make for a fulfilling and happy life, but the joy of it needs to be in the everyday working towards it, otherwise it’s not much use. For best results all round, life is best if it includes some fun most days. This largely depends on our choices in thought and action.

Managing Goals

DweezelJazz — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 07:00:00 +0000

We’re moving house. Well, there aren’t any boxes packed yet. But we’ve been working hard this week to set up the new place before we move in. I’ve spent the day scrubbing in the kitchen and then peeling plastic wallpaper off the walls. There’s lovely white painted wall underneath that’s just perfect. I’ve worn out a scrubbing brush this week, which I consider to be quite an accomplishment!For weeks it has rained most days, and has been unseasonably cold. Today, however, was a glorious clear sunny day, and this afternoon I was working with the sun coming through the open window, pleasant breeze wafting over my head. It was a great feeling.There’s something very satisfying about hard physical labor – yes, that was it, when you stop for the day!When we expect certain things from ourselves this can create a noticeable pressure. It can even turn into stress. When a set of expectations becomes impractical it makes good sense to look at the situation and figure out whether those expectations are reasonable. If it’s possible to be flexible with them, then it’s worth accepting new criteria and to allow ourselves to define a new goal.This week we have family visiting. We’re going to have lots of fun out and about, and in between I’ll be working on more setting up of the new place. I had hoped to be able to post articles regularly as usual on DweezelJazz during this time, but I may need to adjust my expectations for the next two or so weeks. So, we’ll see what happens and ride with the flow.

Do What You Like To Achieve Success

DweezelJazz — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 07:00:00 +0000

If you really want to be successful: do what you like. It’s that simple. If we really enjoy something and do it often, we become better and better at it. It’s a very nice thing to say, but can this approach really make us successful?The real question to answer here is: What is success? Success is relative; it very much depends on the context. If we’re talking about a hobby, success can be completing a project. If we’re talking about work, it can mean bringing in enough money to sustain a family. To one person it may mean becoming rich. For another it may just be the satisfaction of accomplishment regardless of monetary return.At whatever level we choose our success, doing what we like is a much better strategy than doing what someone else likes. It’s extremely difficult to know what will please other people. And what pleases one person may displease another. If what we like to do is please other people, then this approach is perfectly suited. But, otherwise, measuring our success in relation to doing anything just to please others doesn’t make much sense. It’s difficult to be fully motivated when the going gets tough if we don’t like what we’re doing in the first place.There are always things we’re obliged to do that we may not like so much. There’s a time for doing what we like. We may have obligations that require us to dedicate much of our time doing something we don’t enjoy. But if we find ways to pursue whatever it is we do like, as much as possible in our spare time, we may find that an opportunity opens up in time. In the future it may become possible to more fully integrate what we like doing with our own goal of success.I have some t-shirts that are super comfortable (which is something I like) and that I love to wear because of what they say. I discovered these a few years ago and have several different colors and designs. They’re from a company called Life Is Good.There’s a story about the two brothers who started this company. At first they tried to sell, door-to-door in college dormitories, t-shirts they had designed. It didn’t go so well in the first years: they lived on peanut butter and jelly and slept in their van. It wasn’t until they included a little character they had created with a super grin, that their t-shirts started to really sell. Jake expressed everything they believed in with his message of optimism. And this idea and passion for what they held dear struck a chord in many others. Now they have hats and shorts, shoes and all sorts of things for sale with Jake and the Life Is Good motto. Following their dream eventually made them successful, even if at first it seemed it wouldn’t be so.On the front at the bottom of the t-shirt is a small patch sewn on which says: “Do what you like. Like what you do.” This cheers me on every time I see it. I also have a yellow Life Is Good baseball cap.You may remember from the Jasmine posts on DweezelJazz blog, that Jazzy chooses a lot of things she does. In fact she expresses her opinion about everything she does or is asked to do. Whenever it isn’t imperative that she do something – which is most of the time – she’s allowed to say no. Quite a while ago, I asked her if she wanted to do something and she clearly didn’t want to. I said to her then, “Ok, Jazzy, do what you like.” I didn’t consciously make the connection with the t-shirts or anything else, but was just allowing her the respect she deserves.I hadn’t said it often, but it seems it meant quite a bit to the little girl, because she worked on it, practicing it herself, long before I knew what she was trying to say. Now it’s her motto; it’s one of the things she says most often (apart from ‘shower’ and the fact that she’s a ‘good girl’). She says it at least once a day, usually in the morning: “Jasmine, do what you like.” And she says it in context and clearly knows what it means.In my book, Jazzy’s a successful character: she’s happy. She gives those around her a tremendous amount by doing what she likes and being who she is.

Setting Goals to Achieve Our Dreams

DweezelJazz — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 07:00:00 +0000

Do you ever lose sight of where you’re going in life?… …what it is you’d like to accomplish? An excellent way of focusing your efforts is to write down your goals.If things are a little hazy, creating short-term and long-term goals can be amazingly helpful. For example: 3-month, 6-month, 1-year, 2-year, 5-year and life goals. Making a list of perhaps ten things you want to accomplish in each of those time frames can generate an enthusiasm and focus that doesn’t seem to occur when we haven’t concretely defined our goals.Keeping these lists conveniently available for viewing is tremendously important. There are so many things happening on a daily basis that it can be difficult to keep in mind what we really want to accomplish. It’s so easy to get carried away in the flow of daily tasks and whims. This is great too, but if we have goals that we really want to reach, we need a way to regularly remind ourselves of them. Putting the lists out where they can be seen on passing, or, keeping them in a notebook ready to hand, or maybe on your computer desktop.The energy created by doing this propels us forward much more quickly. This is most likely because our minds are that much more organized as a result. We become more aware of what’s important to us, and are able to choose our activities more appropriately.It’s very likely that some of the items on those lists get done sooner than their estimated time slot. Crossing them off, after the accomplishment, is extremely satisfying and this becomes an additional source of encouragement. Every time we see that we’re actually making progress, it boosts our confidence and we become even more energized.The lists don’t become stagnant because they change just as we do. As we achieve the tasks we set, new ones emerge; and as a result of our experiences and evolving ideas, the goals might need adjusting from time to time. They become an integral part of our conscious awareness, a map to help us forward.What we achieve can have such a deep effect on how we feel about ourselves. The ramifications this can have in terms of the satisfaction we derive from our lives can be more than we might at first think. Creating these lists of goals is inexpensive and easy to do and it’s a fantastic tool for moving us toward the accomplishment of whatever it is we want most.