10,000 Hours

There are no shortcuts to becoming a better artist.  You can read all the books and attend all the demonstrations, but practice is the most efficient discipline toward improving your artwork.  The theory in effect is the “10,000-Hour Rule”, based on a study by Anders Ericsson, who is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading theoretical and experimental researchers on expertise.  In Ericsson’s study, subjects demonstrated significant improvement in their skill based on the number of hours dedicated to deliberate practice.Talent is often credited with a creative individual’s success.  But talent is only a small part of the successful formula.  Practice, or 10,000 hours, is the catalyst that separates the good tennis player from the great tennis player, or the good musician from the great musician.  A talent or a great passion for a subject drives the inspired artist to keep working toward a better image.  That passion allows the artist to persevere and to eventually invest 10,000 hours toward proficiency.

Therefore, if you want to become a better painter, then paint more and more and more.  Suspend the desire for a “product” and press on for a more succinct message.  Make studies, studies and more studies until you create the study that reveals the best possible resolution for your inspiration.  Do not settle for the first draft if there is the possibility for a more compelling painting.  Occasionally, you may stumble upon an easy and successful result, but if you want a consistent body of work, be patient, and be resolute.  Invest 10.000 hours and you will be rewarded.