Module 18 — Rebel with a Cause

Maybe you’re feeling a little rebellious about some of the prompts in this course. That’s okay! Remember, you can ALWAYS ignore them and go your own way!

In Module 1, you were invited to list some of the reasons you wanted to keep a studio notebook. At that point, most people are thinking primarily of what they want their studio notebook practice to develop how their art looks, or achieve goals like getting accepted into a particular show or creating a body of work to present to a gallery.

We’re a little more than halfway through the course, so it’s a good time to review those reasons and see if there’s anything you want to add, change or delete. Perhaps you have a deeper understanding of some of your reasons. Perhaps you want a goal to be broader, or narrower, than you originally thought.

It’s not unusual to discover that you may have listed some reasons that aren’t even really yours. Maybe they’re just things you thought would be “good for you” or that “serious artists do”. Maybe someone else was/is pushing you to do things that matter more to them than to you.

Module 18 Thinking Prompt—Make It Your Practice

Review Your Reasons

Now is a good time to review those original reasons for keeping a studio notebook. Has anything shifted? Has anything new emerged? Have priorities changed?

Broaden Your View

It’s also a good time to widen your focus and consider what broader benefits you want from you studio notebook and your art practice beyond developing art skills or a personal style. What good things do you want your studio notebook and your art practice bring to your life? Confidence? Fearlessness? Acceptance? Money (sales)? More time for your art? Calm/solace/healing?

Consider Course Corrections

What does this tell you about the activities you want to emphasize, de-emphasize, or avoid like the plague in your own personal studio notebook and art practice.

From the activities so far, plus the ones you’ve discovered or brought with you to your studio notebook, which ones do you want to make part of a regular practice?

Are there things you are making yourself do that are actually working against what you really want from your studio notebook? Maybe because someone else said you should, or it’s something you see other artists doing, or just because it’s in the course. (You don’t! It’s your course to use in whatever way fits you best!)

How can you make your studio notebook serve you even better going forward?

Module 18 Activity Prompt—Old Favorites and New

Today, pick one activity that really calls to you (not necessarily from this course). Or choose a material, tool or medium you love, but haven’t used in a while (metallic marker!). Bonus points if it’s one you don’t often do because you think of it as self-indulgent, wasteful, not for serious paintings, not productive, or “I don’t have time for that”.

And do that.

Module 18 Journaling Together Video


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