@Amateur_Art_Diarist's post on Artfol
Yearly Theme
This is a concept I was unfamiliar with until I listened to the Drawing Inspiration podcast by Mike Hendley. (Psst: While Drawing Inspiration doesn't run anymore, the archive is available, and I highly recommend it).
Mike spoke about his yearly theme, if I remember correctly, during the first episodes of the show, which I binged on back in November 2024.
The idea of the yearly theme truly came to the forefront of my mind in the latter part of December. I wasn't sure whether I'd give it a go. I've never done New Year resolutions partly because I think that if one wants to do something, they simply should. One should do the thing irrespective of time of the year (end vs beginning), time of the week (it doesn't have to all start on a Monday), or time of day (evening vs morning)!
However, I'm known for being inconsistent. I'm good at picking up stuff and pouring my energy into it, dropping it soon after. When I was a teenager, I reckon that was the product of being scatter-brained and unorganised. Now, as an adult, it's capacity and bandwidth given I have a full-time job.
Therefore, I'm of the opinion that a theme, a principle to guide and help me navigate the year, can only be beneficial. It's less rigid than a list of specific New Year resolutions but aspirational enough to get me back on track should I veer off course. And I will, trust me. A continuous nag for the next 300 odd days, I hope, can be the correcting mechanism I apply to myself when I inevitably push my yearly theme to the side and display behaviours that go against it, for example.
So, after some deliberation, I've decided on the following theme: CLIMB
Climbing is an upward motion at its core, but climbing isn't sprinting. When we climb, we do so at a consistent pace, taking breaks at regular intervals and / or as needed. During those breaks, we replenish our energy reserves and look around. Are we where we should be? We take out maps and (re)orient ourselves. We decide on alternative routes, e.g., if we've been tackling a steep part of the terrain, we can opt for a more even track. We chat to our companion before carrying on.
This is how I'd like to treat my art journey - please give me a different phrase to use - in 2025. I'd like to persevere with learning the basics and improving my skills, but not become caught up in the 'grind' mentality. I'd like to allow myself breathing space when I need it, but keep that peak very much at the centre of what I do. Say, I'll explore and experiment with my own taste in art even if it doesn't directly contribute to grasping those basics. Steady wins the race. Balance wins the race.
(Part of me still thinks the yearly theme I should, as a matter of fact, pursue is 'consistency', but 'climb' has elements of 'consistency' in it, and it resonates more!)
The concept of the yearly theme is something that was introduced by Myke Hurley and CGP Grey on the Cortex podcast. They do a much better job at bringing it to life, and to date I have only listened to one episode of the show in which they reflect on their 2024 themes and turn their gaze towards 2025. If a yearly theme is something you'd like to delve into, I recommend listening to that episode of the show and any other theme-related episodes on your podcast-streaming platform of choice.
If you've made it so far into this narrative, thank you.
Let's go climbing
Let me know if you adopt a yearly theme for 2025 - I'd be very interested in what it is and why you've chosen it.Jan 3, 2025
This is a concept I was unfamiliar with until I listened to the Drawing Inspiration podcast by Mike Hendley. (Psst: While Drawing Inspiration doesn't run anymore, the archive is available, and I highly recommend it).
Mike spoke about his yearly theme, if I remember correctly, during the first episodes of the show, which I binged on back in November 2024.
The idea of the yearly theme truly came to the forefront of my mind in the latter part of December. I wasn't sure whether I'd give it a go. I've never done New Year resolutions partly because I think that if one wants to do something, they simply should. One should do the thing irrespective of time of the year (end vs beginning), time of the week (it doesn't have to all start on a Monday), or time of day (evening vs morning)!
However, I'm known for being inconsistent. I'm good at picking up stuff and pouring my energy into it, dropping it soon after. When I was a teenager, I reckon that was the product of being scatter-brained and unorganised. Now, as an adult, it's capacity and bandwidth given I have a full-time job.
Therefore, I'm of the opinion that a theme, a principle to guide and help me navigate the year, can only be beneficial. It's less rigid than a list of specific New Year resolutions but aspirational enough to get me back on track should I veer off course. And I will, trust me. A continuous nag for the next 300 odd days, I hope, can be the correcting mechanism I apply to myself when I inevitably push my yearly theme to the side and display behaviours that go against it, for example.
So, after some deliberation, I've decided on the following theme: CLIMB
Climbing is an upward motion at its core, but climbing isn't sprinting. When we climb, we do so at a consistent pace, taking breaks at regular intervals and / or as needed. During those breaks, we replenish our energy reserves and look around. Are we where we should be? We take out maps and (re)orient ourselves. We decide on alternative routes, e.g., if we've been tackling a steep part of the terrain, we can opt for a more even track. We chat to our companion before carrying on.
This is how I'd like to treat my art journey - please give me a different phrase to use - in 2025. I'd like to persevere with learning the basics and improving my skills, but not become caught up in the 'grind' mentality. I'd like to allow myself breathing space when I need it, but keep that peak very much at the centre of what I do. Say, I'll explore and experiment with my own taste in art even if it doesn't directly contribute to grasping those basics. Steady wins the race. Balance wins the race.
(Part of me still thinks the yearly theme I should, as a matter of fact, pursue is 'consistency', but 'climb' has elements of 'consistency' in it, and it resonates more!)
The concept of the yearly theme is something that was introduced by Myke Hurley and CGP Grey on the Cortex podcast. They do a much better job at bringing it to life, and to date I have only listened to one episode of the show in which they reflect on their 2024 themes and turn their gaze towards 2025. If a yearly theme is something you'd like to delve into, I recommend listening to that episode of the show and any other theme-related episodes on your podcast-streaming platform of choice.
If you've made it so far into this narrative, thank you.
Let's go climbing
Let me know if you adopt a yearly theme for 2025 - I'd be very interested in what it is and why you've chosen it.Jan 3, 2025#yearlytheme
#goals
#aspirations
#art
#growth
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