How Thinking Small Can Lead to Success
—Less is More!
I have a small problem (really, just a problito) that three times recently when I’ve joined my local Art Peeps for plein air sketching, I’ve completed my initial pencil sketch, pen work, and watercolor color swatches on site, and have planned to finish the art at home in the next week…BUT…months later, I haven’t gotten back to these pieces, making the art three more items on my never-ending To Do list. 😐
So when I joined my Peeps again last week for sketching at Tohono Chul, I decided to avoid this by trying a different approach: a newly-revised-by-me KISS principle: Keep it Simple & Small. I’m happy to report this approach worked! I almost finished my art on site, and finished the final details the next day at home.
At Tohono Chul I specifically looked for a subject that was simple, and my eyes were attracted to the complementary colors of a purple cactus growing next to yellow wildflowers. Without further ado…here’s my Simple & Small art!
You may be wondering what I mean by small. Most of my art is around 4”x6” in size. Santa Rita Prickly Pear is only 2.5”x2.5”—a quarter of the square acreage of my usual art!
Note that I worked smaller, not faster.
This is an important point! Some artists enjoy working quickly and spontaneously; others (like me) enjoy working more slowly and methodically. I think there’s too much emphasis amongst artists (including in the nature journaling community) on working quickly and in my opinion, that’s not the best speed for everyone! I love planning out my art (in my head and/or with little thumbnail sketches) before starting each piece, and to speed through or ignore this part of my art process would not make me a happy camper. My take-home message is: if you enjoy working slowly, don’t pay attention to any suggestions (external or internal!) that you “should” work faster. You do you. 👍
I also kept my Santa Rita Prickly Pear art process simple by using my Teeny Tiny Watercolor Palette (which is the only palette I take plein air sketching), and only needed four of the six colors.
Here are the benefits I enjoyed during my latest plein air sketching session. I:
Enjoyed being outside in nature
Enjoyed the camaraderie of friends
Practiced my observational skills
Practiced my drawing, painting, & color mixing skills
Avoided adding one more thing to my To Do list
💭 Comics Corner
Here’s a fun Speed Bump comic about the problito of unfinished art! Ha.
And speaking of the power of small things and small habits…
🎺 Doot, do-do-DOOOOO!
That’s the trumpet fanfare announcing that as of yesterday, February 19, 2025, I’ve maintained my Daily Art Habit for 150 days in a row!!! 🎉 Woo hoo!
This means I’ve put pencil, pen, and/or paintbrush to paper for at least five minutes/day, for 150 days! These small increments of time have added up to a daily art habit and lots of art!
🐛 Small Update on the Q Continuum
Hubby and I had so much Q (Queen Butterfly) excitement this past week that I didn’t have time to prep any Q content for this post—but hopefully soon! (How’s that for a teaser? 😁)
Here’s a quote about the value of “small”:
“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”
- Vincent Van Gogh
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Perennially bringing delight and inspiration. Thank you!
That is an interesting approach of keeping the same pace, but reducing the size, especially since on the internet, size seems to be difficult to judge anyway. I can imagine that going slowly helps with the calming meditative aspect of making art. Thanks for sharing!