Embracing creativity also means finding clever ways to avoid work, even if it's a fun job! These are my favorite ways to dodge drawing duties:
Flow-crastinating - Practicing yoga.
Grow-crastinating - Watering and repotting plants.
Dough-crastinating - making or eating bread.
Joe-crastinating - Getting coffee and/or going to Trader Joe's for snacks.
Pro-CLASS-tinating - Signing up for and attending classes.
Let's talk about the last one -- pro-CLASS-tinating. I’d argue that it’s not a self-indulgent way to avoid work. Signing up for lots of courses means embracing a beginner's mindset, which is brilliant for creativity.
Live courses and workshops keep you accountable. They're on your calendar and require you to show up.
Instead impulsively enrolling, here are reasons you may want to pump the brakes:
Save that class for later if:
It is self-paced. Prerecorded courses are excellent if you have bullet-proof focus, but nowadays, distractions a... hey, what's that over there...is that a notification?
You're feeling overwhelmed with your schedule or financially strained. If the class is amazing, it’ll likely run again in the future. Don’t let FOMO force you to enroll.
The class sounds too good to be true. If you feel like a course will magically level you up, I promise it won’t. No shortcuts, connections, or special portals will skip you ahead.
You want to learn to draw like the artist teaching. That’s copying. Instead, draw using a new technique! And support that artist by buying and sharing their work!
Artist
says, “You don't need another class,” and shared reasons to think twice before signing up for a new one.Pro-CLASS-tinating is a privilege I don’t take lightly. I’ve FULLY embraced it this month in
’s comics class1 and Emily Powell’s painting workshops. shared some wonderful online educational resources in this post.
Final Thoughts
Online classes can feel self-indulgent. But sometimes they’re a brilliant way to show up to draw, meet friends, support artists, and learn new techniques. That’s a beautiful thing!
