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Much to be said for a devotional practice. Discipline has its place, but devotion carries a deeper, almost spiritual dimension.

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I'm a self-taught artists, art is not my job or my study so I have no obligation to do art.

1 month ago, during my artist's block, I thought to myself: "maybe it would be better if I have a strict routine like those students in art academies, doing 10 sketches, 10 gestures, 10 color block per day, 1 painting per week, 1 big painting per month, etc. "

"I need discipline to progress in art"

But something felt wrong, dead wrong. Suddenly a faint memory flashed in my head: a child scribbling on his mother's piles of scrap paper, so enthusiastically and so passionately. The child then looked into my eyes and frowned:

"Since when did you need discipline to draw?"

Obviously that child was me. Perhaps I'm betraying my inner child, my inner artist, by forcing myself to do art.

So I did not go down that road of forcing myself to do art everyday, instead I stopped art completely so that I can find the answer.

I realize that what I lacked was not the discipline, but the reason to pick up my pencils and brushes everyday. The questions I need to ask are not "how can I be more disciplined?" or "what art exercises I need to do daily? "

It's just "Why do I do art?"

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The MAJOR difference between the two:

DISCIPLINE comes from the MIND > the "HOW".

DEVOTION comes from the HEART (LOVE) > the "WHY".

GREAT ART requires knowledge (DISCIPLINE) but it MUST also come from a person’s heart & passion, thus their DEVOTION, which brings anything created to LIFE, and will touch another person’s soul!

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I wholeheartedly agree.

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So true!

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