Why being Creative Is Like Going To The Gym.
Consistency pays off.
You know when you’ve been on holiday, eaten a ridiculous amount of meat, a ton of Quality Street, and way too much cake? You’ve drunk loads of lager, sat around on your arse, and done nothing for ages. Then you get home and try to get back to normal. Climbing out of the post-indulgence come-down is a gargantuan task, and you feel like a bin. You think I’ll try to do some exercise, but you can’t really be arsed, and the whole thing is just a massive slog. Then you hate yourself because you know you were better before, and you’ve messed it all up again.
That’s exactly how I feel when I haven’t painted or made anything for a while. It’s like starting from scratch, and it’s annoying. But the good thing is, you will get good again—all it takes is consistent effort.
For me, making artwork isn’t about doing a painting every now and then. I need to get as close as possible to doing it every day, for as long as I can. If I manage that, I’ll usually make something that resonates—or at the very least, something I’m pretty pleased with. It’s a numbers game. If you make one painting, there’s a fairly low chance that everyone will think it’s great. Unless you’re extremely perceptive and can predict what people will like (which, personally, I find quite hard). Usually, people love the thing you think is shit and couldn’t care less about the thing you think is amazing.
However, if you make 100 paintings, you can fairly safely say that a few of them—maybe three or four—will be quite good. Maybe even one will be really good. But you won’t know which one until you’ve made them all.
That’s why I paint watercolours and not oil paintings. I simply cannot be fucked to invest months into one painting hoping it might be decent and hoping someone might like it.
When I start painting after a massive break, I sit down and think to myself, I’m really good at painting, and I make great paintings. Then I try, and the result is dogshit. Mental crisis ensues. However, the good painting comes when I’ve been painting every day for a couple of weeks. By then, I’ve stopped judging what I’m painting. I’m just making them. I work on a big pile at once, chipping away at them bit by bit. By the end of the month, I’ve got a stack to choose from. Or at least, I used to do that before I had a daughter.
My best work is born when I’ve stopped judging, stopped expecting, and just started doing.
Creativity Is About Showing Up
I’ve read this many times: if you want to be an artist, a writer, or anything creative, you need to do it every day. That’s what it is to be those things. It’s not the exhibitions, the bestsellers, or the success. That stuff only comes after years of slogging away, every single day. That’s the reality of doing it.
It’s easy to look at successful people—like David Hockney, for example—and think, Yeah, I want what he has. Why can’t I do that? It looks like he’s just having a buzz. But in reality, he’s grafting, day in and day out, for decades.
If you’re not prepared to graft, then you’re in love with the idea of doing that thing, but not the actual reality of it.
I once had a drunken argument with a friend about this. She said, What if you don’t want to make stuff every day? What if you’re not feeling inspired?
My response? Then you don’t want to do it enough.
She didn’t agree.
People think creativity is about waiting for magical inspiration to strike, but that’s just not how shit goes down. Inspiration comes from doing. Then doing some more. Then having an idea and doing that. But if you don’t do the ideas, then you’ve got nothing.
That’s why it’s like exercise. If you wait until you feel like doing it, the good stuff won’t happen. I’d say this goes for anything you want to do, really. Just start doing it. No one is going to give you permission. You have to get off your arse and do it.
Your creativity isn’t some mystical gift you were born with. It’s a skill that strengthens over time through repetition and discipline.
Get in the Dojo
So that’s my two cents. If you want to be creative, you need to get into the dojo and start doing some reps. The small improvements will add up. Every day, you’ll be able to do a bit more. Then one day, you’ll create something that impresses you. You won’t believe you did that.
I’ve had that feeling with painting, and it’s the best. When you’re in the zone, magical things happen. But the most important thing is simply to start.
I often tell people about the two-minute rule. All the habit gurus talk about it. Just commit to painting for two minutes. Invariably, once you’ve started, you’ll go for longer. And if you really can’t hack it, then you can stop and know you at least tried.
I’d also say: finish stuff. Don’t be a perfectionist. Just get on with it.
Lockdown & Lessons
In the first lockdown in 2020, I got self-employed money from the government. I was working in music PR at the time, and that industry ground to a halt. No events meant no ads for magazines, so they shut down. Then no one had money, so they weren’t putting out releases. I had no work.
So, with a bit of cash from my old pal HMRC, I just said, I’m going to paint every day. There’s nothing else to do.
I painted for about three hours every morning. It was during that time that my style was born. I found I was making work that felt relevant, that people engaged with, and—most importantly—that I actually enjoyed making.
I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing now if I hadn’t turned up every day, pushed through the burn, and unlocked those ideas.
So if you’re feeling uninspired? Start a chain.
Make something today. Then make something tomorrow. Then the day after that.
At some point, a few weeks down the line, you’ll create something that genuinely surprises you. You won’t believe you made it.
Then, make sure you keep going. Otherwise, you’ll have to pick up the pieces and do it all over again.
The point of it all!
Aim for momentum, and everything else will follow.
So, yeah. That’s my TED Talk. Proper motivational. Like David Goggins or something.
Have fun, and let me know how it goes.
If you fancy it you can always buy something for my shop. It will brighten up your walls in your drab hovel of a house and also cheer me up and put some bread on the table.
I’m with you on ALL of this, Merny, and thanks for hanging this particular shingle. So important… so fucking hard to do!! 🙌🏻
Hey Merny,
Loved the honesty in this post—so many points hit home! Such a great reminder that creativity isn’t magic, it’s a practice. Consistency is everything—you can’t get to the good stuff without wading through the rest. I totally relate to the idea that creativity is about showing up, not waiting for inspiration to strike.
Also, loved your take on why you prefer watercolors over oils. Choosing a medium that matches your creative process is so important. For over a decade, I’ve felt at ease with blogging and writing online for that exact reason—it’s immediate, more direct, and gets out into the world faster. That’s why I stuck with blog posts, newsletters & co. rather than books... until now. I recently launched a self-published street art book series to see how working on a bigger project would feel (spoiler: overwhelming).
The part about your best work emerging when you stop judging really struck me. That shift from judgment to flow is something I still struggle with, but reading this is a great reminder of how important it is.
Brilliant read—thanks for this!