It’s easy to slip into the mindset that things aren’t happening nearly as quickly as you’d like and that you are just spinning your wheels so being able to keep track of your own progress is important when looking for ways to keep the momentum going.
Something I’m glad I instigated from day one was to keep a detailed log of everything I did in the pursuit of becoming a better artist. This included such things as the details of each individual piece I work on, the medium, technique and support, its framed and unframed dimensions, time spent producing it, what materials and how much of them were used, where it can be found and it’s history, any notes etc. I also keep tabs on ideas that came to me for future pieces, overall income and expenses (well, lets just say expenses for now…) and any contact information – most of these categories were derived from “I’d Rather Be In The Studio” by Alyson B. Stanfield.
In the early days, I entered all this information manually onto various sheets in an excel spreadsheet but it didn’t take too long for this to become a touch unwieldy. I’ve done plenty of SQL database work in the past so I imported all the data I’d already collated into a newly developed database and now the process is so much simpler. The added bonus is that I can now sort, filter and link the data in any way I like to get complete clarity on where my time and money is being spent for any set period. It’s also great to have everything in the one place and accessible from anywhere with an internet connection.
I’d love to hear about anyone’s thoughts or processes on tracking your own work, in what ever field you work in, or what is holding you back from starting a log of your own.
