10,000 hours

10,000 hours is roughly the time required to achieve mastery over a subject (given you initially have some raw talent). That's approximately 20 hours a week for 10 years. I read this in the guardian at the weekend- basically, what distinguishes the very successful from others is not that they work much harder. But rather they work much, much, much harder. There are other factors there of course- favourable, supportive environments, starting young ( which allows you to reach that level of expertise early enough for you to successfully apply it), etc.

It's not necessarily a question of talent (obviously some raw talent is needed), but essentially a question of work ethic/obsession/drive.

I was thinking about this a few months ago when I visited some artists I had studied with- one guy in particular has recently had significant breakthroughs with his painting. What was the difference between him and the rest of us? He didn't break his study- foundation to degree to masters to Phd (which he's near completion). That's 9 years of continuous work in a supportive environment.

I have to work at it. Stop fecking off around the country/world so much. Apply myself, because I do want to be an artist.

The good news? I pretty much have a studio lined up for January with several painters. The association and space to produce. I cannot stress my excitement.Hare Krishna