How To Take Care of Yourself as an Artist

If you are an artist, you know just how difficult and exhausting your job can be. Many people assume that you never have off days or get tired because your job seems so easy from the outside looking in. This common and prevalent sentiment often keeps artists from taking care of themselves just like anyone with any other sort of job would. It is time for this to stop! Your job is important for a myriad of reasons, and you need to engage in self care just like anybody else does. Because an artist's job is so unique, the self care regime you develop for yourself might look different than your friends and family members' does. This does not make it any less legitimate. If you are struggling to figure out the best course of self care for you, then here are some tips you can look into.

Help Your Hands

Artists tend to use their hands a lot more than the average person. Potters are constantly getting their hands dirty and washing them constantly as they throw clay and form their work. Painters are spending long amounts of time holding brushes, mixing paints and creating those beautiful brush strokes. Any style of artist at any time is basically guaranteed to use their hands a majority of their time. This means that your hands are very important to you, and as such, you should take extra care of them. You can do hand exercises that strengthen and stretch your hand muscles to protect them from injury and use hand cream to protect your skin from rash or dryness. Taking care of your hands is always going to be important no matter what your specialty is.

Try Yoga

From painters to potters, artists of all kinds spend a lot of time sitting hunched over their work. For long periods of time, the artist's body settles into one position as you use your body to mold and bring to life whatever you are making. This can lead to all kinds of muscle soreness. One way to combat this is to find a yoga practice or sequence to do a few times a week that targets areas of your body that feel particularly tight. For example, your back might feel pained after a few days of working on one particular piece of art. To counteract any negative side effects, you can do some yoga poses that target unlocking, stretching and soothing your spine and neck. This will make sure your body is ready for whatever piece you are working on next!

Take Regular Breaks

It can be easy to get so wrapped up and in the flow of a project that you forget to eat or drink water for twelve hours! This can lead to beautiful art, but it can also drain you of your resources and cause burn out in a few weeks time. You can combat this by setting a timer on your phone or an alarm clock for every hour or so that will remind you to get up and move, drink some water and eat a snack or meal. That way you can get right back to your work feeling fueled and refreshed!

Don't Overload Your Work Schedule

This can be a big problem for those who are new to the artistry workforce. You are so excited to get paid to create what you love for people that you take on too many projects in one period of time. This can lead to you feeling overwhelmed and burning out before the year's end. Avoid this by taking a small, conservative amount of commissions and once you find your perfect and healthy rhythm and pace of creation, you can put out the call for more people to ask for your expertise!

Taking care of your hard working mind, body and hands is absolutely a key to unlocking your creativity and honing your talent. As an artist, you spend a lot of time doing work for other people so that you can continue doing what you love. It will pay in terms of health and finances for you to follow one or all of these tips because ultimately, prioritizing your health will make your artwork the best it can be.