Art & Discipline of Concentration, Foggy Days

[Quofalcon]

Art is a form of expression brought forth from the elements of emotion, inspiration, imagination, idea, desire and a great deal of concentration.
I am creating this thread in reference to the topic of concentration, the discipline of it and those irritating, foggy-like mental days one gets. First, to start this off I'd like to share a tidbit of my recent experiences on concentration.
Firtly this is more of a problematic than anything else; perhaps it could help serve ideas to others with simular experiences. Please bear with me. Supposedly there are handfuls of people, artists who take concentration energy on an easy level. No work there needed may be. For me it's a ride, a weekly roll of the dice. There's days my concentrational energy is fantastic if not decent. I'll have hardly any problems, art or work-wise. Again, like random die rolling I will have a day to a handful together with my mind unfocused, foggy and uncooperative. This affects my work greatly, no matter how I wish to get started.
For those who've had such simular experiences, what blocks did you encounter durring these times? Did you find a way to cope with it?


By the way I believe this happens to be my first post here, so, hello CA! Shame on me for lurking!

[Grief]

have you noticed any types of art, that when creating it, seem more natural and effortless?

perhaps on some subconscious level you're rejecting the work you are doing and desiring to work on something more personally satisfying. maybe the inability to concentrate and focus on your work is a sign you need to venture out into more expressive and gestural forms of creating art.

its a possibility.

but more likely its just old fashioned stress blocking your ability to prioritize objectives.

[Quofalcon]

Thank you Grief. That's a very good point you got there. If that's a cause, I'll have to consider finding a way around that block programming. Can't allow displeases or fears get in the way of what one wills to do.

[daveneale]

I go through peaks and troughs to a certain degree...sometimes I'm easily distracted, others I'm totally immersed in my work. A deadline always focus' me, and also wanting to work on something, but there are other factors like getting the right amount of sleep, coffee (I'm trying to cut down-it isn’t good piling yourself full of the stuff, regardless of how much I love it) and here's one that until recently I'd never fully paid attention to: drinking enough water. When your dehydrated it’s harder to concentrate, try drinking more water trough the day (I find it helps, but I have no idea how much is physiological and how much is psychological).

[Chris Bennett]

I think the problem I find with this is that when you need to get on with something but are not feeling that you are firing on all cylinders there is the risk of destoying so much of what one has done previously. The trouble is, whenever you make a new mark it obliterates what is under it and when you say "I don't want to spoil this", you are well on the way to doing just that. One should have no regard for the past when painting - whatever the day brings has to be accepted and it is the only way of ensuring you concentrate the best you can.

[Costau D]

Very nice answer Chris.

[Quofalcon]

Thank you all kindly! I don't think I could ask for better answers.

[kool-ka-lang]

GET some sleep.

more sleep = more concentration.

[wickeddiana]

This fogginess happens to me more often than I would like. And I know how you feel. Sometimes I think its because I put so much pressure on myself to do a good job every day, that I end up getting completely discrouaged from really enjoy it.
Sleep is good, but try not to sleep too much. I find that if I sleep for more than nine hours, I just feel drowsy the rest of the day.
Exercsing might help. I go for daily runs in the part--that usually helps me.
Sometimes you just have to ride it out.