It’s 11pm. I’ve just finished a written assignment, and I’m debating between going to bed and starting my finals project. A magazine cover illustration I’ve been putting off for the past 3 days.

I’m sore and slightly tipsy, but I shrug and tell myself I’ll transfer my file from iPad to PC. Just scale up the sketch to fit the final canvas size. Then I’ll call it a day.

It’s a familiar process. Airdrop. New Photoshop document. Copy paste. Transform. Scale to fit.

Problem solved, time for bed. But wait, the character looks a bit off. Shrinking the head should solve that.

Before I know it, it’s 1am. And I don’t want to stop.

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I’ve noticed this trend recently. I draw for most of the day, but feel like the work is shallow. I’m not super motivated, I get distracted by Twitter and Discord. I boomerang between tasks.

Then the day comes to a close. After eating and showering, I sit down to an hour of work that’s more productive than the rest of my day. More productive because I’m in the moment. It’s only me and my art.

In psychology, this is called flow. The times when you’re fully engaged in the work. So engaged, you’re not even worried about making the art good. You’re just making art decisions, snap snap snap! And often times, it’s good because there are no artist doubts that hold you back.

Of course, flow time isn’t limited to the evening. It might be in the morning. I know many people who wake up at 5 or 6am because they cherish the silence. It’s their time to get work done before the busy-ness of the day begins.

So, when do you flow? Feel free to share your experience in the comments, or by joining our Discord server for NSFW artists.

Cheers, Beats