Painting Mary Magdalene: The Ritual

Today’s drawing of Mary Magdalene in progress

I’m getting ready for a full week of painting Mary Magdalene. I started the day by meditating, and then I prepared my studio: cleared the big table, moved some objects to a different room, cleaned, reorganized as much as I could. It took all day. But it feels good to organize and make the space ready. It is always the first step to starting a project.

This is part of the ritual that gets me started. I clean and then I lay out the materials I will need. Making everything comfortable cancels out the excuses that the mind proposes. The idea is to create a series of actions that lead to the work. Once the work starts, then it’s usually easy to continue. And sometimes it’s very hard to stop.

By now there is something in my body that knows when it’s time to draw and write. With painting it’s much harder. Because it involves materials that are more difficult to use and clean up, there is much more resistance in me. Once I start, all the resistance leaves, and I just want to continue. But getting to the beginning of the process requires a little push.

It is important to discover the actions that lead to beginning a process in order to lead the body and mind where you want them to go. Sometimes, the process is easy, like placing your hands on the keyboard and letting your mind go. Sometimes it’s more difficult, like catching yourself cleaning your whole house when you meant to just prepare a room for work.

It’s best to just start and make the ritual simple. Start early, get centered, no excuses.