Finding time for art while waiting

Making the most of fragmented time

Fragmented time, the little bits of time that I have in between activities or while waiting on something.  Time that doesn't seem useful for much else except reading, checking Facebook, praying or relaxing (not that these can't be noble uses of that time).  I used to dread these times, now they are like gold to me.  I am always telling my wife that I will volunteer to be the one to drive our daughter to a practice because I know it means about 40 min in the car to be with my daughter plus hour or two of uninterrupted time for art.  Sitting in a parking lot, or a nearby Barns & Nobles, it seems that I can get a lot done.

My setup:

Hardware:
 Microsoft Surface Pro

Software:
SketchBook Pro
Pixologic ZBrush 4R6

 This enables me to do digital art almost anywhere.  If I were a traditional artist I would simply use a sketchbook or drawing kit and take it with me wherever I went.

Unusual times to do art that really work:

• While waiting for my daughter at her ballet practices.
• After dropping off my children at their school at 7:50am I have about 30 min before I have to leave for work.  Not enough time to do much else as the traffic is horrible.  So I park by some pine trees, put on some music, and do art for about a half an hour before going on to work.
• Before going to sleep each night I do at least one 30 second sketch.  These can be extremely valuable when done with consistency.  Often I find that I can't stop after just 30 seconds, but it's OK if I do.  Sometimes I can't do it at night but then I do it in the morning.

I'll update this particular blog entry as I find more ideas for times and places to work on my art.