Scaling Down to go BIG

Planning a new watercolor project.

I’ve recently been exposed to the idea of relying on one’s process rather than the motivation of an end goal to achieve a body of work.

I read a book that focused on this idea recently, and then I stumbled upon an article detailing the idea of growth loops vs. goals.

The idea is you don’t set an end goal but instead set daily processes aimed at an overall outcome, not one specific goal. Each day doing these things will get you closer to your desired outcome, but focusing on the outcome only leads to let-downs and burnout.
I’ll link the article below because I found the article and the science behind it fascinating, and I’m not explaining it very well.

I’ve applied this to my painting process with the idea of creating thumbnails or mini maps to work from. Taking on a big painting can be intimidating and can cause a lot of waffling.
(A word I picked up from the Brits. It means procrastination and/or wasting time not achieving anything of substance).

Creating a few small thumbnails can help get my mind wrapped around the larger picture (literally) and can help provide a bit of a road map to what I’m aiming for in the grand scheme of the larger work.
I’ve used this technique in both my watercolor and encaustic work.

I started these extra-large paintings in February but lost my way with them, so I made the smaller thumbnail versions below to get my vision straight.

The Littles 3 5x7 inch paintings

The BIGS 3 2x3 foot paintings

As you can see, the larger pieces are not an exact replica of the small ones, the rocks took on a life of their own, but the small ones got me started and well on my way after not being happy with my progress.

I was so focused on the overwhelm of getting these three HUGE pieces done that I kept making missteps. Scaling the project down and taking the focus off the end goal helped me settle into the process of painting - a thing I very much know how to do!

Below, I’ve used the same idea with a new watercolor painting. I started drawing three cloudscapes to see which one I wanted to work with.

Here is a video sped up to 5x speed to see how I turned the pencil thumbnails into watercolor thumbnails.

The reference images

Upon reflection, I wish I had done three additional thumbnail sketches using more color. Thankfully there is still time!

Link to the article - The Paradox of Goals

Is there a way you have used your process to scale down a project into something more manageable? I’d love to hear about your experience.