An Artist’s view on the ten stages of hacking the New Year Resolution in 2025

I adore January, not least because my birthday is this month, but also because it is a time when we naturally consider what went well and what went a bit off course last year and then readjust our sights accordingly, ready for when the light comes back.

I am a bookworm and lover of the handwritten word, so it is also a great time for new diaries and new art materials, including journals.

I’m writing this on January 6th, and the light has been coming back for 3 weeks already we’ve had a good amount of snowfall over the weekend in Herefordshire, and the most amazing assortment of snowmen populated the local park for precisely one day.

How do you hack the perfect Artist New Year’s Resolution?

I will walk you through my process, gained over many years of trial and error. The gist is to learn from last year and get creative with applying a new method for this year. In general, the process goes a little like this:

1. Don’t rush at it.

A truly great New Year’s Resolution requires time to evolve. I consider that the process should start quietly over the Christmas period, no writing or drawing is needed but if the bug gets you, then by all means, have a go at a first draft and know that you will not be holding yourself to anything written down during this time. There are so many obligations and distractions during this period of festivity that compete with a quiet reflection, so be kind to yourself and let this process not get in the way of being in the now and enjoying friendships and get-togethers.

2. Ease into your preparation

Over Christmas and New Year, try and get a few old projects concluded or at least neatly boxed and tidied away. You will know what is not gaining any of your interest no matter how much time the project is front and centre in your art space. Be kind to yourself again and if you still think you will one day get around to finishing it, put the project away considerately and properly labelled. You haven’t given up on anything, just acknowledging that now is not the right time.

For example, I have a 100-days-of-illustrations project that has been on hold for a few years. The illustrations were completed in 100 consecutive days but not in a way that prepared them for printing, as that wasn’t part of the plan. So, the reason that this project is still kicking around in my mental space and parts of it are being physically moved around from one surface to another is that I aim to get it all published in a book one day.

This Christmas period saw a big move forward on this project, and I have redrawn and coloured up the first seven sketches from the 100-day project. As the project developed over the 100 days, I quickly settled on a revised style and size for the illustrations that was bigger and bolder than the first few days. I will write a blog about this project in the coming months if you let me know that you would like to hear more about it.

3. Take your time

It’s not written anywhere that New Year resolutions need to be written and broadcast on New Year’s Eve.

And even if it is ‘chiselled in stone’ somewhere, it just does not work that way. Not for me anyway, and going by how quickly many resolutions are broken; I am not alone. So, wait until after the Christmas decorations have been stored away and the house is cleaned before you start in earnest. Just start your musings – record your thoughts.

It helps to have all the festivities and anything brought back from doing the Christmas craft fairs etc. all sorted and behind you when you look to the possibilities of the New Year.

Be creative about how you write or draw your thoughts, and be sure to include colour, scribbles and doodles.

On a technical note about my process, I have had great success in other years with using a large A3-sized page taped to a board. Water and paint can be used in liberal abandon without fear of the page buckling up too much as it dries. One year, I even used an AO-sized brown paper packing sheet and a selection of Winsor and Newton Promarker pens. It was great to roll the plan up and stow it away, and then bring it out again like a treasure map, spreading it out across the table-top and using little weights on each corner to keep the paper flat. I would adjust elements on each review and tick things off.

This year, I will be using a series of pages in a brand-new doodle book labelled 2025 and with nice thick off-white sheets that will be able to handle the water and paint elements of my New Year’s Resolution.

4. Release your imagination

Let the fun begin and release the imagination of your inner artist.

New Year resolutions must be fun and inspirational because you are intelligent and hard to please, and you are going to be carrying them out for a whole year. There must be a fun element to keep a creative’s attention for the span of that length of time.

Make the resolution big, impressive, and scary, but don’t try to reinvent the wheel. You can break the resolution down with a series of mini goals building up to the realisation of this year’s Resolution if that feels safer.

I wouldn’t overburden yourself with specific target dates, so keep it relaxed and joyful with lots of optimism and what-ifs in the air.

5. You already know what you want to do

Truth be told, you already know what you want to do, and all you need to do is to come clean with yourself that you just haven’t told anybody yet, including yourself. The biggest time waster during this phase would be to start poking around on all the social media sites to see what other people have written on the subject.

My big reveal for this year starts with the realisation that I want to enter some art competitions in 2025. This is not anything new, but what is new is that I am acknowledging it to myself and getting on with it this year. I already have watchlists and receive the invitations to competition listings.

What I need to know, to make this a resolution of substance, is why I want to do it and how I will know that I have achieved my goal. So that is the challenge for me over the next week or two before I declare my considered New Year Resolution.

6. It’s all about you.

You can’t write a resolution that is focused on someone else, or you interpretation of other people’s feelings and needs. Mainly because you don’t know what they are, even if you were a mind reader, you would get it wrong. Best to focus on yourself as that is challenging enough.

7. Not all art-related resolutions are about making art.

Some are about where you make your art, how you make your art, or how you communicate about your art. Whatever you write down, bear in mind that an artist who is not making any art is not an artist. So, a catalyst for the making of art should be at the heart of the New Year’s resolution.

8. Create an Artist Manifesto

An artist manifesto is a brilliant tool that puts flesh to your resolution and your reasons to persist. It should be very upbeat and authoritatively written in the first person. I like this element of the resolution because you are declaringthat you are joining the revolution that will change your world for the better!

If you have not written a manifesto before, look up a few examples to get in the mood. Here’s a link to an enjoyable read on 10 famous artist manifestos 10 game-changing art manifestos | Royal Academy of Arts.

If you have written a manifesto in the past, get it out and read it again. It is golden because it meant something to you at the time and your challenge is to check you still believe in it and to rewrite any elements of it if necessary to record your changing perspective on life.

Check that your resolution is in harmony with your manifesto. The aim of the manifesto is to write about and illustrate a world you want to live in. It should go a step or two further than a vision board. More about vision boards in my next blog…

9. Share your Resolution

A resolution shared is a resolution that has just gone to the next level and has gained impact in your life. A declaration of your resolution to others gives it value and gravity in your world.

If you don’t want to declare it to the human world, then some thought needs to go into the why of the situation. It may be that you need to work on the wording a bit more or to give it a longer-term goal.

It could be because you are nervous, so you could decide on your audience to be only those that you know will support you.

Equally, you could simply go out in nature and declare it to the trees, the stars or to the wide-open spaces. Build in some fun and take a picnic, bake a cake and make a ceremony of your declaration. Seal the deal by practising a first step while you finish off the picnic.

10. The last word

And the last word in creating resolutions is if you do not manage to keep your resolution, be happy with the thought that you have not lost anything. The work that you have put into creating the resolution has had an impact and will influence your future decisions and future life.

I have made resolutions that just haven’t worked as I expected, so I have dropped them within a few months. The trick is to redesign the resolution into something that will work for you.

One such resolution was to sketch whilst on walks, but I have a very enthusiastic young Labrador who doesn’t appreciate sitting around waiting for me to finish even a five-minute sketch. So, I’m postponing that resolution for a couple of years until she has matured to the point that she will sit and wait.  I have replaced it with a sketch a day in my journal first thing in the morning. That is manageable and saves me from mindless doom-scrolling with my first cup of tea of the day in hand. It is a much better use of my early morning enthusiasm for life.

And there you have it, 10 steps to hacking the perfect New Year’s Resolution with an artist’s twist.

Art Journalling

Some thoughts on my preferred journal, just in case you’re interested. It is currently an A5 hard-back sketch book filled with 160 gsm heavy-weight pages that will take watercolour. I can sketch on both sides of the paper without the sketches bleeding through to the other side of the paper. I like an elastic band to keep the book closed and protect the pages while I travel. Also, a ribbon page marker or two attached to the spine helps me keep my place.

In choosing my latest book, I’ve compromised on some aspects because the paper is excellent so I’ve attached a ribbon with glue to the spine and used a separate large rubber band which had been handily left by the postman. The paper is so good that I can compromise with the other elements. It’s not expensive, it’s a Seawhite black cloth cover sketchbook. I love using an ink pen, and the ink easily glides over the paper and doesn’t bleed. Using an ink pen on this paper is an excellent and very pleasing experience. My sketches take on a whole new level of professionalism when I have a happy pen.

I hope you enjoyed this read, and if so, it would be lovely if you could comment on my post and let me know if it helps you with creating your New Year’s Resolutions. Visit my website for more information about me and my artwork.

I live in rural Hereford, UK, close to the Welsh borders, and have a studio at the Apple Store Gallery in Hereford. You are very welcome to visit during opening times and see my latest work in progress.