[Zwaeback]

This is related - When i was in college at CCAC (in S.F. & Oakland) a professor told me about a tv? ad that the art academy (in S.F.) would run. As I remember the comedian Father Guiduici? (has appeared on Leno, etc.) would stand there with a chart with a list of jobs comparing them. It goes something like this...

#1 - Lawyer - "Have to wake up at 6:00am...no good."

#2 - Policeman - "Have to wake up at 7:00am...still much too early."

#3 - Fireman - "Wakes up at 8:00am...not worth it."

...so he goes down the line of jobs til'...

#7 - Artist - "WAKES UP AT NOON...NOW THIS IS THE JOB FOR YOU!!".....well, the routine went something like that. This just reinterates the point that artists do tend to stay up later than most people.

Now, I now that it's in the minority, but i did have a professor that would start the work day at 5:00 am. that could either be really early or exceptionally late depending on how you look at it. He liked to have his work day done by the time most artists were waking up. Personally, I prefer to work 7:30am - 2:30pm & then again from 6pm to 11pm. The morning is my favorite...in the afternoon my eye lids tend to get heavy, so i need to find some errand to do.

Phil

[Torstein Nordstrand]

Ditto. I usually work from midnight and on until about 7 in the morning. This is a nice rythm, because when I awake at 12 it is light outside, and that makes it easier to come awake. So I'm saving time by sleeping less
By the way, science tells us that we are not adjusted to the day/night pattern of the earth - we don't fit in a 24 hour cycle! If I recall the hnumbers, we are usually attuned to 25-26 hour periods. Feel free to correct me on the specifics.
Dave McKean explained his "insomnia" thus: he would wake about noon, and pretend he didn't have to do anything constructive until about 8, and then he'd start working... till morning.
And a last note, this might be related to using drugs in art. Norway's most famous artists, e.g Ibsen et al, all hail from a time when you were supposed to drink yourself senseless on absinth...
I don't recommend it though.

[Novacaptain]

I felt like writing something...here's a little bit of narrative:

I usually feel a lot more excited about drawing when it gets late:

The feeling of being alone in a silent world and the chilly night air leaking in from the outside while some soft music drones on from the pc's loudspeaker (the winamp playlist will go on for hours and then repeat) is soothing. The music is hardly noticable, just something to keep me from hearing the cursed clock ticking away the time. The drawing starts out slow. As time passes, however, this changes radically after some time. My fingres begin loosening their grip around the pen and I hold it lightly in my hand it is almost as a 6th finger that shoots out between the thumb and index finger. I find myself trying hard to scribble out the drawings quicklier to get on with the next idea that wants to make its way out into a fixed form. It's like the ideas get into a line in my head and begin hassling me to get it moving faster.

In spite of this, I feel more relaxed and the pencil runs smoothly across the "paper" - as if possesed by a will of its own.

Hours pass. The first thing that breaks my concentrated state of meditation are telephones ringing in the distance, from some other apartment. The sound of cars whizzing by on the wet asphalt and the sudden burst of melodic chirping can only mean one thing: dawn.

I slide away the metal panel that covers the window and see the brightness of a new day...time to go to sleep.

I had been logged on to paintchat from 23:40 until 07:25 - i didn't really feel how tired I was (or how bloodshot my eyes were) until i thought of sleeping.

Woke up, around lunchtime, feeling like i had been hit by a train with many rock-filled vagons. The drawings sure looked pretty though


The end

[ January 28, 2002: Message edited by: Novacaptain ]

[Mindsiphon]

It's funny because I get something like 3-5 hours of sleep during the weekdays and I drag my ass all day during work. When I get home around 5 or 6 I am all of a sudden full of energy. I'll stay up until 2 or 3 and then the cycle repeats until the weekend comes and I'll make up for lost sleep.

I would say most of my artwork is done during these hours.

[ January 28, 2002: Message edited by: raist ]

[codic]

I read this on E2. Tried it for a week and it kind of made me crazy at the end so I had to stop.

28 hour day-an alternative to the solar-day-based sleep schedule. approx 19 hours waking, followed by 9 hours of sleep. a "week" is six of these 28 hour days. 6 days of 28 hours each matches exactly with a "normal" week of 7 24 hour cycles, so on a given day of the calendar week, you always have the same bed and wakeup times.
bedtime is 4 hours later every calendar day, sleep times rotate around the face of the 24 hour clock.

this schedule lets you take advantage of quiet and often more productive hours late at night, yet still interact with a largely diurnal outside world several days a week. it also gives you longer blocks of productive time for work or play or partying, while still getting plenty of sleep.

[Darkmoon]

hmmmm i knew there had to be something to that....

usually to me, there are more interesting people on IRC late at night to show my work to... i stay up talking usually then something triggers a thought and i start drawing at like 5-6 am then i cant sleep the next day cause im drawing cause im afraid if i stop ill loose the great picture in my mind... lots of coffee helps too...

also here, i had a group of drawing buddies where our drawing sessions would start at like 10-11 pm at an all night coffee shop and wed be there till 6=7 am when the breakfast crowd starting comming in, i think even once we stayed till lunch the next day... lots of great ideas came outta that...

-Lisa

[n8]

why...what an intersting thread...
but i think spooge has the right idea...
morning is for sleep...thats it...
nice stories everyone
i have a friend that stays up till the ridiculous times that i do...we stay up n chat away while im doing whatever piccy..i think shes hindering my efforts to make better images..lol...she doesnt draw or anything tho...shes just up??..

[RenaissanceGirl]

Dekard hit it right on - frequently I am working on something and before I know it, the sun is rising and I didn't sleep a wink.

Insomniacs aren't artists; artists are insomniacs.

[ January 29, 2002: Message edited by: RenaissanceGirl ]

[travis travis]

I think you can 'sink in' to the creative process, which is why any time you are alone and unhindered, the longer you stay that way the deeper you can go. For obvious reasons, night is an opportune time to carry out such a trip

[Futura]

I definately work better at night, or whenever I can get some peace...
Occasionally when working on a monster piece, I will stay awake as long as I possibly can. So far that has been one week. I postpone everything until I finish whatever I am working on, about the only time I am not working is when I am eating twinkies and peeps (mmm... pure sugar melting my insides) drinking coffee or other fluids, or taking a bathroom break. All in all, I draw most of the day, blinds down, and most of the night when I am on a run. I never know when I will have another run and how long it will last so everything, including nourishment and sleep come second to work...
On the contrary, when I sleep, I rarely remember my dreams, and occasionally wake up in the middle of a rem cycle. My mind is moving so fast that it feels like it takes ten minutes to open my eyes. Bliss. I work at my peak when I go through that, about once every two weeks or so.
Futura