Over the last few years, I have come to realize that the most creative times in life were also the times I was taking the best care of myself with diet and (especially) exercise. The times I really watched what I ate and exercised were times that my paintings were the strongest. I not only took more risks, but I also had a lot more focus and stamina to complete each painting. In comparison, the times that I have focused excessively on painting were also the times where my paintings suffered the most. They were either overdone or didn't quite reach the mark I hoped they would.
Exercise and movement not only help us feel better with endorphins. It also helps with dopamine release, better energy, stamina, and focus. After looking more into it, I found there was a lot of science to back up the idea that exercise helps creativity. The New York Times even wrote a great article directly on the subject. This is a great realization since not only can exercise help us to be more creative and productive in art, but also more fit and active in life. It's a win-win.
Unfortunately, artists can get labeled as being inactive, bad at sports, extensive drug and alcohol users, etc. Many of the idols we have in art (Van Gogh, Jackson Pollock) were known to have very self-destructive lives. These stories are romanticized but aren’t very accurate to the majority of artists. There were, and still are, many artists who included daily exercise into their routines (Joan Miro, Ernest Hemmingway, Picasso, Frank Stella, etc.). I’ll write another post soon about specific artists and their routines.
Part of the reason artists weren't always labeled as being active could have to do with the popularity of fitness in general. Exercise was not a popular activity until the 1970s. In fact, a lot of the health benefits weren't really known until last century as well. Even with that said, many artists included forms of exercise in their daily routines since they saw it as beneficial to their art.
This is not to say you have to be an athlete to be a good artist. Even if you can't exercise 10 hours a week, anything you can do to improve your health will in return help everything you do, including your art. I hope this helps.
