TOD - what bad habits do you have while doing art?

I just finished up my paper fabric and fabric postcards that I am going to send to Kelli. I had one done but I had started 3. I hate to leave things undone. It does not mean that I don't sometimes abandon a project until a later date, I just don't like doing something half-way that needs to be completely done.

I am one of those people that cleans as she works. Most of the time anyway. I always clean-up as I cook. It is something they drilled into me at cooking school. I was sitting there at my sewing machine when I looked down at my pj pants. They were full of scattered pieces of thread. Yup, I looked down at the carpeting around my chair and there was a ton of little threads of various lengths and colors all around me. Of course, I picked most of them up. I figure that the vacuum will pick up the rest later. That is a bad habit of mine where I just snip off the ends of the thread and just swipe it onto the carpet.

I also leave out everything I need for a project until I am done. I warn my family not to touch it, step on it, or move it in any way. There is sometimes a particular order to my madness. I try to keep my stuff out of their field of vision but that is not always possible. I get pissy when someone moves my stuff even if only to admire it. Did you think it still might be wet? Ugghh!

Another bad habit I have while painting is that I have a tendency to use my fingers more than my brush. I sometimes leave the paint open until I am done with it. I might walk away to do some laundry, make some tea, or make the kids something to eat. Yes, I forget to cap the paint. I will come back later and the top of the paint will be nice and crusty. I am also guilty of not cleaning my brushes until I am done with a project. That is why I hardly ever buy expensive brushes. I will usually clean glue off of a brush right away but not gesso or acrylics. Gesso does nasty things to the brush bristles.

Sometimes, I will squirt out too much acrylic paint. I hate to waste it, so I will put the excess on a piece of scrap or something for a later project. Yeah, I have yet to use any of those. I have better luck when I paint on dyed muslin. I just have to remember where I put the muslin before the paint completely dries out.

When I am working on a paper project, I will absently set aside the smallest piece of scrap especially when it is something that I have created myself (background paper). I will pick up the entire heap of scraps and put it in my paper scrap bin. Well, when I am in cleaning mode, I will go through the bin and wonder why I kept such small pieces of scrap that is taking up space but will not be used unless I consciously do so.

How about you? I would love to hear what your bad habits are while doing art. Comment so I can have a good laugh, too.

Be well.