As winter approaches and the days grow shorter, Artsy asked seven contemporary artists how they keep their practices going through the colder months. The feature, published on 5 November, gathers studio habits from painters and sculptors working in New York and London.

Mark Dion, who works from a studio in upstate New York surrounded by forest, starts by collecting thoughts on long walks, watching how the seasons change the landscape and what nature is growing and offering. Ian Ha, based in New York, keeps it simple: find the right music and adopt a plant. For London painter Bex Massey, the cooler temperatures are a relief after summer heat, and a chance to bring paintings to resolution before the new year.

Rodolpho Parigi, who recently moved from São Paulo to New York, finds the darker, cooler months echo the chromatic world of his paintings, which he describes as cooler, more ambiguous and slightly metallic. Sculptor Magali Reus tidies and reorganises her Shoreditch studio at the end of each working day, a chore she dislikes but finds focusing, and tries to catch the fleeting sunshine before winter sets in.

Others treat the season as permission to slow down. Amba Sayal-Bennett, who works in Deptford, offers the bluntest advice of all: rest. Sophie Treppendahl, meanwhile, gets through long painting sessions with cheesy thriller audiobooks, and makes a point of leaving the studio behind when she leaves for the day. Between them, the seven artists cover studios from upstate New York and Manhattan to Shoreditch and Deptford, and their answers share a theme: winter rewards routine, small comforts and knowing when to stop.