👿 I answer 7 of your questions
#15 March QaA
Dear little demon,
Welcome to the edition #15 of the Art Missive! We are now 2, 836😈 in this newsletter: thank you sm for reading ❤. The Demon Family says “welcome” to all precious newcomers.
If you haven't already, you can also:
Read all the previous Art Missives
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In this Art Missive
1. Newsletter Updates!
2. I answer 7 of your questions.
Updates!
Remember that on next Monday, we start the 1 week-long course about Instagram growth for artists.
1 week of tips and thoughts about growing an Instagram account as an artist;
1 day = 1 mail = 1 tip or 1 lesson I learned from building my art community of demons;
Show up every day! It is important because I’ll announce a brand new project that some of you will be able to attend but it’s only accessible during next week. It’s because I only want the most motivated demons.
As you already know, I’ll automatically send the 1 week-long course about Instagram Growth for artists to each one of you. But not all artists are interested in growing on social media. So if you DON’T want to receive these emails 👉 respond to this email with the word “OPT-OUT”.
I answer 7 of your questions - february QaA
1. How did you find your art style ?
Well, I already talked about this challenge in edition #8 of the Art Missive where I go deeper about how I would recommend finding your own style.
But I still get this question a lot so here is a summary of my position on this topic :
Paradoxically, I started to build a consistent art style once I started to learn art fundamentals : perspective, anatomy, values…
I think that today, we are so obsessed with finding our own style, that we tend to forget that fundamentals and accuracy are very important in art.
Trying to find your art style before mastering fundamentals of arts and realism is like trying to summarize an article without having read the article itself.
That is why, according to me, if you want to build a consistent art style, you have to get a good understanding of the reality of your subject in order to re-design it and represent it your own way.
So my tips would be to 1) study realism 2) study artists you love 3) acknowledging that finding your style is a long process.
2. What to do if I don’t have the time to draw?
The past few weeks, I found myself in this position : with my move and many projects to handle, I had little time to draw.
But I still managed to create 4 drawings in 4 weeks.
👉 TIP 1 : choose half-a-day of your busy week to focus on drawing. This could be an evening or a sunday morning. A time you know you’re not going to be disturbed.
👉 TIP 2 : prepare your “half-a-day drawing” ahead. In other words, prepare your references, moddboards, and drafts in advance. These are tasks you can do without being too focused : for example, I am used to searching for references when I’m in the bathrooms (sorry for that but I had to be honest), in the public transport, while I’m eating… It helps me optimize my day and make sure I’ll be able to focus on drawing during my dedicated half-day.
👉 TIP 3 : sacrifice something less important. We all have time-consuming activities that are not so important to our development. I suggest identifying these and replacing them by an art session. Instead of spending 30 minutes scrolling on Tiktok, draw. Instead of binge watching your series, draw. Instead of being lost in shady youtube videos… just draw!
👉 TIP 4 : If you don’t have a half-day, even 5 minutes if great!
3. How do you manage your time ?
Now that you know me a little more, you probably noticed that I am a real control freak. I love making plans, optimizing my schedule and all that weird stuff.
Well, that’s cool because as artists, we often have 4 lives to run : job/studies, family, art and sometimes social media…
If I had to share with you the ONE thing that helps me do so many things in my life it’s this one : planning.
Plan, plan, plan. I know at the beginning it does not feel so useful to do it. But once you do it seriously, you’ll see that you are able to achieve everything you want.
Here are the good habits I keep every day :
👉 HABIT 1 : Make 90 days plans to prioritize my goals and have a clear view of what I have to achieve. 3 months must be far from you, but doing a 90 day plan is really efficient to stay productive and achieve your goals. I already made an Art Missive about it but I could send it to you again if many of you are interested in making a 90 plan.
👉 HABIT 2 : Every Sunday I take few hours to plan the week ahead : I usually do my weekly to-do-list, my Instagram posting schedule and I fill up my weekly google calendar with all the tasks I have to do.
👉 HABIT 3 : I start my day with demanding tasks and leave the afternoon for creative tasks. It’s because, personally, I am more focused in the morning. So I would suggest you try to understand when you are the most focus and plan your day accordingly.
👉 HABIT 4 : I try to remove all the activities that makes me lose my time and replace it by things that makes me feel better. For example, I used to spend hours on Instagram before sleeping, now I use this time for doodling or for working.
👉 HABIT 5 : I try to repeat the same schedule every week to avoid losing time : for example, every Monday I know that I’ll write the Art Missive. And every Sunday, I know that I’ll mainly draw.
4. How long does it usually take you to finish a piece?
I get this question a lot!
It feels a bit awkward to answer because every artist have their own process and own rhythm. But I get why you can be interested in this.
👉 Studies : they usually take me 1 to 2 hours (from finding to reference to finishing the drawing).
Example of a 1h study :
👉 Unplanned drawings : sometimes, I feel very inspired and I draw from imagination. This kind of drawing takes me about 2 to 3 hours.
Example of 3 hours unplanned drawing :
👉 Planned drawings : sometimes, a drawing can take me more several hours of reference searching. And then, I usually take about 3 to 5 hours to draw it.
Example of a planned drawing :
👉 Digital drawings : I’m currently learning digital art so this kind of paintings takes me way longer. A finished piece often takes 8 to 20 hours to draw.
Example of one of my digital painting :
👉 Colored traditional drawings : I kind of stopped using watercolors and markers but when I used to do it, a piece like this would take me about 2 hours to draw and 1 hour to color it. Watercolor usually takes way longer because you have to wait for the layers to dry.
Example of a colored drawing :
Well, that’s a very important question.
I’ll say that the first thing to do is to acknowledge that it happens to every artist.
Probably because when we craft our art, we are so vulnerable and true to ourselves that we tend to get more sensitive about it.
What I would do when I’m completely demotivated :
First, I would try to understand why I am so demotivated :
Did I practice too much ?
Am I tired of always drawing the same thing ?
Do I feel blocked by self-doubt and imposter syndrome ?
Did I just get bored ?
Then, I rest. Because resting is very cool. And we all need to stop at some point.
And then… once I’m well rested, I would remember why I felt demotivated and try something new!
Also I would make sure to start again with something small, funny and easy to make. Like a cute little fanart, or drawing objects of my daily life…
6. How do you go about handling commissions?
There are three important things when you take a commission :
1️⃣ Make sure the client pays you ;
2️⃣ Make sure to be able to craft the art they want to ;
3️⃣ Make sure to be professional and reassuring for your client.
So here are what I like to do on commissions to reach these goals :
(just wanted to precise that here, I focus on B2C commissions, which means commissions that have been requested by people, not companies)
👉 I ask many questions to my client. Don’t be scared to ask questions about what they want and why they want it! Getting very interested in their needs is the best way to win their heart with your art and also to make them feel understood. You really want to make sure you have all the information you need before starting.
👉 Be clear on what you agree to do and what you don’t want to do. Clarifying your boundaries is making sure your client understands what they can expect from you. It is required to make your service meet their needs.
👉 I tell them the price soon enough and I ask for a 1st payment before starting the project. Being professional is being comfortable talking about money.
👉 I give frequent updates ! It is very important for several reasons : 1) you make sure that your craft goes in the right direction. It’s always easier to make adjustments at the beginning of your process 2) it is reassuring for the client as they know that their commission is being well handled.
👉 From the beginning, I inform the client that they have a limited number of modifications and that they will have to pay extra fees if they exceed it. This will encourage the client to be sure of what they want : there is nothing less annoying than an undecided client. Don’t worry, this will make you look way more professional as you show that you are in control of your process.
👉 I make sure to deliver a great client experience : for example, I answer my clients questions as fast as I can, I add some little gifts like stickers/a handwritten note in the shipped product, or I add an extra little doodle. This makes them feel special. It also helps to build a strong relationship with your best supporters and they’ll love keeping on following your journey and asking for more projects.
7. Have you ever just wanted to give up on being an artist and growing your community? If yes, how did you get over it?
HELL YES.
Every day I want to give up!
Each time this is getting harder or more exhausting, I have this little voice in my head telling myself “why are you even doing this ? Nobody cares about your damn drawings ! and your boring advice! If you stop, people will just move on!”.
It’s harsh right ? But this is the truth.
I’m not gonna lie to you telling you that my life is just so perfect, that I spend my day drawing and that I’m so talented that I never get depressed.
I’m not this perfect artist with pretty nails (why do all the female artists on Instagram have pretty nails?) with the perfect house, the perfect studio and the perfect artist life.
I fail, I learn, I bite my nails and often… I want to give up on this dream.
But you know what keeps me going ?
Your messages.
Your precious feedback.
Your support.
Your presence.
You telling me that you liked my content.
Of course, It’s really personal to me. But if you are facing demotivation, I can share with you other things that help me keep going :
👉 Seeing my old drawings. They are so ugly that they make me feel proud of myself!
👉 Writing down my dream life. Because in a perfect world, I would definitely be an artist (and an astronaut, and a ninja with superpowers, and also a cat…). That is why, when I feel demotivated, I write about what my artist life must absolutely look like in 5 years. You should try it, it’s really empowering.
👉 Set concrete achievable goals. The human brain needs rewards to stay motivated. That's why we often start being demotivated when we haven’t achieved a goal for a long time. This might be due to the fact that you set up goals that are too broad or not achievable. When you feel down about your art journey, take a piece of paper and set up 3 concrete achievable goals. These can be goals that you can achieve within 10 minutes, or within 1 month. It’s up to you! This will help you get back on track and give your brain what it needs to stay motivated !