💪 secrets to stay motivated as an artist
#19 Keep creating even when you want to give up
Dear little demon,
Welcome to the edition #19 of the Art Missive! We are now 2, 985😈 in this newsletter: thank you sm for reading ❤. The Demon Family says “welcome” to all precious newcomers.
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In this Art Missive
1. Stay motivated to craft your art
2. Goal setting
3. Inspiration
4. Daily practice
5. Learning new things
6. My ultimate secret
7. Summary
Stay motivated to make art
Every week, I host QaA in my stories.
Every week, one question keeps showing up.
This question, you probably mean to ask it yourself.
“How to stay motivated to craft your art and keep on improving?”
At this time of the year, it is very hard for artists to stay motivated: we are far from New Year’s resolutions… Students have exams… Workers have deadlines… Sunny days are coming… The last thing we want is to spend the day cooped up in our office, pulling our hair out over a misplaced brush stroke.
What makes it even harder for us is that art is often not taken seriously. Our relatives don’t really understand our challenges. Being an artist feels lonely. And we have to deal with our insecurities and doubts on our own.
No wonder I see more and more questions related to motivation in my DMs.
So, edition #19 of the Art Missive is going to give you a boost of motivation: we talk about the habits that keep me motivated and productive as an artist.
1. Goal setting
As you guys are getting to know me, you're becoming aware of my interest in discussing growth mindset and entrepreneurial habits. Therefore, it shouldn't come as a surprise that I believe effective goal setting is essential for achieving the artist's life you dream of.
In his book “I can’t accept not trying”, Michael Jordan explains the importance of goal setting as a requirement to achieve your dreams. One should always aim for the highest possible outcomes and break them down into short-term achievable goals.
As an artist, applying this method helps me to stay motivated all year long:
👉 I have an ambitious dream that drives my actions.
👉 I break this dream into achievable goals and baby steps in order to make it achievable.
The art journey is something initially quite hard to measure, which often leads to a lot of discouragement. If you only focus on the big picture, you’ll never be able to check if you’re doing it right and you’ll end up feeling lost. Breaking down big goals into baby steps helps celebrate small victories and make sure you are on the right track.
⚠️ Do it yourself:
Answer to the question “in a perfect world, what would I achieve with my art?”
Break this outcome into achievable goal
Break these goals into baby steps.
2. Inspiration
Have you ever felt so disconnected from art that you don’t see any purpose in continuing to craft it? It has happened to me so many times in my life.
Sometimes, you take so much distance from art that you can't get back into it. You don’t craft for days… And days become weeks… Weeks become months. And before you realize it, you just gave up on your passion.
The worst part is that the longer you’re gone, the harder it is to start making art again.
To prevent this from hapenning I found a trick that proved to be quite efficient:
I constantly surround myself with art.
Print all over my walls, art goodies on my keys, sketch pads in my bag, some tattoos on my skin (just kidding for this last one)... Seriously, I organized my life to be surrounded by a variety of inspirations, at any time.
This simple twist is actually a game-changer:
👉 It keeps my brain on “creative mode” even when I don’t craft
👉 It makes fills me with other artist’s crafts and pushes me to experiment and go out of my comfort zone
👉 It reminds me that I actually love making art
Art makes me happy, and I shouldn't let the ups and downs of life keep me away from it.
⚠️ Do it yourself:
Pin pictures or prints that inspire you on your walls. This would be other artists’ art or something else like pictures of nature, movie scenes… Everything that makes you feel like “oh I want to create”.
Put a pen/pencil + a sketchbook/or just paper in your bag, so you always have it handy.
3. Daily practice
If you struggle with consistency and motivation, there is one habit that you can implement right now. This habit will not only keep your determination level up but it will also make you progress in your craft:
Draw every single day.
I can’t say it enough: drawing every day is THE game-changing habit for visual artists.
👉 It helps you overcome creative blocks: drawing every day provides a constant flow of ideas and inspiration. Even if an artist doesn't feel inspired initially, simply starting to draw can often lead to new ideas and creative breakthroughs.
👉 Practice makes perfect: The more an artist practices, the better they become. Drawing every day allows artists to refine their skills, experiment with new techniques, and develop their own style.
👉 It makes you notice results faster: with each drawing, artists learn something new and build upon their existing knowledge, which can be incredibly motivating.
⚠️ Do it yourself:
This week, commit to draw every single day, even if it is for 5 minutes. Saving a spot for this daily drawing practice will make it easier for you to stick to it.
4. Learning new things
To avoid becoming demotivated in your artistic pursuits, it's important to keep pushing forward. Nothing can be more discouraging than repeatedly putting in effort without seeing any progress.
To combat this, one effective habit is to dedicate yourself to learning at least one new thing about art every day.
This can be as simple as reading a short article or watching a tutorial video, but the key is to make a consistent effort to expand your knowledge and skills.
Ideas to learn something new everyday:
👉 Read my Art Missive on Mondays ;)
👉 Watch and educational Reel from an Artist you love
👉 Watch a Youtube video about art, making art or being an artist
👉 Read a page of an art book
👉 Go on Chat GPT and ask a question about art (it’s free and very funny)
👉 Do a little research about one master piece or one famous artist.
👉 Go for a non art-related content that will still make you improve your craft: contents about mindset, productivity, project management, success…
⚠️ Do it yourself:
This week, commit to learning one new thing every day.
5. My ultimate secret: visualisation
Sure, here's a possible rephrased version that elaborates on the original text and makes it more engaging:
Finally, the most important habit I've developed to stay motivated is visualization.
Now, before you run away thinking that I will force you to meditate or do all kinds of hard things, let me explain what I mean.
Visualization, for me, is simply taking a few minutes to concentrate on remembering why I do art in the first place.
Let's be real, being an artist is tough. You need to be creative, skilled, unique, and captivating all at the same time. There are days when I feel like giving up, but what keeps me going is picturing the life of an artist I could have if I don't give up.
I imagine myself working on big art projects, creating something that truly resonates with others while spending my days in my cozy studio surrounded by plants, cats, mangas and food.
These thoughts may seem trivial, but they have a profound effect on my motivation and drive. By reminding myself of why I started this journey in the first place, I'm able to push through the tough times and keep moving forward towards my artistic goals.
👉 That is why, every morning, before getting out of the bed I take 5 minutes to close my eyes (well, sometimes I fight not to fall asleep again but…) and then, I imagine living my ideal life as an artist.
⚠️ Do it yourself:
Take a piece of sheet and answer this question: in a perfect world, what would be your ideal outcome as an artist? Go as detailed as possible.
Every day, take 5 minutes to read it again and imagine living it in your head. This could be in the morning, at lunch break, in the bus, in the toilet, before going to bed… You have no excuses!
Summary
1. Set up achievable goals and celebrate small victories
2. Surround yourself with inspirations of all sorts to keep your brain in “creative mode”
3. Make art every day
4. Learn something new about art every day
5. Visualise your ideal artist life