💥The first artist super-power you need to improve as an artist
#1 How to simplify your shapes and process
Dear little demon,
Welcome to the edition #1 of the Art Missive! We are now 380😈 in this newsletter: thank you sm for reading ❤.
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In this Art Missive
What should you expect from the Art Missive Newsletter?
Intro : this ONE thing that is going to help you improve all parts of your artist life.
N°1: this ONE thing took my art to another level.
N°2: this ONE thing helps you get more followers.
N°3: this ONE thing gets you closer to your goals.
Summary: it’s your turn!
What should you expect from The Art Missive?
In this newsletter we are going to talk about everything you need to thrive as a social media artist:
improving your art,
grow an art community on social media,
manage an art biz… I’ll share the best of what I learn here with you.
What should you expect from the Missives?
Every Monday, I prepare you a shot of actionable tips that you will be able to implement yourself right away.
Every Monday, you read something exclusive, fascinating and useful from me.
Every Monday, you get my personal tools to help you reach your artist goals.
Sometimes it will be more personal, sometimes more educational, sometimes more motivational…
And sometimes you’ll get stories or templates or tutorials…
But there is one promise I make to you : each week, you will learn something new that will help you get the artist life you dream of.
So, meet me here every Monday!
And let’s get finally started 😈.
This ONE thing will help you improve all parts of your artist life.
A few months ago, I discovered this one thing that has changed my entire life as an artist.
You probably noticed it but for most of us, being an artist (professional or not) requires way more skills than expected: art improvement, content creation, social media management, entrepreneurship, productivity, marketing…
When I first started, I felt completely overwhelmed.
How was I supposed to get better in art if I have so many things to do on the side to get noticed?
But one secret sauce helped me get started the proper way.
And once I consistently applied this strategy, I was able to see drastic results in all parts of my artist journey.
Hopefully, this one strategy is ✅ easy to understand and ✅ easy to implement.
“What is it Léa? Stop teasing us!!”. Believe me or not, this game-changing strategy hold in one sentence:
Make it simple.
Simplicity is what you always should be aiming for as an artist, for 3 reasons:
more complicated solutions will always take longer to implement as well as to master;
with simple messages, your audience can easily relate to you and understand your art;
shaving off excess in your artist life helps you get closer to your true priorities and goals.
In this #1 edition of The Art Missive, I will share with you 3 ways I keep it simple as an artist to get better results.
N°1 : simplicity took my art to another level
No matter if you refer to portraits, landscapes, complex objects… There is a clear and simple solution to draw basically anything: simplify what you see.
You know… When I first started, each new art piece was causing me so much stress: “I know what I want to draw but how am I supposed to get to this?”. Procrastination, frustration and feeling lost were my daily art routine.
But now I understand the power of simplification:
✅ I feel confident when starting a new artwork;
✅ I am not caught up in the details;
✅ drawing what I want is more manageable;
✅ my art is more accurate and impactful.
Simplifying, my friend… is the super-power you need to get now
1. How to simplify
Yes, details are important… but no, they are not needed at the beginning of your process.
When you start a new drawing, keep in mind that any object/subject, no matter how complex, can be broken down into simpler shapes:
- 2D shapes like triangles, circles, squares, rectangles…
- 3D shapes like cones, spheres, cubes...
For example, here are the simple shapes I see when drawing lips :
Mastering these simple 2D and 3D shapes are really powerful as they will serve you as a guide to draw more complex shapes !
2) The process I use to simplify :
Step 1 : I deconstruct the subject into the most simple geometric 2D shapes.
Step 2 : I add 3D shapes to add volume.
Step 3 : Then I add the details, do the blending and finish up.
Putting extra effort into making “simplification” your second nature is going to help you take your art to another level: your drawings will be more manageable and the render will be more accurate.
But above all, you will feel confident enough to draw everything you want!
N°2 : simplicity will make you gain more followers
The past 11 months, I have gained over 65k followers on Instagram. They almost all come from my Reels.
Since February 2022, I have shared around 5 Reels a week. Every single week.
And if I should name only one lesson, I learned from making all these Reels; it would be this one:
Again, keep it simple.
As an artist, you have to do so many things at the same time: improve constantly, create art, make it shareable on social media, grow a community, run a business…
You can’t spend your entire day editing a Reel. But as you may know, the more you publish on social media, the greater your chances are to gain more followers and grow the community you dream of.
1) The pros of a simple content
✅ Simple contents are more manageable to produce.
✅ Simple contents are faster to make.
✅ Simple contents are easier to understand for your audience.
In other words, as an artist who wants to grow a powerful art community, simplicity is part of your emergency kit.
2) Concrete example
This is the most simple Reel I have ever made :
You can watch it here.
3,6 million views…
23 thousand saves…
Thousands of new followers…
And guess what ? It took me less than 15mn to edit and publish.
In other words, my most simple Reel is undoubtedly my most successful Reel.
1 trend, 2 pictures, a quick caption. Nothing more. Light, simple, effective.
And this is just one example among others:
- https://www.instagram.com/reel...
- https://www.instagram.com/reel..
- https://www.instagram.com/reel...
Tips to keep it simple with Reels :
👉 Find trends that are suitable for quick art reveals.
👉 Don’t overthink you editing and don’t be obsessed with transitions.
👉 Don’t wait until it’s perfect. It will never be. Post, repeat, improve!
Today, I am still editing more complicated Reels from time to time in order to improve my editing skills.
However, I keep it simple 80% of the time. Doing this will help you:
✅ Stay consistent
✅ Share more content
✅ have a sustainable and consistent growth on Instagram.
N°3 : Simplification gets you closer to your goals.
1) Complexity kills creativity
I learned it the hard way: complexity is the biggest villain in your business/project.
As an artist, complexity can take many forms:
- wanting to achieve many goals that are very different from each other,
- trying to master too many art techniques,
- planning to improve on many aspects of art,
- overcharge your calendar with a lot of tasks,
- starting many projects at the same time,
- saying yes to every opportunity regardless of your own goals…
If the way you manage your project is too complex, it will be almost impossible to reach your goals:
❌ Complex goals comes with a complex path to achieve.
❌ A complex organization leads to a slow and stressful decision-making process.
❌ Complexity is a stressful trap that is killing you creativity.
While artists tend to be attracted to complexity, building an art career on complex grounds can highly damage your chances of success, your motivation and your mental health.
2) Keep your project simple with a clear roadmap.
When it comes to managing a project, keeping it simple is not so easy! Here are some advice to help you reach simplicity:
👉 TIP 1 : take a dedicated time to create and update your guidelines. Planning is the most effective way I found to avoid taking complex paths.
👉 TIP 2 : settle 2 to 3 goals (maximum!) to achieve in a period of 1 to 3 months.
If you choose more than 3 goals, your ability to reach them will highly decrease. So take the time to understand what is your priority!
You can settle:
- result-centered goals like “gaining 5000 followers”; “make €2000 with my art” etc.
- or task-centered goals like “draw 30 mn everyday”, “make 3 art pieces a month” etc…
Make sure that your goals are crystal clear, simple and reachable.
👉 TIP 3 : identify the easiest way to achieve each one of your goal and write it down! You will be able to come back to it whenever you feel overwhelmed and lost.
👉 TIP 4 : Only focus on the few important goals you have chosen. Unimportant tasks should not be added to your daily life: keep it simple by focusing on few important goals to maximize your chance to achieve them.
👉 TIP 5 : Keep your day-to-day agenda simple: it means that you only plan 2 to 3 main tasks for your day. Spending your day on many micro-tasks is going to over-complicate your time management and prevent you from reaching important goals.
Summary:
“Keep it simple” is the new super-power you need to acquire:
Simplification in art is key to accurate and impactful artworks: every complex shape can be deconstructed into a simple shape
Opting for simple and effective Instagram content will save you time and make it easier to reach a new audience.
Work on simplifying your goals and your organization will drastically increase your ability to reach your goals and build a successful project.