Show Notes:
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For today's episode, we compiled the best motivating advice from past episodes for artists who are struggling with artist's block or need a little bit of inspiration. Starting out in the path of the artist can be challenging. You might be asking yourself things like, "What should I paint? Where should I begin? What is important?" Hopefully, this episode can shed some light on some of those questions and help set you on the path of self-discovery and self-fulfillment with your artistic practice. Like I mentioned on the previous compilation episode, these aren't the only tips we've discussed on the show, but they're some of the most inspiring ones so far! All of the artists mentioned in the episode are all linked in the show notes as well as their respective episodes so you may go listen to them if you'd like. And now, let's listen to top 10 motivational tips for artists!
Shana Levenson:
episode 23
https://www.shanalevenson.com/
Diego Glazer:
episode 33
https://www.diegoglazerart.com/
Ryan S. Brown:
episode 19
https://ryansbrown.com/
Kyle Ma:
episode 41
https://www.kylemafineart.com/
Jason Polins
episode 32
https://www.jaspolinsartwork.com/
Eric Armusik
episode 47
https://www.ericarmusik.com/
Hillary Scott
episode 46
https://www.hillaryscottfineart.com/
Mike Adams
episode 27
http://www.mikeadams.art
Mathieu Nozieres
episode 48
https://www.mathieunozieres.com/
Andrew Tischler
episode 45
https://tischler.nz/
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Transcript:
Shana Levenson: 0:00
First of all, I'd recommend them kind of just sit back and think about what kind of art they want to create. What kind of story? Do they want to tell? What legacy do they want to leave behind with their artwork?
Ryan S. Brown: 0:09
That's I don't know. That's the advice I give younger artists is just know your own mind and be true to that. And then be okay with the choices you make as a result of trying to make that keep that as a priority.
Eric Armusik: 0:22
I guess my advice would be to not feel like you have to have it all figured out. Just always think ahead to what's one step ahead that I can do what makes the most sense at this moment.
Jason Polins: 0:41
And if you stick to something and you find it interesting, the will to improve is just about putting in time and effort. It has nothing to do with God given talent which doesn't exist. It has all to do with you. The individual art is just like everything else. It's man made idea of expression.
Laura Arango Baier: 1:00
Welcome to the BoldBrush show, where we believe that fortune favors the bold brush. My name is Arango, Baier. And I'm your host. For those of you who are new to the podcast, we are a podcast that covers art marketing techniques, and all sorts of business tips specifically to help artists learn to better sell their work. We interview artists at all stages of their careers as well as others who are in careers tied to the art world in order to hear their advice and insights. For today's episode, we compiled the best motivating advice from past episodes for artists who are struggling with artists block or need a little bit of inspiration. Starting out in the path of the artists can be challenging. You might be asking yourself things like what should I paint? Where should I begin? What's important? Hopefully, this episode can shed some light on some of those questions and help set you on the path of self discovery and self fulfillment within your artistic practice. Like I mentioned on the previous compilation episode, these aren't the only tips we've discussed on the show. But there's some of the most inspiring one. So far. All of the artists mentioned in the episode are linked in the show notes as well as their respective episodes. So you may go listen to them if you'd like. And now let's listen to the top 10 motivational tips for artists. We're starting off with some amazing tips from Shane Levinson about how to overcome artists block. First
Shana Levenson: 2:17
of all, I'd recommend them kind of just sit back and think about what kind of art they want to create. What kind of story do they want to tell what legacy do they want to leave behind with their artwork. And from there, they can kind of pinpoint what direction they want to go, whether they're painting still lifes and they like beautiful objects, you know, whatever makes, honestly what we do is kind of a selfish thing. Being an artist, we sit and we paint. And some people paint things that make them feel good. Some people paint things to make for social justice. And so it just depends on what you what statement you want to make within your work. And from there just writing down ideas and coming up with kind of a series and the thought process of how you can continue that story within each piece. So yeah, just writing things down and maybe sketching just like doodles, even if they're gnarly, they may not be they don't have to be good sketches, just maybe to kind of play around with composition, or whatever the case may be. And then photograph reference as much as possible just so you can kind of have things to look at and play with those ideas in your head because I work a lot from photo reference, especially because I'm painting myself a lot. Or if I'm painting mylar balloons, I will photograph those and then play with that in Photoshop. But yeah, so just making sure you're like constantly figuring out what story you want to tell and writing those ideas down.
Laura Arango Baier: 3:39
Here's what Diego Glazer recommends when it comes to motivation.
Diego Glazer: 3:43
Painting is both my work and my escape. So I'm kind of trapped, I don't have much of a choice. motivation isn't even a factor. It's just what I do. You know, like, I get up, I go to the easel and that's it. There's no thinking there's no, there's no nothing. It's just the natural order of things, you know. But I suppose there is. The thing that keeps me going the most is the excitement that every day, there's palpable improvement, you know, there'll be a couple of days where I kind of suck, but for the most part, there's going to be palpable improvement, every single session that I paint. And if it goes well, at the end of this session, I'm going to be very, very satisfied. And I'm going to go to bed and sleep like a baby. So that's kind of what keeps me going like, what am I going to paint next? Like, yes, today I get to paint the face. Awesome. Tomorrow, I get to paint the tree or whatever, you know, it's all very exciting.
Laura Arango Baier: 4:43
It is yeah, I like that perspective, because it's very much like fresh eyes, you know, almost like childlike wonder, you know, the something new and exploring it and getting to know it intimately,
Diego Glazer: 4:57
you know exactly. That's what it's all about for me.
Laura Arango Baier: 5:02
I can tell. I mean, sometimes I don't know if I use sometimes when I go to the easel and I'm in like a really boring part of the painting, oh, boy, it takes a while for me to want to actually complete it. You know, kind of like when you do the background or like, or things just don't feel like they're moving forward. And in a piece, it just can be. So be a bummer.
Diego Glazer: 5:28
Yeah, been there too. You know, what helps me in those situations is like if there's a podcast, or an interview, or something like that, that I really want to watch. And it seems like a juicy thing to listen to. I'll save it, for the boring part of the painting. So that way, I'll be a little bit more when I'm painting, but my mind is going to be entertained.
Laura Arango Baier: 5:49
Ryan s Brown tells us about the importance of finding your why and keeping your priorities straight.
Ryan S. Brown: 5:55
And as long as he it sincerely, and, you know, purposefully, I mean, you can't predict everything. So you just like I tell students, you have to very early on, try to really set your priorities and understand what it is that you absolutely need to do. You know, some people, maybe they don't have a whole lot of experience. And so they say, I want to be as good as I can be, okay, well, that's a priority, you might have to then dedicate three to five years in the academy. If your life doesn't suit that, then you have to figure out how to finesse your life so that it will, if that's your absolute goal, if that is your priority, then everything else has to sort of subordinate to that, and you figure it out. And then you know, when you're a professional, it's the same thing, if you if you're motivated by like my motivation, I don't even know how to describe it, I'll try but I, at the risk of sounding pretentious. My motivation is I, I want to feel like the work I'm creating fits in with the tradition that I admire most that that, you know, if I, if I'm doing the paintings, if whatever paintings I make, if they hung next to my heroes, that it would feel equally as purposeful. And it would feel like it fit you know, I want to be a brick in the in the lengthy tradition of this bridge from generation to generation. I don't want to be a bystander to it, I want to feel like I'm a part of it. And so when I go through the museum's I, what I'm really looking at, I feel like is very purposeful decision making on the canvas, very purposeful decision making, when it comes to subject matter what they were painting, obviously, the craft is at the highest level. But it's, it's why they painted the pictures they painted. And in the message that that offers viewers, that's that, you know, what I hope to achieve. So what that means is, is that, that priority changes how I spend my day, you know, I can't turn into like a content creator, although like I do a podcast and like I'm trying to film a TV series. But that's just because I love talking to artists, that's part of like, my greatest joy of being an artist is talking to other artists and seeing their studios and hanging out with them and getting to know them. So. So that's a pure motivation for me, but, you know, making a bunch of Tiktok content or Instagram stuff, or like it has a level of importance, because we have to show our work, we want to show our work. But it's lower, it's much, much lower on my priority list than being in front of the easel. So, you know, when you set your priorities, and you know why you're doing something and doing it on purpose, then, you know, maybe if you don't get as much attention or your sales aren't as great as other artists, you did it on purpose, it was your choice, right? You you chose to put more time here than in marketing or whatever. So I think if you if you do that you can at least feel comforted that whatever comes is is is on purpose. You did you made that choice. That's I don't know that's the advice I give younger artists is just know your own mind and be true to that and then be okay with the choices you make as a result of trying to make that keep that as a priority.
Laura Arango Baier: 9:43
Kyle Ma reminds us to focus on the present and to find your next step.
Eric Armusik: 9:47
I also think it's important to be practical, because I think the the challenge that I find for most people who are trying to when they get out of school, and then do art full time is finding the time to get really good at painting, while supporting yourself. And I had a pretty early start, I started learning, drawing and painting seriously when I was 10. So I know while I had middle school and in high school college to take care of what I didn't have to worry about was figuring out how to pay the bills. So I think, also, when you're early on, in your artistic development, if you try and monetize it too early, I think it can really hurt your development as a painter. So you know, I'm not against this idea of finding and finding some kind of other job until you're able to support yourself with painting, as well, as long as you're smart about managing your time. So if we had, say, I were working a full time job right now, then, and then trying to also establish my art career, then I really have to be mindful of how much time and they will am able to spend on any part of my life. So probably evenings and weekends, then I have to figure out a healthy balance between getting the work done, and then getting working on my art career while also spending time with family and friends, and then also getting adequate rest. So I guess my advice would be to not feel like you have to have it all figured out. Just always think ahead to what's one step ahead, that I can do what makes the most sense at this moment. And gradually, with, you're beginning to see after you take this next step, and then you'll see the next step and the next step forward. And eventually, you're you're more likely to start transitioning into making a living as a full time artist, rather than just thinking, Okay, now, I'm out of high school, or no, I'm out of college, I better figure everything out right now.
Laura Arango Baier: 13:12
Eric Armusik reassures us that it's important to have faith in yourself that you can pull through no matter the obstacle, you know,
Eric Armusik: 13:19
we all have habits that can bring negative things in our lives, you know, we can do a certain thing every day, or even just the negative approach to life. You know, we just engage every day with our life telling us a story about how, oh, I can't make it. I didn't come from an artistic family, I didn't, I didn't go to a great school, I don't have any money. Basically, all those things are describing my life. That's where I came from, didn't come from an artistic family didn't go to, you know, an art great art school got rejected from an art school, that probably would have gotten me maybe a little farther. And it's funny, I've gotten two students into that school since then that have studied with me. So it's kind of funny to get a little bit of payback. But all of those things like all those negative things in my life, could have created that person that said, I'm incapable of doing it. And really, so many people are engaged in that. First and foremost is that you have to change your belief system to believe it's at least possible, like not not know that how it's going to happen or where it's going to happen. But from that, that early part to just say, Okay, I'm willing to believe I can do it. And from there, you'll you'll take steps we will take steps in a different energy. You know, you'll want to take daily habitual kind of moves to advance it further. So, maybe it's you start another social media account and you start doing posts once a day. Maybe it's, you started trying to build up your newsletter list. A couple people a day you choir was some people that had been talking with you on social media and they want to bring them on to turn them from acquaintances to maybe potential or someday, you know, it made successful. I if I sit around, I mean, 30 years into this business, I could sit around and still wait for someone to acknowledge me. I've plenty even organizations within the realism world that David crown me was anything that's given me some some Wow, I'm so successful now, because of you I made myself successful. I waited for many years for galleries to pick me up, I was rejected by every single one of them and multiple times. And a lot of them said, I like your work, but it's just not our thing, you know. And I sat and waited and waited and waited. At some point, you really need to just take that responsibility, you need to believe that. And in this world, there's many opportunities to the internet, social media came around 1015 years ago, that was another opportunity. And if you're smart, you'll look at where trends are going and try to catch the next train because there'll be more and more opportunities going in the future as well. You know, for me, I would say about seven years ago, I started reading a lot about how important video was. And I determined I said to myself, I'm not comfortable in front of the camera, I don't really care for any of that kind of stuff. But I need to do it. And I needed to get comfortable after a while and start to be when it was learning to talk with people learn to speak with customers, whatever it was all those things I didn't want to do that they were I was telling myself, I'm not a salesman, I'm not. I'm not a marketer, and all that stuff that got me nowhere they got me unsuccessful. But if you're willing to at least start entertaining, the idea that you can achieve success. And as you can find your own way you just need to have, you need to take daily steps. It's all about actions by belief first actions, and then at least not trying to beat yourself down when things don't happen overnight. It's like growing a plant, you plant the seeds you can't harvest the next day, you know, these are all about small things that built what I have today. And whether it was printing out business cards to handle the people to get people to know who I was to go and start another social media account here and there and build that up. It's been a progression. Throughout that time, it's just daily step. Every single day, I nurture this, this my business as it's my fourth child, you know, it has to be nurtured every day, you have to think in the day, how many posts you're going to do and you're going to share yourself, if you're just a studio with all his billionaire coming knock on my door, and I'm gonna buy all your art, it's not going to happen even in my stage. Everybody's Aircar music who, you know, you need to get your work out there in front of people. And it's, it's about a progression to that, you know, take it in chunks and little by little and it's that repetition, just like Coca Cola did to get where they are today. And through that you find your tribe, you find your brand, you learn who you are. I mean, I wrote artists statements when I was a kid, and they were ridiculous. They're just trying to use big words to say nothing. But throughout 10 years of failure or 20 years, you start to find out who you are, I could write an artist statement quite easily I know who I am today. I'm happy with who I am, I've succeeded based on that belief and holding true to what I was. And maybe at one time it wasn't successful, but I made it successful you know so so I think that that's that's the biggest thing is is building all of that and to understand that failure is part of success of setting give and it's it's all part of it you don't succeed unless you fail look at anybody that's ever done anything and I can't remember the exact quote but like you know, nothing achieved is really great without that sacrifice you know, if you if you got everything easy handed to you like a trust fund kind of thing. Would you appreciate it? I wouldn't you know, and I appreciate every little bit of every painting sale I'm able to share that with my family and, and do great things for them and have the life that I love. That's worth fighting for every single day and that's why I do it. I love getting up on Monday and and staying up late I love I love this in
Laura Arango Baier: 19:33
BoldBrush We inspire artists to inspire the world because creating art creates magic, and the world is currently in desperate need of magic. BoldBrush provides artists with free art marketing, creativity and business ideas and information. This show is an example. We also offer written resources, articles and a free monthly art contest open to all visual artists. We believe that fortune favors the bold BoldBrush. And if you believe that to sign up completely free, a BoldBrush show.com. That's B O LDBRUSH show.com. The BoldBrush Show is sponsored by FASO. Now more than ever, it's crucial to have a website when you're an artist, especially if you want to be a professional in your career. Thankfully, with our special link facile.com forward slash podcast, you can make that come true. And also get over 50% off your first year on your artists website. Yes, that's basically the price of 12 lattes in one year, which I think is a really great deal considering that you get sleek and beautiful website templates that are also mobile friendly, ecommerce print on demand in certain countries, as well as access to our marketing center that has our brand new art marketing calendar. And the art marketing calendar is something that you won't get with our competitor. The art marketing calendar gives you day by day, step by step guides on what you should be doing today, right now in order to get your artwork out there and seen by the right eyes so that you can make more sales this year. So if you want to change your life and actually meet your sales goal this year, then start now by going to our special link faso.com forward slash podcast. That's s a s o.com. Forward slash podcast. Jason Polins reminds us that talent doesn't matter as much as staying consistent.
Jason Polins: 21:18
Yeah, I mean, there's I keep telling people, people, there's that whole belief, oh, I wasn't born with an artistic talent, like no one is, there's no, from my perspective, there's no such thing as talent. The only thing talent is from from my perspective, is the impulse to engage in a particular thing. And we definitely all have these impulses to do certain things. Not everything, but certain things. And if you stick to something, and you find it interesting, the will to improve is just about putting in time and effort. It has nothing to do with God given talent, which doesn't exist. It has all to do with you, the individual art is just like everything else, it's man made idea of expression. It's That's it. That's it.
Laura Arango Baier: 22:06
Consistency will always beat out talent, right?
Jason Polins: 22:09
I have, I have way more consistency in doing what I'm doing that I have talent. And that's the only reason why I do this. That's it. It's just it's very fulfilling also, as for me, as an individual,
Laura Arango Baier: 22:23
Hillary Scott tells us about the value of working just outside your comfort zone, and to do it, no matter how afraid you are.
Hillary Scott: 22:29
So I was a little afraid of it. Because again, I this the inspiration was so stunning to me that I was afraid to I was afraid a little bit of failing, which is another problem, you know, we can't be completely afraid of that it's a little scary, but you have to accept a little bit of failure. So yeah, just you know, just to kind of do it, I'm like, I feel like sometimes we get so in our heads about things and like, oh, I don't know if I can do it. And it's just like just do it scared. So that's kind of what I have done sometimes it like, right now I'm like trying to figure out how to convey this aerial scene and like how to set up a composition and how to set up an aerial view, which I just plan are painted a few weeks ago and it's just become deceptively difficult. So I just I just do it and I have all the studies here and you know, they're not quite working but I'm gonna get them to work but it's just you have to do things afraid a little bit and if you get stuck in your comfort zone, you're really not going to go bar very far. You know, it's art is never This has never been solely about making money because if it was I would just sit here and I would just paint various sunsets all day long. I've become good at them where I know it's kind of the low hanging fruit so it's like I know that if I paint this type of sunset over a marsh with the reflections in the shimmer I'm like you know it's probably gonna sell and that's great. I mean I still like to do them if I hated to do them I don't know how I could do them anymore but I still love them but I do I feel like they're making bringing me to the next level as an artist not exactly you know, it's kind of the same composition the same flat no vertical and I just wanted to be able to push myself to do some other things to work some other subjects in there to keep things exciting to just you know, mix it up and just not become like a one trick pony. I guess like I just I want to be able to do other things and be you know, I do stay within a certain little rotation of subjects you know snow fog whatever else I you know, I do a wetlands a lot a lot of trees. I have some other you know, I just don't want to salt marshes all the time. I do farm sometimes. So yeah, I think I have a pretty cohesive style where I'm not all over the place. But you know, I just didn't want to be the sunset lady where I was like all she she paints his martial concepts. And so so at times I've had to the galleries don't have a lot of work because in the middle of me painting them and they do very well at selling those I need to explore some other subjects I need to experiment. And that takes time. And sometimes there's a struggle. And where there's a struggle, it's not going to be quick. So that's kind of where I'm trying to balance that where it's like, I need to keep the the work flowing, you know, I need to move the work to make money. But at the same time, this is kind of a, a career for me, where it's not just about making a quick buck, I have to I have to get that are. And then eventually that will come back. You know, and it will, it'll be it's an investment, you know what I mean? So like, if I can get good at some other subjects and get better at what I do, then, of course, that will pay back in sales later. But for me, it's just, it's it's me and my journey and trying to kind of paint the things that, that I just am passionate about.
Laura Arango Baier: 25:48
Mike Adams tells us the advice he would give his younger self when he was just starting out.
Mike Adams: 25:53
Um, I guess I would just maybe not, I mean, maybe not be so hard on myself. I've always been pretty hard on myself, which I think, kick my own butt to always produce better work. But sometimes, you know, it's a little too much of not feeling ready for what you want to accomplish when you're already there. You know, so I think that I think just going for it with having the right amount of confidence is the is the key.
Laura Arango Baier: 26:23
I like that. Yeah. Yeah. And I share in that, you know, a lot of us we feel afraid. Like, no, I'm not ready yet. I'm not ready. And then, when we're when we actually do like, Oh, I'm like, over prepared.
Mike Adams: 26:40
Yeah, like, that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. And I think that, you know, if you're, if your best friends and your family are telling you, whatever you do is great. Okay, that's one thing, but when your colleagues and your people that you don't really know, or then you know that, and then there might be something to that, you know? Yeah. And if not, then it's not biased, you know? So, trust that, yeah,
Laura Arango Baier: 27:02
Mathieu Nozieres, reminds us about the dangers of pressuring yourself when you're trying to create, if
Mathieu Nozieres: 27:08
you believe in yourself, go for it. Like the best example is Nagi. Son, I told you that my wife, she was into engineering school. And she felt like she wants to be an artist. She was always showing, you know, but she had no support from her family. Some people are telling her like, you shouldn't do that. But she tried. She she worked in a convention, first convention, selling art, it worked really well. And she felt like, okay, there is a possibility that it works. So she dropped everything. And started, started her artistic career, and it actually worked very, very well. So sometimes we walk, you know, after work, and we're discussing, like, imagine, if you wouldn't have made this decision back then. You know. So if you feel really convinced that you can do it, there's no reason to fail, such as go for it. If you feel a little unsure. There's no hurry, you can still wait and jump when you're sure. So I wouldn't pressure too much on this. On this question. Just do things when you're sharing jump? Because it can there's no reason to fail. And if you feel like waiting, just wait a little bit. Because you know, so many people pressure themselves also like, I have to jump now or I will never be able to do it. And they put this very, they put so much pressure onto themselves that in the end, they they're stuck. They just don't move. Right. So yeah, take it easy. And when you feel ready, just go for it. And it will work beautifully. That's the Yeah, that's what I can advise. And it works in any fields. Right. So I felt ready. I went to talk to this lady, it worked. Notice and felt ready. She jumped it worked. Everyone was a professional artist. It's most of the time the same at some point. It feels like Okay, let's go and they just go and it works. So
Laura Arango Baier: 29:20
yeah, it's about answering the call, you know, it's like having that interior voice and like, actually listening to it like now. Yeah, you know,
Mathieu Nozieres: 29:28
and once again, if you're unsure take your time, there's no rush for being professional artist, was listening to this guy Francois Xiang, a Chinese man who arrived in France when he was a kid, and who actually learned French so well that he became a writer and one of the most acclaimed French writer from nowadays. And he's, he said that he published his first book at 50 years old. And he became so All respected that he entered the French Academy. So he said, There's no hurry, just do things when you when you're ready, and that's it. So best advice would be no pressure.
Laura Arango Baier: 30:19
Yes, I love that. I love that so much. Because, you know, especially, you know, when you grow up in the United States and actually in any culture that's, you know, motivated by the big three careers, right? So like lawyer, doctor, engineer, right, any, any culture that forces you and do any of those careers, it's gonna be really hard to not have that pressure, right? It's gonna be really hard to convince everyone else that like, it's okay to slow down, it's okay to take your time. And I'm actually relearning that because I went back to back to back to all of his academic academic schools. And it destroyed me, because, you know, you feel so much pressure to like, do things, how they teach you and to impress other people. And it becomes like, much more important than the actual work. Right? It becomes like, it's almost like I for awhile forgot why I was even there in the first place anymore. It was like, No, thanks to that, that awesome piece of advice you gave, which is slow down. Okay. I've actually rediscovered it. So I can, I can say that, you know, as a testament of yes, I've done it and it does work. Okay, it's okay to slow down. There's no pressure, you know, maybe you know, get a day job if you need money, obviously. But
Mathieu Nozieres: 31:43
yeah, we should remember also that our brain doesn't function well under stress. When you're stressed, your brain is just, you know, you're not going to make the right decision and the right thinking and everything. So you need to make decisions when you're relaxed when you're feeling comfortable feeling good.
Laura Arango Baier: 32:03
Finally, Andrew Tesler asks us to think about how to reframe our lives. So we can better manage our time to make room for creating our work. And also the value of having a parachute of savings. So you can focus on your work without economic pressure,
Andrew Tischler: 32:17
what I would recommend doing honestly, if people are just wanting to go into it full time, is first start by just doing it as much as possible, while you're working. If you have to cut back on some of those work hours to open up a bit more time, so be it, that's fine. Wake up earlier, you know, it may be if you have to go to bed, if you're a night person go to bed later, instead of turning on the TV and zoning out if you're tired, great, I hear you you're tired, do it anyway. You know, you've got another gear to to, you know, hit. And another level you're capable of so much more than you realize. And so and I don't want to be insensitive to people situations, you know, maybe people have got, I've got a really good friend, he's got chronic fatigue, go try and tell him that. But so I get it, I get the people have challenges, but it's based on where you're at. Can you honestly say you're giving everything that you've got, and I had a friend a few years ago, he was a builder, he would start building at at 7am. But he wanted to paint for two hours a day. So here he's waking up at half, four. So we can be in the studio and work from five to seven. And then he goes he gets his lunchbox and he goes to the site. This guy's paint, he's getting in, you know, 10 hours a week painting it, which is not a bad little chunk of time. So he's able to build up some work, sell a few paintings on the side start to then he was able to go, you know, I've actually got something here. And it's when I heard that I was like I could I could wake up earlier. I could fit some more time. And I could do that. So that's one thing that I would really recommend is that is that keep both going cover your bases. The other thing that you're going to want to have plugged in is you're going to want to have a target monthly income. What is what does that dollar amount? Just talking brass tacks here? I mean, what does that dollar amount look like? What is your mortgage repayment? What is your rent? What's your food? What are your bills? What amount Are you going to have to have for a little bit of entertainment just because maybe you want to go out on a Friday night and have pizza? Okay, maybe you want to have a beer or have a coffee or whatever, we got to live our life. Okay. So so what does that look like for you come up with a target monthly amount, you know, are you making that with your job currently cool. You probably are. So if you are right, that is what you're going to have to make with your art. And then what I would do if it was me personally if I had to go back and do it again, I would go full tilt towards that achieve that target monthly income and exceed it past what I was working for my job. And then I'd say to the boss, see up See you later. I'm an artist now and and I would also have some Lean behind me. And again, I was talking to a friend about this years and years ago, you've got to have some savings, if you're not saving some money, and it's difficult for people to save, I get that. But if you're not saving money, try and just start saving 5% 10% to start putting some money into account, and then grow that account. So you've got six months worth of expenses, that is not there for you to spend. That's your parachute. So have that month, those six months of money just sitting there? What would that do to you psychologically? Right? Now suddenly, you can create not from the point where I gotta I need this, I need this external, external, external. You've got that time cushion there. So you can go, I've got some space right now I could just breathe. And then in that moment, you can just go, alright, alright, I can just breathe. I could just chill in this space. What would I really love to paint right now? Yeah, I'd say Could I get my I've got six months in the bank, can I get myself a week to do this picture? And if it doesn't work, so what it's a week, you know, think about things in these terms, be smart about this budget, you know, save, come up with a routine as well, that routine man routine saves me. Now I work on my routine, constantly, it changes all the time. One thing I've been doing in recent months is I wake up at 3am. And so when I wake up at three, I then spend the first part of the day, you know, and I devote that time to God. And so I spend time in the word I pray that sets my day, right, that gets my mindset set, right? You know, I start the day off with gratitude. If you know, maybe you're not a faith like me, that's fine. But like even just starting with gratitude, what are you really thankful for? Get yourself in a really great mindset. And then the next thing that I do, that's when tissue arrives, I'm in that great mindset tissue arrives, I start just hosing down everything on my task list that is work like the work work. I don't like doing voiceovers, guess what I do voiceovers first. That's what I get it out the way just do it. It's so so having routines like this. And then after I've done a few hours of work, because I'm well before the sun comes up, then when the sun's comes up, I'm looking at that road going, is it light enough where I can see where I'm putting one foot in front of another, I'm going for a run, and I'm hitting the gym. And so then I get that workout time. Generally after that, then I spend about an hour with my son. And that gives his mom time to go and do a workout herself. Go and have a shower, get cleaned up, do whatever she has to do for herself care. But I get this great time with my son, you know, playing with toys, or we go out for a walk or whatever. And then I come back, that's generally when I have my morning meeting. So that's just my, my routine. And then then after my meetings and a bit more of that stuff, then I've got my creative time for the rest of the day, then I'm in bed nice and early. The other thing is well is that, you know, I tried to work out where was my money going just back to the money thing? Where was my money going that was on frivolous expenses that I didn't need? Could I get rid of stuff. So that freed up money to be able to put towards things that were really important to invest in camera gear to invest in a subscription to a particular platform or whatever. Now to hire people, you know, so So for me, when I invest in my business, I hire another team member, I hire somebody else that's going to help me go to the next level. Work out if you can, you can use technology to do this. I would recommend I but you can use some outsourcing some assistance or whatever to delegate tasks to to open up that time as well. So I tried to think about where am I spending my time? Where am I spending my money? I also had to work out okay, where is my time actually going? I've got this routine and all that maybe I didn't hit everything on my list. Where's my time actually going? Start a time journal write down. When you wake up? What did you do and write down a diary, confession time zone and uptime? Where did you spend this day? Now look at that. Does that hurt? It should when you look at where you spent your day then think okay. I spent four hours watching television. I know where what happened in law and order. But I could have taken that for hours and actually done something towards my art career. Now, if we're honest with ourselves, where did we actually spend that time? There's so much time that gets wasted in me too. I ended up wasting time on various things. I found out that I had in my transitions between tasks from moving from my drawing table to downstairs to my studio to take the cameras from this studio to another space in the house to another studio. I'm blessed to have two studios. But to do that it was taking me half an hour of setup time every single day. I was second What does that add up to? After a week? I got three and a half hours in a week. Well, I don't work Sundays for three hours, right? So what does that do? Well, I could be drawing for that time, what kind of work could I produce? I moved all my painting stuff upstairs. So now it's all in the one room, transition time done. I go from task to task immediately. So that as you're doing this, as you're becoming aware of where you're spending your time, where you spend your money, this is all stuff to do now, while you're working full time, and this will help you become that professional artists that you're meant to be. And, and and what does it take? What is the best of the best professional artists? How are they? You know, I think we build up this vision. I certainly did build up this vision of this leisurely lifestyle. It's like I paint when I'm in the mood, I paint when I'm, when I'm here, when I'm feeling it when the stars are aligned, and my inner child shows up, I and I have a latte and I do this and then I go and see Deborah and we we hang out at the cafe or the bar. And then if I feel like pining, then you know it. We're not consciously directing it. Life is just happening. We're circumstantial, we're not intentional. So one thing I realized is that I had to be laser focused, intentional tissue you've been circumstantial. Are you the victim of circumstances now? Are you just letting life happen to you? Are you are you intentional about things right now? So it's been intentional. That's my intent. So that would be my recommendation to anybody wanting to do this. Work out that thing. We talked about authenticity. So we don't need to cover that again. But work out that thing that you really love? Maybe Can I just mention one thing about that? The world, the world has got plenty of people that that there's so many people out there that are willing to cater to an audience, let them go and do that. Don't let that be you. Do that thing that you love. All but what if nobody loves my paintings of, you know, water lilies and water lilies? I'm afraid I really love to do them. And that's what I really want to do. But what if nobody really likes them? Who cares? Do it anyway, what happens is when you're authentically you, your authentic audience shows up. Do you think people that love abstract, I could go and get a market right now painting abstract, I could paint a painting up a store and paint some beautiful abstract paintings, and get that market of people that love to abstract painting, guess what's not authentic? I'm doing it for them. Who cares? Do the people that love abstract love what tissue is doing? No, they don't, they don't like my stuff, fine. It's not for you. That what I'm doing is for the people that are wanting to consume what I'm producing. And so so let them have what they love. If you do what you are authentically inspired to do, what you your best work, when you're on when you're heart centered, when you're focused on that thing that you've got in you. And that's got to get out the people that will love it will show up, build your business on that. Then, coupled with that the discipline the routine. Now a lot of people would be thinking, Well, I'm just not that structured. I'm not that disciplined. Do you think I am? I might look that way. But I'm disciplined. And I'm structured because I am a mess. I am a flake. I am all over the map. I lacked structure. I lacked discipline. So I had to force it into my life. And go no, no, no, no, we need to level up. The best of the best are this. You've got to find that. And that guess what? The more I started to do it, the more it started to show up and now people when they hear that I'm not disciplined or hey, I'm lazy. Right? They're like, you know, yeah, yeah. And so as as these tendencies, or even even lack of discipline, like because right now, like, I'm all in on my diet, the exercise back in the gym, lifting the weights early mornings, you know, there are times where I want to eat the thing that I shouldn't be. And it's just like, Shut up, bitch, what are you doing? Pick it up again. What are you doing? You know, and it's like, Oh, that's right. Yeah, tissues here. Let's go where we go on what's the mission? You know? So again, I have to play these games with myself with these identities and just helped me stay on track. But I really recommend people. If they want to go into that transition into full time art. It's gonna take a gear that you haven't even reached yet, but you can absolutely do it. I'm not here to say it's hard. It will it is. But you can absolutely do it. How do we know that you can do it because success leaves clues. There are so many people out there. I'm talking to dozens of people out there. You know, there are hundreds 1000s Potentially over a million different people out there that are doing this and they are killing it crushing it live in their dreams, right? What are they doing, figure it out and apply it So I heard a quote recently that I'd love to share with you. And it is, if you do what's easy, your life will be hard. But if you do it hard, what's hard, your life will be easy. So now, I'm magnetized. I'm a magnet for that hard stuff. I want to know, where's the hard stuff? I'm getting into it. That's it. Because I want people to look at me from the outside part of this part of what? What fuels me, and I chuckle about this, but I love it. I want people to look at what I'm doing a go. However, you doing this? If you're a freak, how are you getting all this stuff done? You know, it's a structure. It's the discipline, the more you do it, the better it gets, and took me wrong. I'm still human being. All right. I crash and burn sometimes. But then I learned a lesson from it. So yeah, hope that helps to anybody wanting to make that leap. You can absolutely do it. One more thing that I mentioned one more thing. Yeah. We have right now at our fingertips. So many different platforms, so many different avenues that we can reach people. Now you might be thinking, well, the market saturated, no one's gonna buy my art, no one's gonna find me or whatever rubbish. They will. You also have to be willing to play the game, a lot of people will make a post on Instagram, make a post on Facebook, put up a YouTube video. And they'll put up this piece of content, which they think is great. And they'll be like, Why are tau viral yet? Why isn't this got 1000 likes yet? You know, I see Mark majority got 5000 likes on his post? How can I didn't get that? How much time did you put in. And the other thing is well is recognize that the people that are doing it really well. And I'm not saying this is me like with Instagram and other social media and even YouTube. I'm not saying this is me. But recognize that every single platform is an ecosystem. And it has a particular set of parameters or rules that work within that ecosystem. What you do on Facebook is not going to work for Tik Tok or Instagram. What you do on YouTube is not going to work for Facebook, you know, you've got to learn each of these things as a professional artist and work out how to best reach those people on that platform, and then be prepared to put out content to crickets. Guess how many subscribers I had when I first started my YouTube channel? None zero, zilch, nada. Not no one was there. Good. That's the way it shouldn't be. But then as you start to do this thing, and as you put in years, as you show up. Now, granted, I haven't been the most consistent. But just because I haven't uploaded a YouTube video in a few weeks doesn't mean that I stopped working. People don't know what we're about to drop on him, you know, and we're building up backlogs of videos, we're working on really huge projects. I'll upload a video when I'm ready. But doesn't mean I stop. But how did we get from zero subscribers to over half a million Now granted, you know, Stan Prokopenko has got me whipped and a lot of other people on YouTube. There are amazing artists out there that are just running phenomenal businesses that have got so many subscribers, so I'm not getting a twisted about that being the most there is. But for me, I never would have thought that I would ever reached that level on YouTube. But what did it take? It took showing up consistently as consistent as I could for years. So I had somebody telling me this ages ago, and he asked me, it was actually it was the doctor, Dr. John Demartini. And he said, What do you want to enter? What do you want to what do you want out of life? What do you do? And I said, I want to be a master? They said very good. Are you willing to pay the price? I said, What do you mean? He said, are you willing to pay the price of mastery? Because he said every master I've talked to has paid a hefty price to get to where they got. And I had to think about that. And I was like you know what? Yeah, yeah, I'm willing to pay that price. Whatever it costs.
Laura Arango Baier: 49:05
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The Art of Discipline — Top 10 Motivational Tips for Artists