Buiding creative confidence

It's March, and the snow and ice is finally beginning to melt away here. A few weeks ago, we were hit by a major snow storm that buried our house under 3 feet of snow. I shoveled for two hours and got a great workout. 😂 A few snapshots of that can be seen in this video.

Apart from shoveling, I've also been painting. I've just started working on my next collection, one I'm calling "In Flight". It's a project I've been longing to start for a while - painting only birds in flight. Lots of outstretched wings and dangling feet and dynamic poses. My Pinterest board with reference photos is growing everyday, and I can't wait to capture all of this beauty in watercolor.

I have these three pieces so far. Two of them, I've filmed and you can see the painting process of the great tit here.

In that video, I'm also talking about some of the mental challenges I'm working through at the moment. Things to do with perfectionism, self-criticism, and creative confidence. I've realized that I really need to step up my mindset if I want to take the next steps in my artist career. I need to believe more in my own ability and not be so tense and scared to experiment. I need to let myself paint on top quality paper, and not let it waste away in my drawers until I'm "good enough for it". And I need to start painting those big, bold watercolors I've been dreaming about, even though it's nerve wracking.

I'm exposing myself to all of these fears with my new collection, and I'm sure I will have grown a lot as a creative and human at the end of it.

Speaking of growth, I recently hit a major milestone in my YouTube journey: I reached the threshold for monetization! When your channel reaches 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch hours, you can apply for the YouTube Partner Program and start earning ad revenue from your videos. Even though this has never been my primary goal with making videos, or the primary way I intend to make a living, it has nevertheless been an important milestone. One that's seemed almost insurmountable. Very few channels get there, because it takes a lot of work and determination to build a channel up to that point.

It took me 8 months and 34 videos. I reached 1000 subscribers right around the new year, but accumulating 4000 watch hours took me an additional two months.

I honestly can't believe I made it here. Patience and delayed gratification are not my strengths at all. I often give up on projects half-way. And I was close to quitting YouTube several times, especially in the beginning when very few people watched my videos and growth was sooooo slow. I wondered if it was really worth it.

What kept me going was the realization that viewers and subscribers doesn't really matter - I want to do this because it lights me up. Creating videos is so much fun, almost as fun as painting. And up next on my channel is actually a video where I take you behind the scenes of my YouTube channel and show exactly the gear I'm using and what my production process is like. I'm hoping it can take some of the mystery away from creating videos and maybe inspire someone else to give it try.

That's it for now. I hope you are safe and doing well. I hope you're taking care of yourself, physically, emotionally and creatively. Some things I do for self-care right now are lots of walking, yoga, sleeping and cooking healthy meals. Trying to limit my news and social media browsing and instead practicing guitar, reading novels and playing video games.

I'm longing to walk outside more, as soon as the ice has melted away. And I can’t wait for spring, and for the birds to start singing. In times of turmoil, at least there are birds. 🖤

All my love,

Louise

New class: Portrait Drawing for Beginners

Draw any face you want - quickly, accurately, and creatively.

In this class, I teach you the concepts that have made the biggest difference for me in my practice, like picking the right reference photo, and approaching my portrait in the right order: Starting with big but accurate shapes, placing the facial landmarks before starting on details, and working with light and shadow. We'll also touch upon the challenge of capturing likeness, and how to shade our drawings to give them some depth and drama.