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Tara's avatar

Such a nice and thoughtful read (as always!). I’ve been all over the gambit of feelings about my own art, though typically more on the negative side as my internal critic has a very loud voice… but this is something I’ve been working on over the past years, so I’m getting better at giving myself more of a chance. I’m in the phase now where I’m enjoying what I’m creating, but I’m not sure if it’s actually good. I suppose good is subjective any way 😅

Hope you have a fun weekend!

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Silvia Põldaru's avatar

Yay, Friday. How do I know? Your newsletter in my inbox. :) I feel like I am currently in the sucky phase of my art seen as I picked up the medium a few months ago. But I'm committed. And honestly, sometimes, like you, I amaze myself with what I can actually create. One day I hope to look back on all my art from now with more fondness and less criticism. As a Virgo Rising, I'm not sure how possible that is. :/ P.S. I thoroughly resonate with spending time in nature being equivalent to meditating. I'd rather stare at the passing clouds than sit through a "meditation".

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Laws's avatar

Thank you, Louise. I am learning to enjoy sitting with a cuppa and just having a few moments of calm whilst I read your letters. You are a wonderful writer, very engaging and this translates into your videos too. Calm, informative, inspiring.

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Jesse Phoenix's avatar

I don't really throw away much of my own art either but I also don't really go back to look at the bad parts either... I should probably do more of that and reframe my perspective on them to be stepping stones and pieces of inspiration from back when instead of the negatively loaded "failures".

I've been struggling for a very long time with perfectionism and a warped sense of what other people expect of me (spoilers, it's not other people expecting things of me) but I'm trying to find my way back to my art ever so slowly. I've been trying to go back to basics lately and I'm trying to experiment more and allow myself to iterate, fail and explore. For the first time in my life I've actually somewhat regularly used my sketchbook these past few months!

It has helped a lot finding your videos and newsletter among other things, you've helped me gain new perspectives on what my art practice could be so thank you for that. =) <3

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Studio Kayley's avatar

Loved your video this week and Kelsey’s as well! Thank you for sharing your week with us. You’ve inspired me to create my own SubStack email list! ❤️

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IllustrazionidiLut's avatar

Hi Louise, thanks to you I open a newsletter and now I landed on substack. The YouTube art channel idea is running in my mind, so I really look forward for your tips about how to start! Have a nice day

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Roy P. Awbery's avatar

Another great post! I never throw away my "bad" paintings and do the same - return to them to see how far I have travelled. I have just written a newsletter on what the definition of an artist is, after being unkindly challenged that I was not an artist. Your piece made me realise that I could also have written about whether being perfect at one's art is also a silly definition of artist to some people (I explore a number of silly definitions that I have heard over time). As for your sketch of the old man - love it! It has loads of character and mood. Keep it up!

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