You don't need another art course

Thoughts on information overload, tutorial bingeing, and learning by doing.

Hi there. 👋🏻

Hope this week's letter finds you well. I didn't send one last week. Was feeling too tired, depressed and in pain. My body's continuing to act out in strange ways, and I'm getting used to taking one day at a time and not freaking out about every little ailment. Even though I don't know what's wrong, I'm pretty sure it's nothing serious. So it's more of a annoyance at this point. And I'm slowly regaining my sleep, normal functioning, and positive outlook on life. 😊

So what have I been doing lately? Lots of walking, yoga, and spending more time outside. A little bit of art making, for sure. But mostly, I've been enjoying making videos. Last week's was a fun one, something I'd been wanting to do for a while: ranking every art medium I've ever tried. I have dabbled in most of them by now, at least the major ones, and so I sat down and ranked them all in a little tier list, talking about my experience with them, their pros and cons, et.c. It was really fun. Hopefully not just for me, but for other people as well. 😄

And this week, I'm getting a bit controversial, adressing an issue I have had ever since I embarked on this quest to become an artist. Namely, how to deal with information overload as a self-taught artist. The best part about learning something with the help of the internet? There's an abundance of super-helpful material, and most of it's free. The downside to learning something with the help of the internet? There's an abundance of super-helpful material, and most of it's free. So where do I start, and how do I choose, and when will I have time to actually practice? Or...just paint?

I can't be the only one frequently finding myself binge-watching art tutorials on YouTube or Skillshare instead of spending quality time with my sketchbook. We are swimming in tips, advice, and education material, but don't have the time or capacity to absorb it all. And all of these platforms offering "all-you-can-eat-buffets" of classes aren't helping, they're making it worse. I no longer use Skillshare as a student for that reason, and I'm feeling increasingly conflicted about using it as a teacher. I don't want to add to the overwhelm and confusion. But at the same time, I want to teach. And I want to do it my way, and for the people who want to learn specifically with me.

So on that note, I've decided to release all of my courses as standalones. The "experiment" went well. I'm so happy that some people wanted to buy my Pencil Sketching for Beginner Artists course directly from me. Enough people to justify paying the monthly Teachable fee and spending the extra time to offer courses that way. It won't be up to par with my Skillshare earnings just yet, but it's not far from it. And having full control in my business means everything to me. There are changes to the Skillshare rules and teacher payment structure all the time, and that makes me feel very unsafe. Plus, I feel pressured to put out more classes faster in order to just maintain my income, and that's a huge red flag for me. It's why I haven't released a new class since my Watercolor Birds this summer.

I will probably continue to host classes on Skillshare, but I will be transitioning away from it. The new courses I create, I will release as standalones first and foremost. This freedom and independence makes me so much more inspired to teach, as opposed to cranking out content for yet another platform on which I have zero control. (Aren’t we all sick and tired of that?)

It's the same reason why I choose this newsletter over social media. The fewer middlemen between me and my people, the better. I would rather make less money, but maintain my control and integrity. I don’t want my courses swimming in a sea of distractions, and requiring an expensive yearly subscription to access. I want my courses to be affordable, distraction-free, and quick to get through, because I don't want to waste anyone's time and money. What we need most is good old fashioned practice. Sometimes with the aid of a course, but mostly just by ourselves, following our own intuition and impulses.

Alright, rant over. 😅 You can watch the video if you want more. Or if you want to see the process behind drawing one of my charcoal villain portraits. The first one I've shown on my channel so far. I have a lot of them filmed and hanging on my wall by now, and I've done a couple more this past week.

Oh and I finished the watercolor crows I mentioned in my previous letter. Love how they turned out, especially the one to the left.

I get a warm feeling in my stomach when I look at these. I don't think I can part from them. 🖤 Are you that way too? Sentimentally attached to some of your art pieces and can't imagine selling or giving them away? It's not that I believe these are the most magnificent crows ever painted, nor are they my best work and I can think of plenty of ways to improve them. They are just imbued with an energy that I want to keep near me. It's like they have a soul. Makes sense? Or am I just being woo-woo?

This is why I’m planning on mostly selling print collections of my work from now on. It’s less scary to ship, it’s more affordable for those who want my art on their walls, and it lets me selfishly keep my originals. 🙄

Anyways. I'm excited about this weekend. Me and my partner have just started playing a new boardgame. Or rather, a new version of a boardgame we’ve played for many years. It's occupying the kitchen table right now:

And I'm going to read, paint a bird or two, and maybe play some video games. 😌

Hope you are well, and that you'll have a great weekend. See you next Friday!

Love,

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New videos:

Ranking every art medium I've ever tried

You don't need another art course

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Reading:

I'm right in the middle of John Ajvide Lindqvist's latest, Skriften i vattnet ("The writing in the water"). And I'm torn. I always love reading him, and I'm enjoying the book so far. But at the same time, it feels a bit off. The language feels clunky, I don't find the main characters believable, and I don't feel like he's in his right element with a crime thriller, at least not the way he's writing it. But we'll see. I'm such a fan girl, I'll devour everything he'll ever write no matter how I feel about it. 😂

Watching:

Loved this one from Kelsey Rodriguez, on why originality doesn't exist and we should all strive to make interesting art instead. Agree with every word!

And I always get warm and fuzzy inside when Cal Newport, my beacon of sanity in this world, trash talks TikTok:

Listening:

A lot of Huberman Lab podcast right now. Collecting science-grounded, actionable advice to better my health and wellbeing. I especially recommend the episodes about stress, sleep and focus.

Gaming:

(Yes, I added a category for this... And put it at the bottom so it won't bore too many people. 😂)

I'm kind of finished with Death's Door. This game tested me to my very limits and almost reduced me to tears, but I finally beat the final boss. Haven't been that proud of myself in a long time. And without getting too spoiler-y, there is actually quite a bit more you can do after that. Which I really appreciated, beacause I wasn't quite ready to leave that world yet. So I'm still working on that, wanting to complete 100% of this gem before I let it go. *sniffle*

Apart from that, I'm slowly advancing with Psychonauts 2. And getting back into The Long Dark again, a game I've been periodically obsessed with over the past few years. AND picking up Deep Rock Galactic again, now that I've lured my sister into it so we can play together... 🥳

P.S. If I were to ever start a second YouTube channel, it would be a gaming channel. Probably won't happen, but I like fantasizing about it…

P.P.S. Then again. You never know...

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