Making More Time for Creation – April 2020 Recap | Liron’s Podcast Episode 117

Hi there! In this episode I’m recapping my April 2020, and talking about taking more time to create “quietly” 😉

Let’s get to it!

Creating Over Sharing

I’m an artist who naturally gravitates towards sharing my art, processes tips and techniques. It’s very easy for me to fall into the “trap” of sharing at the detriment of creation (aka instead of focusing FULLY on the artwork, I’ll take breaks to take pics and share).

In addition, lately I’ve been feeling the potential and the long way I have to grow as an artist, compared to where I’m currently at.

This gap annoyed me and I decided to close it.

All of the above led to me taking more time for pure creation, drawing, painting, practicing etc. – As opposed to sharing.

This meant a slight decrease in posts in many channels.

I’m NOT Going Anywhere Though

Some channels I’m adamant about, and have kept very consistent on:

– YouTube
– IGTV
– Weekly Podcasts
– Weekly emails

And, I believe I will go back to the more regular consistency of content pretty soon, once I feel like I gained what I needed (:

What I’ve Been Creating

Here are some of the skills I’ve been practicing in quiet:

– Watercolor
– Anatomy
– Gesture drawing
– Manga
– Digital drawing &painting
– Storyboarding

Videos I Posted / Am Working On

I recently posted a video I think you’ll love, about 3 unique watercolor painting exercises.

You can check it out here:

In addition, I’ll post a vid on Saturday on DRAWING, showing a quicker VS slower approach.

PencilKings.com – Interview with Mitch Bowler

About a week ago I was interviewed by Mitch Bowler from PencilKings.com (which is an excellent resource for concept and drawing, I highly recommend you check them out). We talked about the artistic career, creative growth and much more.

The episode should be out in a few weeks, and I’ll keep you updated on that one. I had a fun time and Mitch is a great guy!

And this is it for today! If you want to reach out – you know where to find me 😉

Take care, and stay safe!

– Liron

TikTok – @Liron.Yan

YouTube – Liron Yanconsky Art

LinkedIn – Liron Yanconsky

Pinterest – Liron Yanconsky

Instagram – @LironYanIL

Twitter – @LironYan

Master Studies – Is It Cheating? Liron’s Podcast Episode 116

Today we’ll discuss the question – are master studies cheating? Is it okay to copy works of other people? Let’s get into it!

Master Studies

A master study is the recreation of an existing art piece, usually one made by an art master of the past, but could also be a contemporary master.

The intent behind these is LEARNING. It’s a study.

You use the study to get into the mind of that artist, and understand why they did things the way they have.

Here are some of the artists I mentioned in this episode, for inspirational purposes (:

Marc Folly – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD4fuUMH3Ts

Viktoria Prischedko – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZZIGDfgY0w

The classic school of thought, from what I’ve been exposed to – encourages master studies to be as close of a replica as possible to the original. This teaches you about hard work, effort, focus and patience.

I however tend to take a more lenient approach. I love to learn the basics behind the original – why the particular composition was chosen and the basic technique applied to create the piece. But that’s about it. To me, there’s a lot to be learned by doing a smaller, quicker version of the original.

The Benefits of Master Studies

Let me briefly list some of the HUGE benefits of doing master studies:

  • Learning from the BEST
  • Forcing yourself to break past your current level and comfort zone
  • Learning how much effort is required to produce something great
  • Opening your horizons and continuing to push the envelope and improve (preventing stagnation)

So… Are master studies legit? Is it cheating?

No! Not in my opinion. As long as you’re honest with yourself and others, as long as you DON’T take credit for work that’s not your own, as long as you mention you’re doing a study based on X artist’s work – I’m perfectly fine with that.

In fact, I do MANY of these, and have learned a lot from them!

So go for it!

I hope you enjoyed this one!

Here’s where you can find me online:

TikTok – @Liron.Yan

YouTube – Liron Yanconsky Art

LinkedIn – Liron Yanconsky

Pinterest – Liron Yanconsky

Instagram – @LironYanIL

Twitter – @LironYan

You CAN Improve Your Art (more than you think is possible…) | Liron’s Podcast Episode 115

In today’s podcast episode I want to demonstrate to you just HOW MUCH BETTER you can get in your art and craft – more than you even think is possible.

Pushing My Comfort Zone

Lately I’ve had multiple experiences that have led me to push my artistic comfort zone more and more. I’ve also been pushing my discipline further, and working really hard on my technical skills (mainly drawing people and faces).

This has led to exponential growth – and that surprised even myself!

In addition, I’ve gained some more nuanced watercolor insights, mostly in the context of wet-in-wet control.

The More You Learn…

The more you realize HOW MUCH MORE there is to learn. Every new thing opens up 3 new opportunities, and that’s how you continue growing exponentially.

When I Got Started…

Luckily for me and you, I’ve been documenting my artistic journey for many years now. You can actually go back, watch my old videos, look at old Instagram posts – and see for yourself…

When I got started – I sucked! In both drawing AND watercolor.

In fact, I can go even more back, and show you older drawings from over a decade ago to prove this. I wasn’t born with a specific talent. Perhaps I developed LOVE for drawing and sketching, meaning I naturally enjoyed it, was complemented for it and encouraged by some (but definitely NOT by many, haha!) to do it.

But it wasn’t like my first drawing was great. It wasn’t even good. They sucked!

But with time and effort, I improved.

And the good news is – you can too…

I hope you found this episode encouraging!

Below’s a list of ways to connect with me online.

TikTok – @Liron.Yan

YouTube – Liron Yanconsky Art

LinkedIn – Liron Yanconsky

Pinterest – Liron Yanconsky

Instagram – @LironYanIL

Twitter – @LironYan

I Want To Create Something Truly Great | Quality Over Quantity – Episode 114

In this episode I want to share with you a new desire I feel to create something TRULY GREAT, and to focus more on QUALITY rather than QUANTITY.

* Quick links to previous episodes:
Doing is better than thinking
The Importance of patience & focus

Aspiring to be the BEST

One of my aspirations have always been to become one of the greatest watercolor painters on the planet.

This vision has become clearer and more detail in my eyes, as time went by.

I want to paint spectacular paintings that will completely AWE viewers. I want to achieve that 10/10 level.

Here are some examples of paintings I do think are close to that goal, if not hit it already!

This desire has gotten greater and greater lately. I think another manifestation of it was the desire to create my own manga / story. It’s also the reason I’m still in the writing stages, and haven’t even begun drawing – I want it to be REALLY good!

Quality Over Quantity

I generally believe in quantity over quality – especially when getting started.

I find that putting the emphasis on DOING, CREATING and moving forward fearlessly – to be very beneficial.

The same goes for growing an audience on social media. You have to let go of perfectionism and share more freely.

It IS a game of quantity too.

HOWEVER, lately I’ve been indeed feeling like I want to go more for quality. More for greatness. Even at the expense of communication and sharing.

Temporary Situation

It’s important for me to clarify that this is TEMPORARY. Once I feel like I gained the benefit of whatever it is I want right now – you’ll see much more of me.

And – it’s going to be BETTER quality.

And also – I’m far from quitting anything. I’m still planning on posting 3 vids / week on YouTube, emails, podcasts and posts.

It’s just a little less 😉

I hope you’ll accept this, and encourage me in this part of the journey.

I feel like it will be for the benefit of everyone. And some of you may not even notice a difference, so all good 😁

And with that, I’ll take my leave.

I hope you’re doing great and are feeling well!

I’ll talk to you again real soon.

P.S. my bad for confusing this for episode 113… 😂

P.S. 2 – Here’s where you can find me online:

TikTok – @Liron.Yan

YouTube – Liron Yanconsky Art

LinkedIn – Liron Yanconsky

Pinterest – Liron Yanconsky

Instagram – @LironYanIL

Twitter – @LironYan

Importance of PATIENCE & FOCUS for Painting | Liron’s Podcast Episode 113

In this episode I want to talk about the importance of PATIENCE and FOCUS in painting, and how they helped me with my most recent painting!

Here’s the painting I refer to:

Patience in Painting

I think patience is an IMPORTANT quality to develop when it comes to painting, and watercolor in particular.

That may seem funny, as watercolor sometimes requires speed. But this is ignoring the full picture.

Watercolor requires above all SENSITIVITY to what happens on paper. You have to be very aware of the different levels of wetness, the edges, and many more factors.

You can’t really go back or “go over” mistakes in watercolor, which makes this so important.

Sensitivity for the subject is another requirement. Simply observing it and thinking – how can I convey the message and essence of the subject in the BEST way possible?

What allows this sensitivity is patience.

Focus in Painting

I think an additional by-product of said patience was FOCUS.

I was able to stay focused for long period of time, and slowly let the painting TELL ME what it needs. It’s almost as if I didn’t ASSUME, but rather reacted.

I hope this makes sense!

This process feels very meaningful to me, and the lessons I learned will accompany me in the future.

Let me know your thoughts in a comment below, or contact me in any of the following ways! ^_^

TikTok – @Liron.Yan

YouTube – Liron Yanconsky Art

LinkedIn – Liron Yanconsky

Pinterest – Liron Yanconsky

Instagram – @LironYanIL

Twitter – @LironYan