Category: Artistic Career

This category deals with the topic of building and sustaining a successful artistic career.

Where This Ship is Headed! 🎨 | Liron’s Podcast Episode 136

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So after a REALLY LONG time I’m finally here with an update 😂😂

First off – my apologies for taking so long.
I’ve been working on many different things, and haven’t had enough time to update here as well.

In addition, I must admit that the podcast(s) is where I want to feel fully free to post ONLY whenever I feel like it (unlike YouTube which is ironclad haha).

So here’s the gist of it:

  • Took a quick break from the manga
  • Lot’s of thoughts on where my next innovation will be
  • Submitted a painting for a pokemon fanart contest on eFour forum (which is the cover photo for this episode!)

I want to really thank you for listening and sticking around.

It’s always a balancing act – juggling creating art for the sake of art, working selfishly, VS doing stuff for you, posting more content etc.

I have to make sure both ends are fulfilled 😁

With that, I hope to talk to you again real soon! 😊🙏🏼
Take care, and feel free to reach out to me anywhere on my different social media channels.

— Liron

What I’ve Been Up To! November 2020 Update 🎨✍️ | Liron’s Podcast Episode 135

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Hi there! In this episode I’m getting you up to speed on what I’ve been working on for the past 2 months or so, in which I provided fewer podcast updates.

Here’s the gist of it (:

  • Spending A LOT of time on figuring out human anatomy + perspective – I’m really feeling the fruits of this hard labor in recent weeks in my art and understanding of what I’m drawing and painting.
  • Pokemon illustrations – I’ve been doing a lot more of these and posting on this thread on the efour forum. A big part has been figuring out the technique to get the result I want, using watercolor. The cover for this post (up top! ^) is a good example.
  • Manga – I’m starting to make some serious progress on a short manga about Shaolin monks. I will keep you posted on that one soon!
  • Productivity pillars – Lately I’ve been focusing on the ESSENCE and IMPORTANCE of tasks, rather than just doing things for the sake of doing. This has led me to spend more time actually creating and enjoying the process!
  • YouTube live – Something I’ve been enjoying A LOT in the last couple of weeks! Thank you to anyone who joined one of the livestreams 😊🙏🏼 

I hope you enjoyed listening to this one!

Here’s how to contact me (:

Instagram – @LironYanIL

TikTok – @Liron.Yan

YouTube – Liron Yanconsky Art

LinkedIn – Liron Yanconsky

Pinterest – Liron Yanconsky

Twitter – @LironYan

I hope to post another episode sooner than later (;

— Liron

My Artistic Goals for 2020 | Liron’s Podcast Episode 104

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In this episode I’m sharing with you my artistic goals for 2020!

Here’s a quick list of them (the order is very fluid haha):

  1. Improve the quality of my paintings
  2. Improve my teaching skills
  3. Sell a painting for a PREMIUM price
  4. Innovation
  5. New and BETTER products

The Quality of My Art

I think at the heart of this is my art. This is the basis for everything.

It’s what charges me up with energy and what I enjoy doing the most. If I want to continue providing value for people in the long run, I HAVE TO work on my art.

Then comes the teaching, selling and so on…

A Premium Watercolor Course for FREE

Another thing that’s really been on my mind is creating an amazing product and giving it away for completely free.

Update: I’ve brainstormed several ideas and I think I’ll go with Simplifying in Watercolor.

I want to, once and for all, solve this mystery for people.

I see many struggle with this concept of how to simplify, reduce clutter and paint what matters.

So let me know if you think that’s a good topic.

I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you want to reach out – you know where to find me 😉

I hope to hear from you!

TikTok – @Liron.Yan

YouTube – Liron Yanconsky Art

LinkedIn – Liron Yanconsky

Pinterest – Liron Yanconsky

Instagram – @LironYanIL

Twitter – @LironYan

STORY TIME – How I Became an Artist | Liron’s Art & Creativity Show

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Today I want to share with you how I became an artist, as well as my history in the art world from childhood, and finally – what works financially for my art business.

Let’s get to it!

My Childhood & Art

I’ve been drawing and sketching ever since I can remember myself. My very first memory is of sitting at my grandparents’ porch and copying an illustration from a Dr. Seuss book.

I’ve been doodling on the side all through elementary, middle and high-school, and have once sold a sketch of a pokemon 😂 (for 5 shekels, the equivalent of about 1.2 USD back then.

I do want to mention that painting and working in color is something I got to much later in life.

More on that in a moment…

Young Adulthood & Art

During my military service I quit art almost completely. I spent so much time working and barely had any life.

However, in my 6 months of service I started figuring out what I want to try to do in life. And that’s when I got back to art.

I started a blog with drawing lessons, and later published my books, started my YouTube channel, Instagram, courses and so on.

From Existing Platforms to MY OWN Platforms

I got started selling stuff mostly on Amazon and Udemy.

Amazon is where I independently published and sold my books, and Udemy was where I created my courses.

But where I really started seeing some success was when building my own platform.

This is when I started to build my own website, marketing and sales funnel and courses.

This meant no one was taking a serious cut from my earnings, and I have to do the marketing.

Art Business Revenue Streams & What Works Today

With time, additional avenues started popping up.

Among them is selling my paintings (through the local art fair, galleries and directly). Another one is selling the foreign language rights of my books to various publishing houses. And others are Patreon / donations, YouTube ads revenue and more.

Here’s what works for me today…

The numbers are fairly inaccurate, but do give some kind of a picture as to what the main income sources of my art business are.

  • About a third-half of my income comes from my various how-to-draw books.
  • Another third comes from the courses
  • The rest is divides fairly equally between the other sources I described.

Conclusion

So this is where I’m at right now.

I have a long way to go still, when it comes to pretty much everything – Improving my artistic skills, business development, personal growth.

Perhaps in another decade I’ll create a similar post and we’ll see where I’m at 😉 

And if you want to reach out, you know where to find me…!

TikTok – @Liron.Yan

YouTube – Liron Yanconsky Art

LinkedIn – Liron Yanconsky

Pinterest – Liron Yanconsky

Instagram – @LironYanIL

Twitter – @LironYan

People Didn’t Want Me to Become an Artist | Liron’s Podcast Episode 97

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Today I’d like to talk to you about the start of my journey of building a business around my art, and some of the resistance and negativity I experienced on the way.

This is a topic very close to heart. Making the right decisions in that context can ENSURE you’ll have the potential to succeed.

Making the wrong decision? You’re done before you even got started.

When I Started My Business…

I started this art thing towards the end of my military service. I actually got started by writing and publishing books independently on Amazon.

That went well and I think it was a combination of skill and LOTS of luck too.

Resistance and Negativity

I encountered A LOT of pushback from family and friends when it came to pursuing a career in art, and building a business around art.

A lot of it was definitely not ill-intended. Many times people have your best interest in mind (or at least that’s what they think).

But you have to understand that they don’t have your vision, wants and needs. They have no idea what makes you happy, or how important something is for you.

People Just Don’t SEE You

A mind-boggling thing I mention in the episode is how – nowhere between 5-17 was I ever “Huh, you’re actually really good at this art thing, maybe you should do something with it!”.

It’s amazing to really think about it this way, as I was doing quit a good job even when I was around 6-7 years old, copying drawings from one of my Dr. Seuss books.

For some reason I was pushed to learn physics and computer engineering. I found those somewhat interesting, but only to a very limited extent.

Again, I can’t really blame anyone for this. Art isn’t the obvious career path, and computers and sciences were and are still on a pedestal.

But I do think the world will be a MUCH better place if people would at least notice others’ gifts and mention something. A simple compliment can go a HUGE way.

The Positive Note & A Word of Warning

Despite the pushback / resistance / negativity / limiting beliefs – my vision was clear enough for me to follow through. These clouds never really blocked it for me.

But I’m afraid SO MANY people don’t have that clarity, or aren’t as positive to see a way. I’m scared people will allow their dreams to slip away due to negative feedback from their environment.

And THAT’S what I want to make sure you avoid.

If you give up – you’re done. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

Conclusion

I know I’ve been all over the place with the TEXT version of the episode. But I want to keep it like that, in it’s raw authentic form.

I hope you got something out of this episode.

Please feel free to let me know – in any of the ways below…

Take care and we’ll talk soon!

— Liron

How to Reach Out

YouTube – Liron Yanconsky Art

LinkedIn – Liron Yanconsky

Pinterest – Liron Yanconsky

Instagram – @LironYanIL

Twitter – @LironYan