Category: Creativity

This category deals with topics related to creativity and the actual creation process.

I focus on mainly how to bring out the most of your creativity during your creative time (painting, sketching, sculpting, music composing – any artistic activity), as well as sharpen and improve your creativity in the long run.

Is Fear Stopping You from Creating? Liron’s Podcast Episode 91

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In this episode we’re talking about fears that stop people from creating, and how to overcome them. I don’t have all the answers, but I wish to open this up for discussion and perhaps provide some of my own experience.

I  found that one of the main fears are not necessarily external, but rather internal.

For example – the fear of “disappointing” yourself with “another failure”. When you have a bad streak of paintings, and you prefer inaction and avoiding the disappointment.

In my experience, the solution – ironically enough – is to go the complete opposite. To create as much as you can. And to some extent – to disregard quality completely and work on quantity.

That’s something I’d like to encourage more people to try.

I hope you find this episode encouraging in some way. Let me know your thoughts in a comment below.

Here’s the original YouTube video, by the way:

Want to Reach Out?

Got any questions? Want help with your paintings? Feel free to reach out to me in any of the platforms I’m on, and I’ll be happy to help (:

YouTube – Liron Yanconsky Art

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Pinterest – Liron Yanconsky

Instagram – @LironYanIL

Twitter – @LironYan

How Long to Get Good in Art? Liron’s Podcast Episode 75

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In today’s episode I talk about how long it takes to get good at art, drawing, painting and so on.

You Get Back What You Put in

The gist of it is this – the more time, focus and attention you put on a skill, the faster you’ll grow and improve in it.

The rule of 10,000 hours (I forgot who’s the person who originally came to this conclusion), suggested that that’s the number of hours of practice it takes to achieve mastery in any give skill.

This “rule” was later disputed, but on a basis that makes a lot of sense. Aside from time, it’s also a matter of the QUALITY of how you practice.

A lot of it is about being deliberate in how you practice. It’s about actively challenging yourself, trying new things and striving for new heights.

Then, the 10,000 hours rule becomes more relevant.

My Calculation

I currently put about 1-2 hours a day into painting. Sometimes it’s even a little less than that.

That means a max of 10 hours a week (assuming I paint 5 days a week). This amounts to 40 hours a month, or 480 a year.

This means it will take me a total of 20 years to get to mastery. I already spent the last couple of 4-5 years painting, so perhaps 15 more? (:

(In the audio I mistakingly say 10 years, and then 5 left, that’s a calculation error).

Every Skill is Different

Regardless of time, some aspects are easier to improve than others.

I find that anything that has to do with technical, motor skill based technique is easier to improve at.

Brush work, pencil technique etc.

The harder aspects are learning to see through optical illusions, see colors and values accurately, as well as some of the basics – composition, color theory, mood and atmosphere, telling a story etc.

These are the REAL challenge!

And to wrap this up, my question to you is – how many hours a day / week do you practice your skill, whatever that may be?

And now – artist corner!

Artist Corner – Ken Karlic 

Today I featured Ken Karlic, a contemporary watercolor painter who also works in mixed media.

What I find the most fascinating about his work is the large sizes he’s working.

You can check out his artworks here: Ken Karlic Website

And his painting process in these videos: Ken Karlic Videos

 

And Here’s where you can find me

Check out my YouTube Channel – Liron Yanconsky

Or ask me questions on Instagram – @LironYanIL or Snapchat – @LironYan3

I hope you enjoyed this one. Take care, and we’ll talk again really soon,

— Liron

Art, Self-Development & Life Lessons from Painting | Liron’s Podcast Episode 73

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In today’s episode I want to present you with a new topic I want to introduce into my content and products, and that is… Self-development!

Art & Self-Development

For the longest time self-development, growth and actualization have been a part of my life.

It’s one of my core values to push myself to improve, both as an artist and as a person.

And now, I believe it’s time to introduce more of that into my videos, posts, podcast episodes and courses.

How I Got the Idea

My good friend Alex – A conversation with him made me realize how important this is for me.

I basically complained to him about something, and his reply was something like this: “Why do you insist on becoming a watercolor teacher? What interests you even more is self-development in art.

Hearing that hit me hard, because it’s so darn obvious!!

I ALREADY make this kind of content – Alex also pointed that out for me. Doh! I’m already making so much content revolving around the process, how to become better, habits to help you improve, creating with courage and passion etc.

So I already do this. Now I want to pour more of that into the content I create, as well as the products / courses I sell.

YouTube & Instagram comments – this is another thing that helped me realize this. I started paying attention to what comments I really vibe with.

I noticed something interesting. While I love comments about me helping someone improve their watercolor skills, what I REALLY enjoy is people talking about how I helped motivate them, give them courage to try, or encourage them to try harder.

That’s what REALLY makes me feel good. And producing content that will help people more and more with THAT, is something I’m very curious about trying more of.

Life Lessons Learned from Watercolor Painting

I recently posted a vid on this topic on YouTube, as a first dip into this new territory. For this podcast episode I cut out the audio and added it here.

If you want to watch the actual video, you can do that too.

In the video I cover the four major insights I gained in the last couple of years, from painting. Those are (1) Letting Go (2) Trusting the Process (3) Patience (4) Speed & Spontaneity.

I hope you enjoy this very first attempt, as well as future ones to come.

And I also hope to create some courses around my experience in this area too.

And with that being said, time for today’s Artist Corner!

Artist Corner

Today we’re looking at Harold B Herbert. He was an Australian painter who lived from 1892-1945.

His life story is fascinating, and his watercolor skills are VERY impressive.

I highly recommend you check out his:

Work – Harold B Herbert Paintings & Sketches
Quick Bios – 1 – Quicker / 2 – More Details

I will also review him in the upcoming episode of Painting Masters (31), that’ll be out on Thursday, May 9th, 17:00 EST.

And Here’s where you can find me

Check out my YouTube Channel – Liron Yanconsky

Or ask me questions on Instagram – @LironYanIL or Snapchat – @LironYan3

I hope you enjoyed this one. Take care, and we’ll talk again really soon,

— Liron

The Value of REPETITION in PAINTING – Improve Fast & Efficiently | Liron’s Podcast Episode 72

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In this episode I’m talking about repetition – a valuable exercise for improving your drawing and painting skills FAST and EFFICIENTLY.

Table of Contents

1. Repetition in Painting and Drawing
2. Worse 2nd Attempt
3. Internalize
4. Loosen Up
5. Recognizing Recurring Mistakes
6. Conclusion

1. Repetition in Painting and Drawing

Repetition is a great tool for improving. It involves painting or drawing the same subject several times.

This allows for more focused learning, and unlocks some obvious (and less obvious) benefits.

2. Worse 2nd Attempt

Surprisingly enough, you may find that in your repeated efforts you actually do worse.

That’s to be expected.

The 2nd time around, working on the same subject, you lack that same spontaneity that characterized the first version.

You may also have some “arrogance” (very natural, not blaming you (;), and a feeling you “already know” the subject.

Don’t let that deter you from doing this. Even when you don’t notice, you are learning and improving.

3. Internalize

Drawing the same subject / scene several times, allows you to internalize a part of the process, and focus on a different one.

As mentioned, you may find some of your result to be worse, but other aspects may be better.

So take the good with the bad. 

Whenever you try an “extreme” technique, it tends to be accompanied by some growing pains.

Whenever I have a streak of great paintings – I am happy, but also weary of the fact it means I may not be growing.

4. Loosen Up

One side-effect of repetition, that is barely discussed, is how it sets you free and helps you loosen up.

Doing something a second time, and DELIBERATELY at that, makes you less worried about the end result. You can just paint yet ANOTHER version!

This freedom helps you loosen up without you even noticing. And it will show in some of the later attempts.

That’s especially true if you are as impatient as I am. The fear of boredom in the 2nd and 3rd iterations actually motivates me to try something different!

5. Recognizing Recurring Mistakes

That’s really the gist of this exercise. Doing repetitions of the same subject will bring to surface recurring mistakes that might have otherwise gone unnoticed.

And that’s probably the biggest benefit of doing this.

6. Conclusion

I hope this episode encourages you to give this exercise a try.

And by the way, creating a small preparatory painting for a larger piece, or even just a preparatory sketch – are also a form of repetition.

It’s up to you to decide just “how much” repetition you are interested in doing.

And with that, let’s move onto the artist corner!

Artist Corner

Today I talked about Samuel Colman, an English painter. He lived from 1780-1845, and painted mostly portraits and landscapes.

His landscapes are what really grabbed me about his art. It’s rooted in realism, with an added layer of surrealistic atmosphere

You can check out some of his works here: Samuel Colman. I also recommend doing a Google Images search.

And Here’s where you can find me

Check out my YouTube Channel – Liron Yanconsky

Or ask me questions on Instagram – @LironYanIL or Snapchat – @LironYan3

I hope you enjoyed this one. Take care, and we’ll talk again really soon,

— Liron

Let Vision Lead Your Technique

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In today’s episode I want to share with you a concept I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, and that is of vision.

Vision is how we see the world. Every artist (and person for that matter) probably has a different vision of what they see.

That is why different artists create in different ways and notice different things.

Vision Leading Technique

My premise here is that there’s a way to create very clearly. To make the gap between your vision and your result as small as possible.

That is – to allow your vision lead the painting process rather then technique.

When you let technique lead the way, you may approach every painting the same way.

But every painting is different, and every scene is different.

So if you allow VISION to lead instead, you may end up with a better result.

Unique & Highly Personalized Art Style

The coolest part is this – it will probably also be more unique. Because you effectively “cleaned” your representation of reality.

This applies, by the way, to abstract art too! The reality I’m referring to can be a real physical scene, or the vision you have in your head.

I hope you found this helpful. The next time you create, try forgetting about technique, or the “correct” way of doing something. Instead – try to represent what  you see as clearly as you wish, regardless of process.

And let me know how it goes!

Artist Corner

Today I talked about Wendy Artin. I was recommended by a follower to check her work out. And I must say – it’s incredible!

She does lots of figurative work, and has some very unique processes and approach.

I actually covered her in my Painting Masters series. You can check that episode out here (:

And Here’s where you can find me

Check out my YouTube Channel – Liron Yanconsky

Or ask me questions on Instagram – @LironYanIL or Snapchat – @LironYan3

I hope you enjoyed this one. Take care, and we’ll talk again really soon,

— Liron