Tag: art

Going All-in on Instagram & What I Learned (for Artists)| Liron Yanconsky’s Podcast – Episode 49

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Today I wanted to share this update regarding the recent changes I made in my Instagram routine / strategy / tactics, and the impact they had on my presence on the platform.

Two Main Changes on Instagram

I changed two main things in my Instagram routine:

1. Increased post frequency

This did prove to provide faster growth, and it didn’t seem my audience “got tired” of my content (:

I basically moved from 1 post a day to 2-3.

2. Tons of stories

I used to post 1-3 stories a day, and sometimes zero. Now I’m doing as much as 15-30 stories. I’m also making sure I use hashtags there as well.

One last thing I did, though that was a little while before all of that, was changing to a business account. I wanted to get the analytics (:

The Results & Impact on my Instagram Account

I’ve been feeling the acceleration in growth in terms of followers, no doubt.

But the more important thing is the amount of messages and genuine comments I’ve been getting, which really blew me away.

The engagement went crazy too.

So we’re not talking only about quantity, but also about quality.

Future Plans

My future plans are basic – keep this new baseline, and increase / go above it as much as possible. I’ve been doing the occasional 4 or 5 posts a day too.

I will keep you updated on how it goes! (;

That’s all I wanted to share today. We can now move onto the artist corner.

Artist Corner

Today I’m featuring Ilya Ibryaev, a Russian watercolor painter.

His focus seems to be light, and I don’t mean that in the usual sense. His great talent is portraying actual light shining through trees and clouds. He focuses on simpler landscapes with more complex and interesting skies, clouds and light.

What I noticed he does is play around with edges and contrast, to create a strong illusion of light. It actually FEELS like you can see the light itself.

If you want to see what I mean, I actually found a GREAT article written on him over at Seamless Expression – a website about painting and watercolor that I LOVE: Ilya Ibryaev on Seamless Expression

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

Depth in Creation – Detailed Paintings VS Quick Ones | Liron Yanconsky’s Podcast – Episode 48

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Hi there! Today I want to talk to you about depth in creation.

Two Ways to Paint – Different Levels of Depth

After painting for 4+ years, I slowly came to realize that there are two main ways to paint.

This is my personal experience. Yours may be different. But here’s what I noticed.

1. Slow and Detailed.

This is when you really take your time and paint slowly. You may take a break and revisit the painting later. You carefully observe it and make changes, corrections and tweaks.

This approach really improves your ability to create highly polished, finalized pieces.

2. Fast and Spontaneous.

This is a quicker way of creating. It allows you to put emphasis on different aspects, and higher level pillars of good creation.

This approach allows you to work on the basics – composition, arrangement, values, color, edges and so on.

It also allows you to gain experience and insight in these areas fairly quickly, as you can produce many quick and small paintings.

Alternating the Depth

One of the things that helped me the most when it comes to improving over the long haul, is alternating between those two methods.

I would argue that this helped me to improve FASTER as well.

Here’s what I would do.

I would create a few very detailed paintings. These may take several days.

Then I would feel artistically exhausted. I finally figured out the solution was to switch gears and do the quicker sketches.

So I did a bit of those. Until the next day I felt like doing another detailed painting.

And so on (:

Conclusion

I think it’s beneficial to recognize YOUR OWN cycle, and do the things that will allow you to continuously move forward in your creation.

What do you think? Let me know in a comment below.

And with that, we can move on to the artist corner.

Artist Corner

Today I talked about Trevor Chamberlain, an English painter who works in both oils and watercolor.

He had no formal education in art. He got started in oils, and then taught himself watercolor in one year. In his own words, he did that through sheer perseverance and learning from previous masters.

He currently serves on the Council of both the Royal Society of Marine Artists and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters.

Here is a gallery with some of his FANTASTIC works – Trevor Chamberlain

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

Anchor Podcast, Sales Funnel & Patreon | Liron Yanconsky’s Podcast – Episode 47

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Today I want to give you a quick update about my work and what I’ve been up, especially in regards to my new podcast on the Anchor app, my sales funnel and quitting Patreon.

Anchor Podcast

There’s this app for podcasting called Anchor. This month I decided to go all in on it and see what happens.

So for the entirety of November 2018, I plan on posting an episode a day on the app.

Unlike this podcast, there I’m posting shorter and quicker snippets, talking about how my day was, what I’m working on and so on.

I want to taste it and see if it has potential in addition to this podcast. You can actually find me there by searching (any podcast directory – iTunes, Google Store, Alexa, iHeart Radio, anywhere) for “Liron Yanconsky”.

Sales Funnel

This one’s going to be quicker. I finally finished and launched my third course, called Sketching People MASTERCLASS.

It’s more robust than the other courses, and so I priced it at 97$ (you get a 7-day free trial to try it out first).

I sold 3 of these so far, which is really nice, as the profit margins are much better (;

And I’m currently running Facebook ads and they are starting to pop and work for me.

This is one of my main sources of income, so it’s nice knowing I can start relying on it a little more.

Quitting Patreon

I talked about this on YouTube, Instagram and now here on the podcast as well.

I quit Patreon because (1) I don’t like to ask for money – tip jar style. I’d much rather have you buy a course or a book and learn something you want.

And (2) It stifled my ability to share in other platforms (as I would think to myself – hmm, this is good, maybe I should “save” this for Patreon).

I didn’t like that feeling of creating a wall between my content and you.

And by the way – I have NOTHING against the platform or the people on it. For some it is actually a GREAT match, and allows them to monetize their art and creation and actually make a living.

But I feel like it’s just not for ME (:

And that’s basically it for today’s episode! Now let’s move on to the artist corner.

Artist Corner

Today I talked about Lena Amstrand. She is a Swedish watercolor painter who works very loosely.

She loves to portray mood, atmosphere and especially – water.

You can check out his work here: Lena Amstrand

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

Scared of Getting Started? Listen to THIS | Liron Yanconsky’s Podcast – Episode 46

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Hi there, Liron here!

A couple of months ago, I slowly came to realize just how many people aren’t starting to do what they like because they are scared.

They are scared of other peoples’ judgement of them and their art.

A lot of people have been hitting me up with message regarding being too scared to paint outside, and having other people see them do that and comment.

A Video From my Business Monday Series

A while back I posted a video on my YouTube channel, about this exact topic. I want  to share that with you today (:

The Fear Goes Away

This is my main point here. The fear goes away by doing and getting  yourself accustomed to doing.

And here’s the punchline – it goes away much faster than you think.

I felt a little uncomfortable the first 3 times I painted outside – and then nothing. It all went away.

Same for filming myself. That fear was even more accentuated. And sure enough, after 3-4 times of doing it – it went away.

Live Your Life by Your Own Opinions and Rules

Letting others dictate what you can  and can’t do is a recipe for a bad life. If you want to paint – DO IT.

If  you want to paint outside – DO IT.

The fear will subside much faster than you think.

Artist Corner

Today I talked about Konstantin Sterkhov. He is a Russian watercolor and oils painter.

I didn’t like his oils as much, but his watercolors – AMAZING. Very realistic, yet characterized by very simple color schemes.

You can check out his work here: SterkhovArt.com

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

Painting in the Studio VS Painting Outside | Liron Yanconsky’s Podcast – Episode 44

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Hi there, Liron here! And today I want to talk to you about how I’m recently spending more time painting inside my new studio, rather than outside.

Painting Outside VS Painting Inside / In the Studio

I’ve already talked about this several times in the past. Both of these have advantages and disadvantages.

I find that for me, the ideal way is to alternate between the two, and find the balance that satisfies me. And that balance keeps changing with time.

My Journey & With Painting Outside

When I just got started in watercolor, and still had no idea what I was doing, I painted inside only.

That’s how I learned how watercolor works, the basic techniques and several approaches.

I then started experimenting with painting outside, but nothing too serious. I always made a big deal out of it, like not knowing what to paint, or how to have a proper setup to help me make it easier.

Then, around late 2017 I started becoming MUCH more serious about painting outside, after hearing about the importance of this practice, from multiple sources.

I spent most of that and 2018 creating mainly outside. I also lived in a tiny apartment, and painting outside was actually EASIER (:

But I then started lacking in accuracy, and in the ability to properly finalize my art.

It was time to go back to working more inside.

My New Studio

As I recently moved to a new apartment, and now finally have a dedicated studio, I find myself painting inside most of the time.

I recently started feeling like it was time for a change.

So I decided (like I did in the past), that I’d spend x number of days a week working outside. Right now, my balance is once a week.

For now this feels great, and I’m slowly getting back to the joy of seeing a beautiful view in front of your very eyes, and painting it.

Will keep you updated on any interesting developments (:

Artist Corner

Today I featured Gonzalo Carcamo, a Brazilian artist who works mainly in watercolor.

He has a fantastic sense of light and shadow, and he keeps his color scheme VERY simple. Yet his work is a beautiful and REALISTIC impression of what he sees.

I highly recommend you check out his work on Instagram: Gonzalo Carcamo

And here’s where you can find me

You can support me on Patreon

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