My BIGGEST Mental Challenge So Far | Liron’s Podcast Episode 110

In today’s episode I’m venting a bit, and sharing what is probably my biggest mental challenge so far, in my artistic career.

The Rocky Road

Any road leading towards a worthwhile goal is going to be rocky and challenging.

I have experienced quite a lot of external and internal challenges and roadblocks so far.

And this is further exacerbated when you’re building something of your own, and are basically the only person to blame, haha!

The Challenge I Currently Face

I experience a combination of multiple challenges that make up the current one.

Here are some recurring themes:

  • Too much time for content creation, not enough time for artistic creation. I refer to QUALITY time for experimentation and celebration of art, without the need or even willingness to share and document. Selfishness in a good way.
  • Realizing that the road to greatness is longer than expected.
  • Adding in MANGA creation to my list of tasks.
  • Going to bed too late and waking up too late.
  • More personal responsibilities eating away at my time.
  • Lack of motivation and connection to the larger vision.

All of these together, make a formidable challenge for me to conquer.

You Are Not Alone

If you’re in a similar position, I want you to know that this is something experienced by many, If not everyone.

These challenges can be a little frustration, however, we should view them as a guiding light. They are here to teach us a lesson we don’t know yet.

Looking at it this way, I hope you’ll see the positive in them, and learn to overcome them.

I will do my best, and share the developments.

I hope you found this episode encouraging, or at the very least interesting and entertaining (:

I’ll talk to you again soon,

— Liron

Here’s where you can contact me online (:

TikTok – @Liron.Yan

YouTube – Liron Yanconsky Art

LinkedIn – Liron Yanconsky

Pinterest – Liron Yanconsky

Instagram – @LironYanIL

Twitter – @LironYan

— Liron

The Learning Curve is Actually a SPIRAL | Liron’s Podcast Episode 107

Art, creativity and the art business. In this episode I’m talking about the artistic skills learning curve, and how it functions as a SPIRAL. We learn and relearn things at varying levels of competence.

Feeling Like You’re Not Improving VS Actual Improvement

The gist of this episode is the idea of practicing consistently, but feeling sometimes like you’re not improving, or even going backwards.

I experience this occasionally, and often it’s a matter of your eyes and understanding improving.

You actually DO improve, which causes you to better recognize the faults in your own work. It also allows you to see more of the potential.

This makes it SEEM like your moving backwards, when in fact you ARE IMPROVING.

How to Recognize Improvement

My #1 tip for you to do that is to look at older artworks you’ve made!

Look at older paintings, drawings and sketches. Are you really moving backwards? Do you think the older work is better.

Often you’ll find they are of lesser quality. It’s just that your standards rose even more than your skills.

So the next time you feel that way, try revisiting old work and see for yourself.

And this is also why I HIGHLY RECOMMEND not throwing away anything. Everything you make – is worthy of keeping. Trust me.

And with that, we’ll wrap this one up. I hope you enjoyed it and perhaps gained a new perspective.

And here’s where to find me online!

TikTok – @Liron.Yan

YouTube – Liron Yanconsky Art

LinkedIn – Liron Yanconsky

Pinterest – Liron Yanconsky

Instagram – @LironYanIL

Twitter – @LironYan

— Liron

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

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

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

ARTISTS – You Are ALLOWED to FAIL | Liron’s Podcast Episode 98

Are you failing in painting / watercolor / art? In this episode I’m talking about failing and why it’s an inevitable part of success and the artistic journey.

What’s Failing?

My perspective here is that failing is very subjective.

You may not like your painting, while others may LOVE IT. So – did you fail? That will depend on who you ask the questions.

I think another component is whether the end result matches the vision you had in mind for it. And you are the ONLY person who can say the result didn’t match your vision.

So you’re pretty much the only person who can declare a painting as a “failure” (;

Let’s Get to The Point – Failing is Inevitable

If I had to sum up this episode, I’m simply talking about how failing is an inevitable, inseparable part of the artistic journey.

There’s no learning a new skill, growing and improving without it. It’s just not going to happen.

So you better start getting used to the idea of not getting the results you want.

One fascinating thing I came to realize recently is that we fail at ALL levels of skill. In fact – your skill level is irrelevant.

You’ll fail as a beginner, as an intermediate and as an advanced artist. Even with lots of experience and fantastic work to show for. That’s simply the nature of creativity.

To Conclude Failing

The only purpose of this episode, as well as the original YouTube video, is to provide some mental support for you to KEEP GOING and KEEP PRACTICING regardless of the result.

If you love what you do, see potential in it or simply want to do it! – Don’t let the feeling of failure stop you.

I hope you enjoy this one, let me know your thoughts in a comment below, or feel free to reach out through these places…

How to Reach Out / Learn More

TikTok – @Liron.Yan

YouTube – Liron Yanconsky Art

LinkedIn – Liron Yanconsky

Pinterest – Liron Yanconsky

Instagram – @LironYanIL

Twitter – @LironYan