Let Vision Lead Your Technique

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

How Realistically Should you Draw and Paint? | Liron Yanconsky’s Podcast – Episode 57

Hi there, Liron here, and today I want to address an issue I’ve been asked about a lot lately.

How Realistically Should You Paint or Draw?

I seem to be getting a lot of questions like “How realistically should I paint?” or “Should I change what I see or try to stick to the reference?”.

And all of these questions are a “how” types of questions. In order to answer them, we need to move into a higher plain of thought.

We need to answer the WHAT question (and perhaps also the “why” question).

What do You Want?

The bottom line is this – what kind of art do YOU want  to make? What kind of artwork inspires you and makes you full of joy?

Whatever that is – go do that (:

That’s my simple answer for you. If you understand what you want, and perhaps why you want that – the “how” will take care of itself. It will merely be a manifestation of what you want.

And with that being said… artist corner!

Artist Corner

Today I talked about Amanda Hyatt.

Amanda’s a fantastic impressionist watercolor painter. She cranks up the impressionism, while – from afar – not losing that beautiful realistic feeling I love so much!

Her style actually reminds me of the classic English OIL painters, despite her working in watercolor, which is quite surprising!

I discovered her through a YouTube video, and highly recommend you check it out, as well as the rest of her work.

YouTube videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ1Q9SP99rE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4jScO-4vvw

Amanda’s website:
https://amandahyatt.com.au/

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

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

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

Authentic Visual Creation – Painting YOUR WAY | Liron Yanconsky’s Podcast – Episode 41

Hi there, Liron here! And today we’ll talk about authentic visual and artistic creation!

Authentic Creation

This is an idea I’ve been thinking about for a long time now.

Authentic creation, in the visual / painting context, refers to painting / representing things the way YOU truly see them.

It means really observing what you are painting, and interpreting it your way.

Second-Hand Visual Representation

This refers to gimmicks. Painting people the way Alvaro Castagnet does, for example.

Now – if this really is your authentic visual interpretation – go for it! My point here is to encourage you to listen to your own artistic voice.

There’s a reason why the best of the best artists tend to have very unique styles.

This is Something I am Working On

It’s important for me to give you the right context for this episode. This is something I’m still dealing with.

I’ll sometimes notice myself going into “auto-pilot” mode, but not in a positive way. I’ll see a tree, and instead of painting it AS I SEE IT, I’ll paint it the way I know a tree is, or the way I saw someone else paint it.

So if you’re dealing with this – we’re on the same boat!

Conclusion

This is what I wanted to discuss today. I’m curious to hear your thoughts and experiences with this. Is this something you think about / deal with too?

Let me know in a comment below / on YouTube / Instagram messages!

Artist Corner

Today we’re looking at Ian Ramsay!

He is a very impressive painter, with a style I love – impressionistic realism, with lots of colors and atmosphere.

I highly recommend you check out his works and website:
https://ianramsay.blogspot.com/

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

And this is it. I hope you enjoyed this episode, and I’ll talk to you again real soon!

– Liron

The Secret Mindset for Painting Beautifully | Liron Yanconsky’s Podcast – Episode 35

Hi there, today I want to talk to you about a magical mindset for heightened creativity.

I’ve been painting for 3 years now, and I noticed that whenever I produce beautiful results I like – I find myself in that state.

The Child-Like Creativity Mindset

It’s worth mentioning this state of mind had nothing to do with outside inspiration.

In fact, it felt like the opposite most of the time. It felt insular. Almost like it was BLOCKING outside inspiration, in order to self-generate it from the inside.

When I hit that mindset, it feels like I’m slowing down naturally. I’m focusing more on the small space where I’m working. I’m very present, and enjoy the movement of my brush across the paper.

It truly is magic, so let’s talk about how to generate it!

How to get into the Child-Like Mindset

Here are several things that work for me. Try them out and see what happens (:

#1 – Developing your skills.

This is probably the most important stage. You want to have mastery over the basics of the medium. If you can hit that intermediate level, it makes things much easier.

I had this happen a few times when just starting out, but it’s not the same. Having skill and knowing what you’re doing is actually VERY important.

#2 – Embrace freedom.

This involves understanding that you don’t HAVE to do anything. You don’t have to paint things exactly as you see them, or use one technique only.

You can “re-invent” yourself every day.

#3 – Let go of the outcome.

A well-known concept. This dictates that whenever you are able to let go of the outcome, it becomes better.

If you can avoid obsessing over a specific result, or trying to control every step of the way, you can become much looser, and have a lot more fun when creating.

This one and #2 are easier said than done, but that’s life (;

#4 – Paint what you love.

This isn’t a sure-fire way of “triggering” that state of mind, but it can surely help.

#5 – Patience.

And that’s the real key. Building skills take time. This is especially true with watercolor. It has so many “moving parts”, and things you need to do in a certain order, and sometimes FAST.

So have patience and keep working on those skills, and applying the rest of the advice here. With time you’ll see that occasionally you start hitting that mindset / state of mind.

I hope this helps. Now let’s move on to the Artist Corner!

Artist Corner

Today I talked about Ray Balkwill.

I highly highly HIGHLY recommend you check his work out in these APV video:
1. Capturing Coastal Moods
2. Capturing Estuary Moods

Ray is a British watercolor painter that works in mixed media. He has this incredible technique of working with graphite for preparatory sketches.

And then he works with watercolor, chalk and gouache for final paintings. The results are stunning and realistic too.

You can read more about him here: Ray Balkwill

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

And this is it. I hope you enjoyed this episode, and I’ll talk to you again real soon!

– Liron