Dear little demon,

Welcome to the edition #2 of the Art Missive! We are now 547😈 in this newsletter: thank you sm for reading ❤.

As for me, everything’s fine. I traveled 8 hours to my parents’ in Eastern France and enjoyed a cozy Christmas with my family. Days are cold but joyful ! I still took some time for important things like : drawing and writing this Missive for you.

In this Art Missive

1. Introduction : how did I reach all my art goals in 2022 ?
   
   
2. STEP 1 : settling a plan for the next 3 months
   
   
3. STEP 2 : defining specific art goals
   
   
4. STEP 3 : identifying your path
   
   
5. STEP 4 : planning your weeks
   
   
6. STEP 5 : optimizing your day
   
7. Summary 

How did I reach all my art goals in 2022 ?

Do you ever seek to become a better artist ?

Maybe you have always wanted to improve your art skills ? Maybe you plan to start making a living with your art ? Or maybe you want to start sharing your art on social media and grow a community ?

Sometimes… Pursuing your artistic passion can feel super good : for example, you enroll in a new exciting course or you finally create your Etsy shop !

Other times… it can be really hard to handle : you feel lonely, you don’t even know where to start or you feel like you’re not being effective enough to get closer to your goals…

Well, I have been in your shoes and I have your back !

Something very important that I learned in 2022 is that owning the aspects of the way you will achieve your goals is the best place to start.

Once I understood that, I started planning every step toward improving my life as an artist. And here is what I was able to do in 2022 :

• studying full time and graduating in International Law ;
• drawing at least 3 drawings every single week of the year ;
• posting at least 3 Reels every single week and gain over 60k followers on Instagram ;
• starting my art business : selling prints and stickers, launching an Instagram training for Artists, negotiating deals with brands (coming soon 💥), creating the newsletter you are currently reading…

Don’t worry, you don’t have to run 3 lives at the same time ; the idea is to explain the method I use to organize my projects (no matter how complicated they are) and turn them into a success story.

So in this 2nd edition of The Art Missive, I prepared a step-by-step process for you to plan your 2023 art project(s) - no matter if it’s about improving your art, grow an audience or run a thriving art biz.

⚠️ Let’s grab a pen and a piece of paper ! You don’t want to simply read this email, you want to follow along and build your solid plan with me.

Step 1 : settling a plan for the next 3 months

Since the end of 2021, I have systematically planned my life in periods of 90 days.

1. Why 90 days ?



The 90-days-method is a well-known productivity method that is used by many successful entrepreneurs. 3 months has been observed as the optimal period for entrepreneurs to be able to truly build something towards a specific goal :

✅ 90 days is short enough to stay motivated and take action.

✅ But it is also long enough to implement significant and meaningful actions.

✅ It is the perfect amount of time to try a strategy, see results, correct mistakes and truly get closer to your goals.

2. Why 90 days for artists ?



A 90-days plan is perfect for artists because :

• Artists intrinsically have many tasks to manage at the same time. What we want to avoid is starting too many things at the same time and ending up finishing none of them. Within 90 days, you are forced to prioritize but you still have the space to make huge changes in your life.

• As creative people, we need to be able to see our improvements. If you go for a 6-months-project, you’ll be very likely to give up because you don’t see any results as you don’t celebrate any success within 6 months. Sticking to a 90-days plan will allow you to reflect on your achievements fast and keep you motivated !

3. Planning you next 90 days



As a consequence, the first step is to choose when your 90-days plan starts and ends.

As new year's resolutions still have a strong motivation power, my suggestion would be to take the rest of 2022 to relax and reflect on your art projects, and choose a starting date plan between January 1st and 15th.

Once you have decided a starting/ending date for your 90-day plan, we can move on to settling a productivity system that is easy to apply and that is going to keep us motivated as artists.

Step 2 : defining specific art goals

Have you ever written down the goals you want to achieve for your art?

This might sound like a very obvious first step but it has been shown by neuroscientists that by writing down your own goals you become more easily capable of visualising them. And more likely to retain why you’re doing what you're doing.

That is why, I want you to ask yourself this question (right now !) : what do you want to achieve with your art in the next 90 days ?

You can start visualising what you want your artist life to look like in 3 months.

Then, I want you to take your pen and write down up to 3 goals that you will achieve in the next 90 days.

About these goals :

✅ Stick to 1 to 3 goals : if you seek to achieve to many goals at the same time, you drastically decrease your chance to reach each one of them. It is very important to prioritize the goals that are on the tipy top of your list of art goals.

✅ Really think about the time and the energy your have at your disposal : you don’t want to be too shy because where is the challenge ? But on the other hand, you don’t want to be too optimistic. Taking into account your own personal situation is key to making a sustainable plan and staying motivated. So don’t be too harsh on yourself and don’t compare yourself to other artists. Achieving your goal is just about treating yourself the right way.

Example : if you only have about 4 weekly hours dedicated to art, maybe focus on 1 goal and make sure it is a achievable.

✅ Be as specific as possible : specific goals are easier to visualize and help you stay focused.

Examples of specific goals :

1. Result-focused goals : make 4000€ selling my digital art products, gain 5000 followers on Instagram ; 
   
2. Task-focused goals : complete my digital art course, draw 100 heads, make 3 Reels every week.



Step 3 : identifying your path

1. Choose the most effective way to achieve your goal



Now you have decided what you want to achieve in the coming weeks, I want you to write down just each goal, the path you are going to take to achieve this specific goal.

Depending on your situation you might want to do some research.

Example 1 : if your goal is to earn 4500€ as an artist in 90 days, I suggest you to :

• First, find ALL the ways to make a living out of art ;
• Then, choose the income streams that are aligned with your situation, your current skills and your personality ;
• Eventually, search more about the income streams you chose and be very clear on how it is going to be appleid to your art.

Example 2 : if your goal is to master anatomy in drawing, you need to be able to answer the following questions : 

• What are the steps to fully master anatomy ?
• What are the resources I have to learn ?
• Do I need/ do I want to buy a course ? or do I want to do this self-taught ?
• In both cases : what resources will I use ?
• etc..

👉 I know, it feels a little bit challenging to do so.

2. If you need to, start slow



In some cases, your goals can feel so out of the blue that they seem impossible to achieve.

If you feel overwhelmed by settling a precise plan, start with laying down 3 steps to achieve your specific goal.

Example : your goal is to learn Watercolor :

• Buy the material 
• Learn watercolor theory
• Practice watercolor

Then, break these 3 steps into more precise steps.

Example : your goal is to learn Watercolor, buy the material :

• Do some researches about the perfect beginner set
  
• Identify your budget and find the place where you want to buy your material
• Go buy it.

Breaking your goals down into pieces gives you a starting achievable place to begin.

Finally, you can also try to settle monthly goals one month at a time. If helps a lot to organize yourself and feel more confident.

Step 4 : planning your weeks



1. Change the game with a weekly plan



Now that you know what you want to achieve and how you want to do this, you control the big picture. It’s time to implement this big vision into your daily life, starting with your weekly plan.

Every Sunday, I take an hour to plan the coming week and reflect on my weekly goals.

When planning your week, you really want to make sure that you don’t overwhelm your calendar. To do so, you need to become very good at prioritizing your task.

2. Tips to prioritize and organize your week



👉 TIP 1 : Keep in mind you long-term goals. When planning your week, start with a review of your 90-days goals and use them to set measurable weekly goals.

👉 TIP 2 : Set your priorities. What helps me the most is to ask myself these 2 questions each time I’m adding a task to my weekly schedule :

• Is this task important ? Yes? So add it to your plan. 
• If this task is not important, ask yourself if it is urgent : Yes ? Add it in your plan. No ? Leave it for now.

👉 TIP 3 : Write a to-do-list or a task checker to make sure you do everything that is planned. Make sure that your top priorities rest on top of the checklist and less important ones follow through.

👉 TIP 4 : Take unplanned times into account ; planning is the biggest enemy of spontaneity and impro. Sometimes, things will pop up unexpectedly and all you cand o is go with the flow. That is why, you should be prepared for things that you haven’t even thought of, and instead of freaking out try planning for unplanned times.

👉 TIP 5 : Review your progress to boost you motivation and stay consistent.

Step 5 : optimizing your day

👉 TIP 1 : follow this process : if you are a student or if you have professional/personal obligations, start by blocking these times on your calendar Then block the time you need for the most important/urgent task of your week. Then, you can add the less important tasks and don’t forget to save time for unexpected events.

👉 TIP 2 : avoid micro-tasking or leave it for when your attention span is low. Each one of my days is dedicated to only one important task that I do in the morning. Most of the time it is drawing or running my business. For the micro-tasks like sending emails, staying active on social media, I leave them for the time of the day where I feel a bit less motivated : lunch time, the evening.

👉 TIP 3 : every fucking day count ! Every tiny effort you make, is going to make a difference at the end ! So don’t be too harsh on yourself. If you skipped getting out of the bed too late or if you skipped one important task, don’t give up on it all day ! You can still achieve smaller tasks. And this mindset is going to make a huge difference !

Summary: 

1. To achieve your art goals - no matter what they are -, 90-days plans are your best friends.

2. Start with writing down specific art goals (3 max!).

3. Then, identify how you want to achieve these art goals.

4. Plan your week to go one step at a time towards your goals keeping the big picture in mind.

5. Organize your days into important pals.

What did you think of this first Art Missive ? 

Is your 90-Days plan ready ? How did you like this Missive ? 

👉 Give me your feedback by answering this email.

(I read ALL the emails)