💎 3 (brutal) lessons I learned as a pro artist
Gem #47 – Behind an artist’s success story
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TODAY’S GEM
March 2023. Fresh out of law school. I’m sitting alone in my small parisian appartment, staring at my Instagram profile. 95k followers.
There’s a fire in my gut—fear, doubt, the weight of everything I’m about to walk away from. Years of studying. Job security. The life I was supposed to have. The quiet fear of disappointing my parents.
My hands are shaking. Alright. Let’s do this. I choose art. I turn down law firm offers. I shut down the first business I built to pay for my studies.
And I take the leap—to become a full-time artist.
February 2025. I’m writing this gem to you.
Since then, my portraits have evolved. I’ve gained nearly 300k followers on Instagram. Built a six-figure income. A classic artist success story, right? But the truth is, these two years have been the most chaotic of my life. With an unconventional path like mine—and my extreme introversion—I had to figure everything out alone. I hit wall after wall.
Today, I want to share three hard-earned lessons from the past two years. Lessons I wish someone had told me before I stepped into the unknown.
1-Keep creating in any circumstance
When I went full-time as an artist, I already had years of entrepreneurial experience. I knew one thing: I had to build passive income streams as fast as possible. So I went all in: for two years, I focused on making money—art product design, print drops, community management, partnership emails, client work, tribe events, newsletters… I was running a machine.
And then, a few weeks ago, I posted my Art vs. Artist recap. That’s when it hit me—this was the year I created the least.
A cruel paradox: the more you succeed as an artist, the less time you have for art.
At first, the numbers looked great. Revenue was growing. But after months of chasing business, I started feeling the cracks. No new work meant no direction. Art block set in. My audience disengaged. The core of my business—my art—was slipping away.
That’s when I realized: I don’t just run a business. I run an art business.
But knowing that wasn’t enough—I needed a system to make sure I never fell into that trap again.
Alex Hormozi says the first five hours of his day are sacred—reserved for his most important task. What stuck with me is this: progress requires protected time. No distractions. No negotiations.
So here’s my rule for 2025: from 8 AM to 1 PM, I make art.
No emails. No DMs. No marketing.
Every single day.
Because if there’s no art, there’s no business.
2 – Stay focused
Another trap I walked straight into—one most creatives fall for—is trying to do everything at once.
For two years, here’s what I achieved:
I wrote and sold a book for artists… then pulled it off the market.
I created not one, but two drawing courses.
I launched five products, ran one print drop, hosted two art events, and led multiple challenges.
I gained over 600 clients, all of whom I now have to manage.
I learned oil painting… then went back to graphite.
I created two newsletters, then merged them back into one.
I posted consistently on social media… then disappeared for months.
Some might call this proof of my ability to set goals and work hard. But an experienced professional artist would see it for what it really is: distraction.
For two years, I spread myself thin. Yes, I achieved a lot. But what was the cost? My art evolved through experimentation, but I’m still far from having a signature style that stands among the greats.
I lost my direction.
I burned out. Stopped posting for months.
And between all the newsletters, products, events, and announcements, my audience lost clarity. They don’t know where to look anymore.
This year, my focus is minimalism.
In my art, I want to build my own world—not just explore ideas, but commit. That means dedicating myself to one collection instead of jumping between projects and mediums.
In my business, I’m streamlining. One product, one funnel, one purpose—no more scattered efforts.
In my community, I’m choosing clarity. One place to connect: this newsletter. Instead of splitting attention across platforms, this is where I’ll show up, consistently.
Because when everything is a priority, nothing truly is.
3- Stop being an art fraud.
Surprisingly enough, the biggest challenge I faced in my first two years as a professional artist wasn’t what you’d expect.
It wasn’t that my art wasn’t good enough for my clients.
It wasn’t struggling to make money.
No—the hardest battle I fought was imposter syndrome.
For two years, I tried to build a business while convincing myself I was a fraud. That I didn’t belong. That what I was doing wasn’t real art.
What saved me? Understanding where that feeling came from. It wasn’t a lack of skill—it was a lack of education. Not in technique, but in what it actually means to be an artist. So I read books. I found a mentor. I met other artists. And little by little, I rewired the way I saw myself.
Today, I can tell you this with certainty: being an artist isn’t about how good your work is. It’s about creating. It’s about telling a story, bringing something to life that wasn’t there before.
This year, I’m done wasting time questioning if I’m a real artist.
Instead, I’m focusing on building my world—one portrait at a time.
Conclusion
Success as an artist isn’t what people think. It’s not about numbers, followers, or even technical skill. For me, it’s about one thing: learning the lessons that bring me closer to my mission—creating art that moves people.
To pull you into another world, even for a second. To make you feel something real.
In 2025, I’m all in. No distractions. No doubts. Just art.
What about you? What’s the biggest art challenge holding you back? Let’s talk in the comments.
Voilà, that’s all for today.
Bisou,
Léa
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My biggest challenge is starting, I've yet to get a commission, a job and at Instagram I"m still at 200+ followers
I sent you an email response, but essentially, I’m asking—do you feel that prioritizing the business side of things over art for the past two years was a necessary step to set yourself up financially? Did that foundation allow you to now devote sacred time to your art and shift to being artist-forward rather than entrepreneur-forward? Or do you think there’s a way to dedicate time to art first while still maintaining financial stability? It seems like you had to take the path you did to get to this point, but I’d love to know—looking back, do you think you could have approached things differently?