💎 [New art] Sketchbooks saved my art
Gem #52 – My signature mini portraits
Bonjour my little demon,
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TODAY’S GEM
Monday, 8am. I’m at the studio, and I just opened my new sketchbook for 2025. The paper is crisp. The first page is blank.
There’s something sacred about that first page, you know? It always feels like the start of a new artistic adventure.
I grab my pencil and let the graphite dance across the paper. And suddenly, I remember 2023— the year I started sketchbooking.
The year I saved my art.
1- Losing the spark
Back then, my art felt stuck.
Between 2020 and 2023, I was following a strict schedule: one finished portrait every week. And it helped me grow quickly, no doubt about that but after a while, it just stopped working.
The spark was gone.
I had no energy, no ideas—no joy. By the end of 2023, I was running on autopilot. I was creating because I had to, not because I wanted to.
That’s when I started looking around for something different. And I came across artists like Gaby Niko, Eleeza, and Loish—all of them sharing using sketchbook as a place for freedom.
2- What Miles Yoshida taught me
Around that time, I watched a masterclass by Miles Yoshida.In his Introduction to Ink, he shared how most of his signature pieces started as quick doodles in a messy sketchbook—nothing planned, nothing perfect.
At the time, it felt like a revelation.
I was always in production mode—trying to create the best portrait, with the best story, every single time.
But the more I pushed, the more my creativity faded. And something he said made it all click.
Maybe artists can’t stay in “output mode” forever. Maybe we also need a space to slow down— to explore, to observe, to create without pressure.
3- A new way to create
I started using a sketchbook—not to create finished work, but just to draw for myself. At first, it felt unfamiliar. But over time, It turned into a space for exploration, where I could reconnect with my instincts and create without pressure.
One format I kept coming back to was portrait sheets—small, themed portraits that let me play with expressions, shapes, and character design in a fun, simple way.
Between 2023 and 2025, I ended up making dozens of them.
They slowly became part of my signature style—and more than that, they helped me fall back in love with creating. At the same time, they started catching the eye of hundreds of thousands of people. And little by little, they became the foundation of the portrait world I’ve been building ever since, as a professional artist.
As I draw this week’s portrait sheet, I can’t help but feel grateful for this practice. Sketchbooks are often overlooked because they’re not “impressive enough”—but honestly, they’re where everything begins.
So here it is: this week’s small portraits. A tiny collection of demons, with soft faces, playful horns, and that slightly stylized look I always come back to.
Which one’s your favorite?
Voilà, that’s all for today.
Bisou,
Léa
If you liked this gem, you can leave a comment💜
sweet portraits, the third, the big horns one, personally the best of the three.