Thank you for doing this for me...
#68 or an artist's confidences
Bonjour my little demon,
Welcome to the edition #68 of The Art Missive. We are now 12,203 😈 in this newsletter! Whether you've been here from the start or just arrived, thank you so much for reading ❤.
If you haven't already, you can also:
Watch my new video, Your Stylized Portrait Guide.
Join over 500 students in my portrait course, Reality to Fantasy.
Read all the previous Art Missives.
And now, let’s start with today’s Art Missive.
1/ Shame
It's last Tuesday and I'm staring at my computer screen.
Should I send it?
A wave of hesitation hits me. I start tapping my foot frantically on the floor and biting my nails—an old habit I thought I’d kicked months ago.
No, it's too ugly... they'll make fun of me.
Clearly, I was out of my comfort zone. That evening, I was writing my weekly email to you. I had decided to send you something a bit more intimate, where I showed you a drawing I had made at the age of 20.
In this motivational email, I didn’t mention that this hideous drawing was probably my biggest artistic insecurity as it reveals a truth I’m deeply ashamed of:
I'm not talented.
I’m nothing like those young pencil prodigies we all envy.
In fact, I was one of those adults who, at 20, still drew poorly.
And even if rationally, I had nothing to fear from you, the fear of revealing this complex, catalyzed in this shaky drawing, frozen me.
I don't care, I'm sending it. I can trust them, they will understand my message.
Newsletter sent.
To 12,170 people.
Who will see that at 20, I drew like a 5-year-old child.
I am so anxious...
Worn out from all the stress, I went to bed. It wasn’t until the next afternoon that I opened my inbox—and found a surprise waiting for me.
2/ No way…
On Wednesday, right around noon, the summer sun was beating down on my studio, turning it more into a furnace than an art sanctuary. But the real reason I was feeling warm was something else entirely.
That day, my inbox was bursting with dozens of mails.
My Instagram was overwhelmed with DMs.
And the views on my new video tutorial were spinning out of control, already surpassing a thousand.
The day before, I was expecting a few minor teases about a not-so-important drawing, but instead, I found myself overwhelmed by a wave of love.
No way… How could I have doubted them?
In these messages, many of you thanked me for sharing that ugly drawing. You said it served as a reminder that it's never too late to pursue your passion, and that what truly matters is getting started, believing in yourself, and putting in the work
The cliché yet powerful, 'if I can do it, so can you!'
This really warmed my heart, but it also got me thinking about something that resonates with every art enthusiast.
3/ A punch to the gut.
In the days after this happened, I was lost in thought, completely focused on your messages that made me realize something important.
Until now, I was all wrong about art
Even though I’d made progress over the past few years, I was still trapped by fear—fear of not creating something perfect, fear of failing, and fear that people wouldn’t like my work.
That’s why I was such a perfectionist. I’d turned into a control-obsessed monster, plagued by imposter syndrome and procrastination.
It’s also why, in my four-year art journey, I always refused to sell my drawings. I got hundreds of requests to buy prints or originals, but how could I share my art with the world when I was ashamed of it?
And that’s why I felt embarrassed by this drawing I made when I was 20, which ended up starting this whole story.
But luckily, the demon tribe set me free; like a punch to the gut, you woke me up from this nightmare
4/ Thank you.
It took until 2024, at 26 years old, and a tribe of hundreds of thousands of followers for me to finally understand something so obvious:
In art, there’s no right or wrong.
When people look at your work, they’re not going to double-check the angles, measure the proportions, or pull out a color wheel to judge the harmony.
The first thing they’re going to do is feel.
So thank you, my little demons, for opening my eyes to this truth. Thanks to you, I finally have the tools to overcome imposter syndrome. And now, you know your Mama Demon: with every new lesson learned, I set myself a challenge to put it into action.
And this time, let’s go big!
To lock in this new self-love resolution, let’s FINALLY launch the Demon Tribe’s print shop (only four years late!).
For the next 10 days, I’m going all out to get the first print drop ready for this crazy supportive tribe.
You’ve been asking for this forever, so it’s time I get my act together. Be ready next week!
✨HELP ME DECIDE✨
Finally, I hope this message helps other artists, or anyone with a passion to pursue, to gain confidence and remember that the only thing that matters is the journey.
Voilà, that’s all for me.
Keep creating and see you next week! 😈
Léa
I like how you put it that people won’t be looking at the technique, colors and everything artists fret over - it’s what does the piece make them feel. It took a long time for myself to get over all of that. It’s a game changer for sure. Your new work definitely draws out vibes/feels for sure. So exciting to see the progress you are making and all the steps of realization that comes with it. 👏🏼