I visited my brother & sister-in-law in Auxerre, Burgundy. This city is so quiet and peaceful, the minute I arrived, I felt my foggy brain disappearing. We spent our days walking in the beautiful city, enjoying the architecture and food. I’ve of course, stopped by an art shop because, you know, the best souvenirs from an unknown city are in art shops ( yes I bought things that I could easily find in Paris :D )
This trip supercharged my brain and I started to play in my sketchbook. My current obsession is having fun with whatever materials are needed to create the image present in my head.No judgment, just put it on paper and then, explore it! Mixed media makes me feel like a child, I’m using a limited palette but with unlimited tools. They all have their particularities, I like to use acrylic ink & watercolour for the background, soft pastels and coloured pencils for textures and gouache for a bit of brightness.
I’ve also decided to change a bit my newsletter, say hello to the new header! I needed something less childish, maybe something more me, but something new and clean, that’s for sure. I’ll write two kinds of posts, one more spontaneous, My two cents and one about my art practice called “In the studio”.
In the studio will be a (bi?)monthly update about my art : wow ! That sounds very serious, isn’t it?. I’ll show my explorations, what I’m working on etc… I need to split things because I feel like I’m always complaining about everything in my newsletter (I’ve lost 3/4 subscribers so maybe I was…) but never really take practical decisions. I also want to talk more about art and less about me :D I wanted to come back to Instagram, just to share things spontaneously but every time I press publish, anxiety kicks me! I love the way artists like Luisa Fernanda Nino or Louise Gouet are sharing their journey on Instagram or Patreon, that's a direction that I want to take but I need to find a way to make Instagram work for me instead of me being overwhelmed by their algorithm.
If you have any recommendations & pieces of advice about that, I'll be happy to talk about it!
How do you use social media in your artistic journey?
That’s all from me.
See you soon, love,
Stevelyne
Regarding the lost readers, remember we are fishing in an infinite pool so there will always be those who leave and those who find us.
Coincidentally this is something they say in Comiclab the podcast. I recommend it. Its about two old friends talking about making webcomics and making a living out of it. But they talk about so many things that help people that don’t have a standard structured job.
For social media t hey say “the 4 C’s of social media. Creation, Curation, Commerce and Kindness” (yeah we know lol) and they mention how your own website is the main goal for your true fans
In resume there is one called “the 20 webcomics commandments” if you would like a good resume of what they talk and how they help.
I have a love/hate relationship with Instagram. I’ll be very dedicated for a few months and then feel like it’s making no huge difference in any part of my life, or anyone else’s, and abandon it for a few months. Then the cycle repeats. 🤷🏼♀️No great advice just an acknowledgment that social media is tough!