How do I know, as an artist, if I’m making progress? Well, that depends on what I focus on.
Success is not a goal
Author: Matt Shanks
The Helsinki Bus Theory
How long does it take before I start feeling like the work I’m making is distinctly mine?
Staring at clouds
Why is it so difficult to give ourselves permission to stare at clouds when we’re at adults, especially when it pays off so consistently?
Starting the engine
Starting is and has always been the most difficult bit of art making for me. But knowing that if I turn the key, the rest writes itself, makes it easier.
Circuit breaking
How much should you stick with what you know, and what people expect, versus playing and experimenting with new ideas and new ways of making?
How to develop more imagination
How does one improve their imagination once they become a logical, sensible, rational adult?
Is there life on the page?
In a world awash with illustration and art theory, is there a better way to judge whether a drawing is any good?
The possibilities in a pencil
There may be no other tool so well-suited to exploration and erasure than a pencil.
The art of turning habit into pleasure
Is it possible to find pleasure in habit? To turn ‘chores’ into something more enjoyable?
Pay what you can
What it feels like to release a graphic short story of 100 hours of work under a pay what you can model.
