brandonmikelstudio

[brandonmikelstudio]

I am starting to realize that simply *doing* the work is more important than trying to make *perfect* work. . Most of my art career I was obsessed with trying to make perfect work... . But underneath the surface what I actually was saying was “Hey everyone! I’m an insecure person and I want your acceptance and validation! So I’m going to spend hundreds of hours making artwork just so you’ll notice me and give me praise.” . My identity was so wrapped up in my ability to create good art. I didn’t feel like I was worth anything unless I was able to make amazing artwork. . The reality is nothing could be further from the truth. . My worth is not determined by my productivity as an artist. . My worth is determined by the one true God who created everything. The God who breathed life into my nostrils. The very God who blessed me with my creative abilities and provides me with opportunities to use them. . God says that I am more valuable than anything else in existence, and that nothing in this world could compare to my value. . He even said “I love you so much that I’m going to kill my son, Jesus, just so you can live and I can have a relationship with you.” . When I am focused on the meaning that God gives my life, I am set free to fearlessly create, knowing that my life is valuable even when I’m failing as an artist. . The pressure to make *perfect* work is gone, and is replaced by the ritual of simply showing up every day and *doing* the work. . Making good art becomes an overflow of the joy in my heart, knowing God loves me regardless of my performance. . So if you are depressed, struggling, uninspired, or feel like there is no more magic left in the world... then try fixing your eyes on the overwhelming love that God has for you. . The literal creator of the universe loves you and wants to have a relationship with you. . Life is a difficult and messy thing, but today I have joy. Today my heart finds peace. Today I am free to create, for today I worship the one true God. . . . (at Ringling College of Art and Design)

[brandonmikelstudio]

What’s the difference between successful artists and struggling artists? . I know that many of the friends that I went to art school with are now working jobs that are completely unrelated to their degree, and they struggle to find the time and motivation to keep creating. . This breaks my heart. . I hate to see talented artists getting burnt out and feeling like they aren’t getting anywhere. And a lot of time it has nothing to with their art skills, but everything to do with their marketing skills. . I know this to be true first-hand. . In 2013 I posted a drawing that ended up getting 30 likes. . In 2017, I posted that exact same drawing and was able to get over 2,000 likes (and 10 – 15 commission leads the following week). . One major difference between successful artists and struggling artists is knowing how to market their work. . Of course the most important thing is to make absolutely breathtaking artwork that makes people stop and say “wow”. . Once you’ve got that covered then picking up a few marketing tricks can really amplify the impact you are making with your work. . If you’re interesting in learning a bit about how I market my work then check out SmartArtistIncome.com (link in bio). . And if you have any questions about growing an audience or getting more followers then leave a comment on this post! . . . . (at Ringling College of Art and Design)

[brandonmikelstudio]

Let’s talk about branding. . Getting good at Instagram does not matter... . Using the latest and smartest social media tactics does not matter... . Getting thousands of likes and followers won’t help you in the long run... . ...unless you build a strong brand. . Your brand isn’t your logo, your graphics, your messaging, your content, your product, or even your core values. . Your brand isn’t what you say it is. It is what people say about your brand. . Your brand isn’t just your Unique Value Proposition (UVP). It is the impression people form in their minds after receiving that value again and again over time. . Your brand is not your company name or slogan. It’s the meaning that people give to your company name and slogan after experiencing some sort of value from your product. . Your brand is not your visual identity. When people see your graphics and colors, and they remember the feeling they had when they experienced your product or service, and they start telling themselves a story in their heads... that right there is your brand. . That story they tell themselves in their head...is that is your brand. . . . (at Black Crow Coffee Co)

[brandonmikelstudio]

Want to know how to create a powerful Instagram that people care about? . When I quit my job in 2016 to start doing freelance work full-time, I spent the first 2 weeks going to the same coffee shop every day to sit down and plan out my goals and my brand. . I went through worksheet after worksheet, book after book, and filled up pages and pages in my journal with thoughts, concepts, and ideas for where I wanted to take my life and my brand as an artist. . I asked myself questions like: - what is my business? - What is my brand? - What do I stand for? - What do I not stand for? - What is my mission? - What does my ideal daily lifestyle look like? - How much time will I spend on making art each day? - How much money do I want to make? - What are 3 buzzwords that capture the essence of my brand? - How do I want people to feel when they read my content and interact with my brand? - What emotions do I want my audience to experience? . Rather than focusing on the outward aspects of my content and my business, i focused inward on my values. . Instead of focusing on what I wanted to do and make, I focused on why I wanted to do it and what I care about. . I got really clear on what my motivations were, what my goals were, and how I wanted to serve other artists. . Once I was clear on my values, I made better content that resonated with my audience better. . People could tell that I was making work with passion and love and not just doing it for money or some self-serving purpose. . When I put love and care into my work, people started to pay attention. (at McMaster College)

[brandonmikelstudio]

Really miss this guy. Every time I watch Good Will Hunting I'm moved to a state of introspection and deep reflection. Thank you Mr. Williams. (And thank you Matt Damon!) . . . . Update: Get the latest guides and tools to help you grow you art career from SmartArtistIncome.com. . I’m working on some in-depth guides on how to get freelance work through Instagram, how to promote via influencers, and the exact posting formula I use every time I post to Instagram. . https://www.smartartistincome.com

[brandonmikelstudio]

Finally made it over to the dark side of illustration... Digital. (Been posting a lot of my process on my Instagram story) . The original drawing (look down in my feed) was completely hand drawn, and based off of a design by David Adrian Smith. I tweaked it a bit to change his letter 'L' to the letter 'G'. When I read that @davesmithartist spent 60% of his process working on the digital work I was blown away! Imagine spending 80 hours hand-rendering artwork, feeling accomplished for your progress, and then acknowledging that you are only 40% finished with the project. I guess that's part of what separates the world-class pros from the wannabes. . If you like what I do and have a design need, shoot me a message and let's chat! God blessed me with skills and it'd be a waste to not use those skills to serve our community! #TakeAction . . . . Update: SmartArtistIncome.com is alive and thriving! I wrote a blog post (almost) every day in March and have already gotten over 800 unique visitors (: now I’m focusing on editing some of my content and digging into the business and strategy behind the site.

[brandonmikelstudio]

Every thought you have is important. Every single action you choose to make or not to make is important. I've been reading Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis and pondering his words all week. I'll leave you with this quote. . "Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions that you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible." C. S. Lewis - Mere Christianity . . . . Update: SmartArtistIncome.com is live now! I'll be coming out with some marketing guides and Instagram guides for artists so keep an eye out!

[brandonmikelstudio]

MAKING ART IS POSSIBLE EVEN WHEN YOU AREN'T FEELING INSPIRED . We all know what it is like to exist on this plane of incredible passion and inspiration.. where every thought and action seems to flow effortlessly out of you. Like that time I stayed up all night hand-crafting this illustrious Christmas present for the girl I had a crush on in High School... Piece of cake. . It was so easy for me to put in the hours and the effort because I had such natural affection for this girl, and on top of that I had a clear vision of what I was hoping to get out of making this present... Affection and a potential relationship with a girl I was really attracted to! . When you are really inspired and have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish, it's incredibly easy to get yourself to take action and do things that require more effort than you would normally give. . So what about when we aren't feeling inspired? Obviously we can't hold on to our feelings of inspiration forever. Feelings fade. Do you think a married couple is always going to FEEL as passionate and excited about each other as they on the day before their wedding? That would be ridiculous. But they will still continue to love, serve, and care for each other. . My point is.. love is a decision. It's a act of the will. It can be practiced independent of feelings. You can't force yourself to like someone but you can act as if you love them and care about their wellbeing. The same is true for creativity. We can't force ourselves to feel inspired or passionate about the work every single moment... but we can decide to do the work and make the art because we care about it being made. #FoodForThought . . Update: SmartArtistIncome.com is live now! I'll be putting a lot more effort into the blog now. I’m currently focusing on developing some core content, growing my email list a bit, and planning out the monetization strategy for my core product offering

[brandonmikelstudio]

For those of you who like to see my process pictures.. . This is during a book cover commission I did for a local church. (You can see the final down in my feed) I spent the whole weekend working on this piece trying to knock it out before the deadline. . In this photo I have just started the shading on the final draft. Almost everything was accomplished with a 0.3mm mechanical pencil, a 9H drawing pencil (for the drafting lines), and tracing paper (to trace half of the image and transfer it to the other side so it would be symmetrical. . Total time spent on this project was roughly 30 hours from concept to final draft. I believe I only charged $250 or $300 for this project because I was in college and they were willing to shift deadlines to work around my flexible schedule. Now I would charge around $400 or so for something of this scale, but I would also be able to create results in a shorter amount of time. . For you young artists out there there are just starting to consider freelance work, don't be afraid to get your hands dirty and make mistakes. Ask a lot of questions to people that have already been in the game for a while, and MOST IMPORTANTLY try to be a decent human being when interacting with people and clients. The less skilled artist that acts more professional will have more success than the talented artist who is a nightmare to work with. (Probably could have worded that better) . I look forwarded to working with some of you and learning from many of you. Please leave a comment or send me a message if you have any questions about my work, commissioning me, the freelance process, etc. . . . Update: SmartArtistIncome.com is live now! I'll be putting a lot more effort into curating the best resources and case studies to help artists level up their art career and make an impact with their work. Check it out and let me know if it helps you grow (:

[brandonmikelstudio]

I still get a lot of people asking me about my work and my process and what it took to end up with the skills that I have today. There are no tutorials I'm going to suggest, no secret resources or tools that gave me my abilities, no "hacks" that will help you to beat the system... Literally all it takes is working hard and showing up every single day no matter how you feel, what's going on in your personal life, what the weather is like, whether you are inspired or not.. I honestly put in around 2000-3000 hours of practice into my art during my 4 years in art school. No matter who you are or what talent you are born with, anyone who dedicates themselves to a craft and puts in the hours will get real results. Take action. Keep trying. Keep failing. Fail more. Succeed some. Try new things. Set goals. Follow through. Push yourself to get better every day. #resilience . . . Update: SmartArtistIncome.com is live now! I'll be coming out with a new case study soon on how I spent $100 to get 1,867 new Instagram followers in one weekend, so be on the look out for that!

[brandonmikelstudio]

Don't fall in love with the applause, fall in love with the work... Part of being a creative means that you "feel" your way through life rather thank "think" your way through. It's been almost 3 months since I last posted to Instagram. I've gone weeks without replying to emails. I haven't taken on a commission in a few months. People have been messaging me to see if I'm okay and I want to assure you all I'm doing just fine. As my page started getting more attention I started getting more caught up in worrying about the numbers and how many like I would get, rather than putting my focus on the art itself. This is a dangerous place to be as an artist. When I started to think about making art I felt so much pressure to make something as good as my previous pieces... Something that would get more likes than my past work. That's when I decided that it was time to take a break and shut everything down for a while. I put down my pen and picked up my guitar. I currently spend hours each day focusing on music, though I still plan time to doodle every now and then. Don't fall in love with the applause, fall in love with the work. . Thank you all for the love and support. I'll keep updating my feed with letters, process pics, and thoughts about life. I want you to know that you are all my biggest inspiration. #JustDoIt #OvercomeYourFear . . . Update: SmartArtistIncome.com is live now! I'll be putting a lot more effort into the blog now 🤓 make good art

[brandonmikelstudio]

I don't know how to draw faces! Let me explain. I spent most of my time in college studying lettering, printmaking, and graphic design. I'm pretty sub-par when it comes to Figure drawing and portraiture. I traced Sara's face by using tracing paper on my laptop screen. Of course I'm tempted to frown upon this and say it's "unoriginal" but I realize that my end goal was to craft a quality design and a layout with interesting typography. Taking the time to free hand a face would only slow me down, as I'm more of a designer and less of a fine-artist. I draw fonts I find on LetterheadFonts.com and I "steal" ribbon and banner designs from early 1900s ephemera pieces. I'm sharing this in an effort to be transparent and encourage other artists. Too much of my time has been lost to the paralyzing grip of Imposter Syndrome. . If you steal from a single author then it is plagiarism, but if you steal from many authors then it is research. Keep this in mind the next time you start to feel like a fraud. . "Every idea is a juxtaposition. That's it. A juxtaposition of existing concepts." -Steven Grant, comic book writer . . . Update: SmartArtistIncome.com is live now! I'll be putting a lot more effort into the blog now 🤓 I also just finished my 30 day blogging challenge and ended up with 600 website visitors and over 120 email signups!

[brandonmikelstudio]

The enemy has been attacking me in the form of and self-doubt and fear that I’ll never be good enough. Times are tough but I'm not giving up that easily. . I want to share with you a quote. "I have come to see that pain and pleasure come to us not as opposites but as Siamese twins, strangely joined and intertwined. Nearly all of my memories of acute happiness, in fact, involve some element of pain or struggle." (Quote by missionary Paul Brand) . I've been stuck in my head and not sure if it's from medication, diet, lack of exercise, major life changes, sleep problems... There are so many variables. But God is good and I am learning to find more peace in that. Be well my friends. . This is a lettering piece I did for an old roommate back in 2014. . . . Update: SmartArtistIncome.com is live now! I'll be putting a lot more effort into the blog now 🤓 link in bio

[brandonmikelstudio]

Do you care about your art? Are you sure? . I've met so many talented artists that share their work on Instagram, and I just have to shake my head when I see beautiful artwork presented really poorly! . Whether you are a student, a hobbyist, a professional, or a 9-5 graphic designer.. SHOW SOME CRAFTSMANSHIP. . If you scroll down back in my feed you'll see how the content has become more polished as I've learned to present my work more professionally. I used to put all my effort into my drawings and then almost no effort into photographing the work, styling it, or presenting it well, but good presentation makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE! . So for this illustration I did of the letter "G" (based on a design by @davesmithartist), I created a vintage styled "mockup" photo, overlayed my illustration onto it using Photoshop, and then adjusted the contrast to make the image Pop just a bit more. . Good Art + Good Presentation = Inspiration . You want your work to inspire people, right? . In this crowded world of social media you need to GO THE EXTRA MILE if you want to distinguish yourself and stand out from the crowd. . And if you want to use the Vintage Mockup photos that I made.. You can buy 'em on Creative Market (👉🏼link in bio). I really wish I could give them away for free, but I've got to take care of my finances so I can keep making art and helping all of ya Artists out there (: . So whatcha think? Do you have any other tips for standing out from the crowd as an artist? Share your best tips in the comments! . . . (at Saint Petersburg, Florida)

[brandonmikelstudio]

365 days ago I was still incredibly unsure of myself, my business plan, how I was going to make a living as a creative professional... But I still did my best to show up every day and put in the hours for improving myself and my craft. Now, a year later, I'm faster at taking and editing photos, writing a quality Instagram caption takes minutes instead of hours, and I don't stress out about the little details as much as I used to. It doesn't take a ton of effort to see major improvement in your life. Just a little bit of effort every single day is enough to change your life. Has anyone ever told you how to eat an elephant? (at Station House St. Pete)

[brandonmikelstudio]

I realized something important today—inspiration is a mindset, it's magical and unexplainable at times but just like everything else there is a science behind it. I was reading an article featuring Joss Whedon (Director of Marvel's Avengers) and Joss gets two weeks off each year. During his vacation he reads 10 books (in 14 days) and goes out to see like 9 plays with his wife. He calls this "Filling The Tanks". In college I would goof off a lot in my lectures. Instead of paying attention to the history lesson I'd usually be mining the Internet for inspiring art to look at. I searched and searched until I found artwork that truly stimulated me and made me feel something. I probably spent hundreds, maybe thousands, of hours in college just looking at other people's art. Do I do this now? Well, not really. Not in in the same capacity that I did in my university days... My point is, I don't need to ponder any longer as to why my inspiration level is down... I just need to schedule time to fill the tanks! . I want to hear how you cultivate inspiration and motivation in your artwork (: leave a comment and share some of your best tips. (at Saint Petersburg, Florida)

[brandonmikelstudio]

Have you ever had that magical period of time where you felt incredibly inspired and your work reflected it? There was a period, when I first started getting serious about art, where I was cranking out some incredible work. I would create some stunning drawings again and again and again. I'm not creating with the same passion I once had, and I'm searching for it again. I'd love to hear thoughts, tips, recommendations from the community. (at Saint Petersburg, Florida)