201. Following the Lines
keeping it simple this summer.
Dear reader,
I sat on parched grass in the cool shade of a late afternoon in Queen Elizabeth Park. The pencil made soft whisking sounds as my eyes followed the lines of twisted branches of my subject. Its leaves shimmered in the sunlight, tremulous in the soft wind.
The SneakyArt Post is on summer break until the end of August. While I dedicate more time to being an artist, enjoy some popular posts of the last year.
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👋🏼 Hello, new readers
Earlier this summer, I re-introduced myself to readers, explaining how I came to start this newsletter and do the things that I do.
Dear reader, if you are new here, say hi in the comments!
Earlier this year, after my Instagram account ballooned from 20k to 330k followers in three months, I applied Goodhart’s Law to my work to re-examine my ideas of success.
It is difficult to apply a numerical/statistical approach to artistic progress. The numbers we use most often - 👥 social media following, 💌 likes, 👀 views - are deceiving and opaque. Worse, they do not even work.
The numbers will not help you become a better artist. In an episode to Insiders, I spoke about the importance of never looking at the numbers.
Dear reader, is your life full of unhelpful numbers too?
Taking a cue from a chat with Jillian Hess, I wrote a post about why I use a fountain pen. Instead of thinking that you need to be confident to go straight to ink, I suggest going straight to ink as a way to become confident.
Dear reader, describe your relationship with your favourite writing instruments.
🔐 This month with Insiders
📫 I am giving you free drawings for every tiny story in this thread.
💻 I announced the next Insider Hangout (on Aug 26), where I will share my recently-expanded art supply kit.
✈️ I shared my upcoming NYC trip (17-20 Aug). I am choosing between doing a paid workshop for participants or a free meetup for readers. If you live in NYC, help me decide?
Join the circle of SneakyArt Insiders to help me continue to give away art, make books, and work as an independent artist and writer.
Thank you, dear reader, for your time and attention. I am glad to have a space in your inbox.
I loved you drawing at Queen Elizabeth Park, how it shows perspective with the grey tones of the pencil. It also looks like you worked without lifting the pencil from the paper. I once took a short class doing that and it's very meditative and fun. Thanks for reminding me of that. Also, the bit about not paying attention to the numbers. The numbers on my page are freaking me out and I just need to enjoy sharing my work with others and forgets the stupid, meaningless, distracting numbers. Thank you again, Nishant, for that whup up the head.
I'm so happy to learn about Goodhart’s Law--that's so useful. Substack is the first time I've ever dealt with numbers as a marker of my success. And it's a total distraction from what I *actually* care about, which is really just learning and producing work I'm proud of.