97 - 3 Reasons to be Authentic

and the new episode of the podcast!

👋🏼 Hello, readers!

In this week’s issue, I introduce Episode 34 of the SneakyArt Podcast - Being Authentic with Shari Blaukopf. I share notes from the episode and THREE great reasons to choose authenticity in your art practice.

The last time Shari and I spoke was for Episode 3 all the way back in September 2020. This Second Conversation is a way to pick up where we left off, catch up with all that’s new, and discuss some ideas that have popped into my head since the early episodes. Episode 34 is formatted to begin with the first conversation from Episode 3, followed by the second conversation.

Spoiler alert: At one point, Shari tells me,

“Nishant, you’ve been thinking too much!”

And I think I agree. 😅

🔥 Keeping it Fresh!

The SneakyArt Post has a new logo! Credit to Adam Ming for the original design and David Kalkbrenner for minor revisions.

I think this logo hits the spot for everything SneakyArt is about. I see in it the sense of playfulness and joy that are central to my work. And of course my yellow Lamy Safari fountain pen is essential!

What do you think?

🎙 Ep 34 - Being Authentic with Shari Blaukopf

Montreal-based urban sketcher and educator Shari Blaukopf shares her journey to becoming a full-time artist, with practical tips, advice, and ideas for anyone on a similar path.

In this conversation, Nishant asks Shari about the various decisions that led to her becoming a full-time, independent artist, many years after she had given up on the idea of having an artistic career. They discuss the emergence of the creator economy and how it makes it easier for self-motivated individuals to pursue such choices in life. Known in the urban sketching community as a master watercolorist, Shari explains how the first job of the artist is to ‘see’ things differently. They discuss how seeing is also a function of the art-tools one decides to use, and the personal inclinations of the artist. How does Shari bring incremental progress to her work? What are the motivations behind her daily painting practice?

In the Second Conversation (beginning from 1:06:00), Nishant and Shari speak again after 1.5 years, to reconnect and catch up with each other’s lives and art practice. With the experience of 30+ conversations since the previous recording, Nishant asks for Shari’s thoughts on a set of ideas he has accumulated, about surviving and thriving as an independent artist in the creator economy.

Listen to the conversation on your choice of streaming service:

Spotify | Apple | PocketCasts | Google | Web | Gaana

🚀 What is Authenticity?

During the conversation, we discussed ways to differentiate the terms ‘original’ and ‘authentic’ as they might apply to the work of creatives. Here is how I define them in context -

Originality is doing something that has not been done before.

Often we think we are being original, but our idea of “has not been done before” is a factor of our perceptions and the limits of our knowledge. True originality is achieved after absorbing ideas and inspiration from artists who have come before us and being genius enough to move the needle forward by an inch.

(Even doing this, however, is not a guarantee of either success or quality.)

Authenticity is tapping into the person you are, and to learn to express yourself with honesty and sincerity.

This happens when our art reflects our deepest interests, is inspired by the real things that affect our lives, and speaks to the person that we are. It requires us to be honest with ourselves and not stray from the path of sincerity. In a cynical, dishonest world which teaches us that dishonesty (even to one self) is pragmatic and that cynicism (even against the things we love) is realism, this is a lot harder than most people imagine.

“Gods must not engage in theology. The writer cannot, by human reasonings, betray the faith that art requires of us.” - Jorge Luis Borges.

Replace writer in this quote with artist or any other creative.

🎯🎯🎯 3 Reasons to Choose Authenticity

🎯 Nobody else can do you

I asked Shari about the concept of being the best vs being the only. Her answer was illuminating, referring to advice she had received from her teachers -

“The more you do, the more your own voice will come through… If your own voice or your own style comes through, then that becomes your ‘the only’ because it’s you.”

In today’s environment, artists can engage directly with their audience, and use that interaction to craft their brand and decide how and what to sell. They no longer need to pass through gatekeepers to meet institutional standards of good art.

Authenticity means recognizing and valuing the true USP (Unique Selling Proposition) of your work - you!

Read this discussion I had with Elle Griffin about the many advantages of being an independent creator today.

🎯 Being an artist is no longer a zero-sum game

Authenticity means recognizing that we are not in competition with other artists, and that one artist’s gain is not another artist’s loss. In fact, the more artists that succeed with their authenticity, the better chances we have at succeeding too!

But sometimes it can be easier to be in competition with others. It makes it simpler to measure one’s success in a field that has notoriously few reliable metrics of success. It is important to get out of such a relativistic idea of success because it only breeds insecurity and dependence. Who you envy owns you.

An artist must play infinite games -

A finite game has a specific victory condition. The idea is that victory brings you joy. Think, any sport. An infinite game is played without victory conditions. The idea is that joy lies in the playing of it, and therefore you want to keep playing for as long as possible. Think, life. - Post #95

🎯 The art will take care of itself

Speaking on the analogy of Architects v Gardeners (from Post #74), Shari said -

“I never knew what things were going to be like in my artistic career, I just knew I had to draw. But it wasn’t like a career, it was like an obsession.”

To be authentic is to be more like the gardener in the long term view of things. While it is wise to plan ahead and have a larger scheme for your work (like architecture), the trajectory of one’s life never pans out the way it is planned (unlike architecture). In this respect, it is more useful to think as a gardener. The job is to plant seeds and give them water, and create favourable conditions for things to grow. As long as we do the various little right things, the rest takes care of itself.

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SneakyArt today is nothing like I had imagined. Art itself was never part of my plans. Read about my path as an accidental artist. It has come about from doing one thing after another, each one bringing me joy and igniting my curiosity. It has come from pursuing authenticity.

In the macroscopic scheme of things, I am an artist because I am curious about the world. I seek to understand things, and feel at home in a foreign environment.

In the microscopic view, I draw the things I draw because these are the things I am curious about. I draw the way I draw because I am impatient and easily distracted. I draw with the tools that let me express myself the way I am most comfortable - with speed and intuition. All of SneakyArt is a natural extension of my personality, but none of it has come from a blueprint. Just seeds and water and soil.

🖋 In other words

“We are what we pretend to be. So we must be very careful about what we pretend to be.” - Kurt Vonnegut.

🎧 Also listen to …

• Insider #8 - Post-Script with Koosje Koene about the creator economy and her plans to publish her next book. Available to free readers for the first time!

I hope you enjoy Episode 34 of the Podcast. I would love to know how you like it. Thanks, as always, for your time and attention. See you next week!