Please allow me to re-introduce myself
this month I complete 3 years of writing to you.
Dear reader,
This month I complete three years of writing the SneakyArt Post. Three years of sharing the secret art of ordinary places. Three years of hitting the publish button every week. Three years of thinking about you.
But not every reader has been here the whole time. This post is going out to almost 9000 readers from 127 countries around the world. Last year this time, there were less than 3000 of you. Two years ago, less than 1000.
I have had the good fortune to hit the publish button for new readers every week. Real people who have taken the wonderful, incredible decision to read my work. Lucky me.
In today’s post, how three years happened, and a break for summer.
The SneakyArt Post is
a publication about secretly drawn art of the world. Every week, I share my latest art and best ideas from a journey of self-education to be an artist and writeron summer break.
🤳🏼 Breaking the Social Media Death-Spiral
Early in the pandemic, I started this publication as a better way to engage with you.
Social media does not serve us well. To have your attention I must play tricks, jump through hoops, participate in trends. Ugh. On the other end, you are goaded, manipulated and tracked by a predatory company that colonizes your mind and monetizes every moment. Not nice.
Why should this be the way we speak with each other? We deserve a more direct relationship.
The email newsletter is the foundation of our direct relationship. A few minutes every week. Waiting in your inbox. Quiet. No tricks.
It fosters a healthy relationship between us - writer and reader instead of creator and follower. No games.
I am glad to have a space in your inbox, and a share of your time and attention every week.
🎙 To learn more about the leap of faith from biomechanical engineering to writing and drawing, listen to my interview on the Science Friction podcast.
💻 Read about my journey as an immigrant/artist in this piece for The Tyee.
📈 Things happen when you do things
Some things that happened as I got into the weekly publishing cycle:
🎙 In the fall of 2020, I began the SneakyArt Podcast - Deprived of the company of other sketchers, I made a space for long-form conversations. Now there are over 60 episodes and 100+ hours of conversation — about art, urban sketching, and the creative exploration of our human landscape.
This month I am recording several episodes just for SneakyArt Insiders.
🤳🏼 Last December, my Instagram account blew up. It took me 5 years to get to ~20k followers. Then, in eight weeks, my account ballooned to over 300k followers.
It is difficult to measure the real worth of a large social media following. It has brought me some benefits - both expected and unexpected. And some negative effects have also become 15x bigger. SneakyArt Insiders, we will speak about this later this month!
✏️ I began to write for readers, not followers. Despite having a large social media account, my primary audience is still this readership. I am uncomfortable with the idea of followers because I do not like being a brand.
When I write to you, we are just travellers on the same path. I like that equation.
This year with SneakyArt Insiders, I am learning in public. Learning in public is a commitment to share not only progress across all projects, but also the missteps, mistakes, and failures along the way.
🎯Ambition without Goal-setting
This is my most ambitious year as an artist and writer. And to make my way through this year, I have set no goals. How will that work? And what am I doing instead? In one of my most popular posts, I outlined a path for 2023. Learn about how I am concentrating on a positive-sum world and trying to not look at the numbers.
A creative career is like navigating in the dark. You take chances and enter unknown territory. You cannot know what you are getting into. To make your way then, you must leave room for missteps and failures.
But social media requires that you be a brand - a fully formed, finished product for infinite potential followers to consume. The attitude of a finished product is harmful to the creative process.
Insider support gives me the mandate to follow my compass and play the long game. No short-lived trends, no silly games, no clever tricks.
If you like the work I do, take this special offer to join our circle, enjoy exclusive Insider benefits, and support my work.
🌞 A Break for Summer
The SneakyArt Post is now on summer break.
✏️ To explore new directions with my art
🤳🏼 To re-establish safe distance from social media
🎙 To experiment with new podcast episodes
Regular programming resumes in September. Until then:
📫 With free readers, I share the best hits of the last three years across writing, art, and podcast conversations.
💌 With insiders, I continue to learn in public, by exploring a role for colours in my work using acrylic markers, inks, and colour pencils. In a special podcast series, I will share the experience from Sketcher Fest, which takes place in 10 days in the town of Edmonds (Washington, USA). Also, I am giving away art with every Sunday post!
This is what Insiders enable me to do.
Last December, I was an artist-in-residence on the Translink, Vancouver’s public transit system!
If you are a new reader, curious about me and my work, let us talk in the comments. Ask me anything!