We all want to have the best assignments and commissions that are right for you. But how do we work out what commissions will be like before we say yes? Today on Thriving Women Artists, Sarah, Ping and Dorien will be talking you through how they choose who to work with and which projects appeal to them and why.   KEY TAKEAWAYS For Sarah the first thing she thinks about is money. Does the assignment pay well? Are you being attached to a big to a big company who will help get your name out...

It’s the end of the year which means it’s a good time to look back and reflect on the past 12 months and see how you’ve grown and what you could have done better. Today on Thriving Women Artists, Ping, Sarah, and Dorien will be talking through their own year-end considerations and maybe from that, you will be able to use their experiences to make 2023 even better than 2022. KEY TAKEAWAYS Things might work for you now or in the past, but that doesn’t mean that they will work forever. For...

Today Sarah, Ping, and Dorien will be giving you 6 insights that helped them grow as artists that will hopefully help you as well. From feeling guilty about not working every weekday morning to keeping your artistic mind fresh and ready to go when inspiration strikes, the Thriving Women Artists are here to share advice to help one stroke at a time.   KEY TAKEAWAYS   Being an artist is a lifestyle. It’s a routine and part of your daily life much like exercising. There isn’t a moment when...

Which is better, traditional analogue art or digital art? That’s the question Sarah, Ping and Dorien are here to discuss. Find out the advantages and disadvantages of both, which kind of projects suit one over the other, and as always there will be helpful tips from the trio for those who make their art digitally and those who prefer to make it traditionally.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Sarah works traditionally but uses digital tools to make corrections if she gets feedback from the publisher. This...

Which is a better way to learn, going to art school or self-teaching? Does one make you a better artist than the other? Is there a right way to learn how to be an artist? These are some of the topics that Ping, Sarah, and Dorien will be tackling this week on Thriving Women Artists as they look at the advantages and disadvantages of being self-taught vs going to art school. KEY TAKEAWAYS Art school isn’t this one place that you go to and learn everything. Every art school is different and...

Today, Ping, Sarah, and Dorien will be giving you six super useful tips on how you can let go of the things that don’t serve you or your art anymore. By getting rid of the things that don’t work for you anymore, you have room to bring in something new that might help you grow as an artist and as a person.   KEY TAKEAWAYS The first thing you need to do is acknowledge that there are things that don’t serve you anymore and keep you from doing the things that will serve you. You can only let...

How do I make sure I’m getting paid as an artist and how do I ensure my work isn’t used without my permission? These are just some of the questions posed by you the listener to Ping, Sarah, and Dorien which they will be answering on today’s Thriving Women Artists podcast. Listen in to find some great advice for artists from three women who have been there and done it. KEY TAKEAWAYS When someone commissions you to do work, within the contract there should be stated the scope of the work....

Today on the podcast Ping, Sarah, and Dorien will be answering questions from you the listeners around the topic of children’s books. How do you get into it? Do you work with self-published authors or art directors etc? If you’ve ever wanted to know more about what goes into illustrating a children's book, then this episode of Thriving Women Artists is for you. KEY TAKEAWAYS For Dorien’s first commissioned children’s book illustration she was contacted by someone through a website she used...

Inspiration is a good thing, but you can also get lost in it. We’ve all had that problem of finding a new Instagram page we like and just scrolling and scrolling. This week on Thriving Women Artists, Sarah, Ping, and Dorien will be discussing what to do when inspiration becomes a distraction, and more importantly, when inspiration becomes a limitation.

This week's topic came in from one of our lovely listeners who wanted to know why personal art goals are important and how you balance client work with your own personal art goals. Ping, Sarah, and Dorien will do their best to answer these questions as well as give you some great tips on setting your own art goals. KEY TAKEAWAYS In many fields, your personal work and commissioned work will likely be different, but as an artist you should in general be commissioned to do work because of...

The Thriving Women Artists are back from holiday! So naturally the topic of discussion this week is how to continue your projects after a break. Tune in for tips from Sarah, Ping, and Dorien on how they get back not just into the working habit, but the artistic mindset after having a break too.

Where we live makes up so much of our artistic self, but what happens when we go on vacation? Can we take new inspiration and creativity from those experiences? This week on Thriving Women Artists, Ping, Sarah, and Dorien will be talking about their experiences of finding creativity while on holiday and how it has influenced them.

Everybody is at a different stage in their art career, even if you haven't started yet or have been doing it for years, there is a next step you can take. But how do we know when it’s the right time to take that leap forward? This week the Thriving Women Artists Ping, Sarah, and Dorien will be telling you all about when they took steps in their careers, what steps they were, and why they took them when they did.

We all forget to take a break sometimes, we think we’re too busy or don’t have the time to stop. This week on the Thriving Women Artists podcast, Ping, Sarah, and Dorien will be reminding you why you need to take a break every now and then and what the benefits of that can be. Listen in for personal tips from three women with different experiences when it comes to choosing or being forced to take a break.

Why do we have excuses? When you really think about it, the excuse is usually there before we even start working, there is no real reason we shouldn’t do it, we just don’t want to. Excuses are the topic of conversation this week on Thriving Women Artists. Join Ping, Sarah, and Dorien as they discuss why they make excuses and how you can get rid of them to focus on your work. KEY TAKEAWAYS One of the biggest reasons for making excuses is anxiety. We don’t want to start something because...

We’ve all practised and practised for what we think could be coming in our artistic careers, but what if something comes up that you’ve never done before? This week on Thriving Women Artists, Ping, Sarah, and Dorien will be giving you helpful tips on how you can start a new project that you’ve never done before and they’ll also be sharing their own individual experiences.

Creativity and productivity are both good things you need as an artist, but they need to be in balance. You don’t want to be spending too much time being creative, because you’ll never get any other work done. And if you’re spending all your time being productive, your art will lack that creative flare. Join Ping, Sarah, and Dorien as they discuss how they balance creativity and productivity.

We all feel overwhelmed sometimes, whether it’s about deadlines or the volume of work we have to get done. This week on Thriving Women Artists, Ping, Sarah, and Dorien tackle the topic of what to do when you’re feeling overwhelmed. Listen in to find out their advice for you as an artist and what top tips they have from their personal lives to help you beat feeling overwhelmed.   KEY TAKEAWAYS   The first thing to do when you’re feeling overwhelmed. Take a break. You don’t need to have a...

The comfort zone is a mental space you go to where you are safe, at ease, anxiety neutral, and usually without a sense of risk. So what does this have to do with being an artist? This week on Thriving Women Artists, Ping, Sarah, and Dorien will discuss when you need to leave your comfort zone, how they can go in cycles, and their own unique tips and experience on growth.

When you’re starting out as an artist, you’re going to get people asking you to do work for free for “exposure”. But is that the right thing to do? How do you know if working for free will actually help you in the long run, or if someone is just taking advantage of you? This week on Thriving Women Artists, Ping, Sarah, and Dorien will help you navigate those tricky questions and make sure you know when you should be getting paid for your time.

We expect to improve our art every time we pick up a pencil, but sometimes we don’t feel like we’re improving at all. That’s not something felt by just you, we all feel like that from time to time. It can be frustrating and demotivating, but don’t worry because Sarah, Ping, and Dorien are here to give you some handy tips on how to get over this feeling.

Keeping organised as an artist can make things much easier for you while you’re working. The Thriving Women Artists, Sarah, Ping, and Dorien are here to give you some really great organisation tips to save you time and effort.

We all agree that disappointments are part of life, so they are a part of your artistic career too. Disappointments will happen, that’s part of the journey and there is so much to learn from them. This week on Thriving Women Artists, Ping, Sarah and Dorien will be discussing tips on how you can not let disappointment get the better of you and how you can turn everything into a learning moment.

Your artistic theme is often hidden from you and you have to reflect to discover what is hidden in your work. This week on Thriving Women Artists, Ping, Sarah and Dorien will be talking about their hidden themes in their art, how you can find your hidden themes, and how you can use that information to discover even more about yourself.

Do you find that your products just sit in your Etsy store and you don’t get many sales? This week on Thriving Women Artists, Ping, Sarah, and Dorien are giving you their top tips for becoming better at selling your art. Find out what you’ll need to start selling, how you can build and improve relationships, Pings 20/80 rule, the importance of marketing yourself, and setting your sales goals.