Art retrospective of 2024 & Goals for 2025
In these first week of January, I wanted to take the time to reflect on what has happened in 2024, and what are my artistic goals for 2025. To be honnest, I had to go back to work on the 2nd, so I’ve had very little time to actually reflect, and this blogpost will probably look more like a brain dump than a very nice and completed reflection… But that’s also the truth of it, so let’s jump right into it!
What happened in 2024?
Well… a lot, and not so much at the same time! In 2024, my main objective was to start develop a side-business with my art. I did not (except my first class on Skillshare!). Was it a failure? Not really! Looking back at it, I realized that this objective had made me changed my art habits a lot (for the better). When I wrote down this goal, I have a very vague idea of what it would mean. I thought about creating a community, posting more content, launching a shop, etc. but not really about how it linked back to my art practice. The only thing I wanted to do was create series, because I was under the impression that “real” artist had series. What was a serie? I did not really know!
So as I did not launch my art business in 2024, what really happened and what lessons did I learn?
Posting content - planning and simplifying the process
I started my Youtube channel in February2023 and created about 30 videos that first year, with 4 to 5 some months, and 0 to 1 others. In 2024, I wanted to be more consistent, and have a better plan. The idea was to show the process of creating bigger paintings and series of paintings. I ended up doing a bit more than 20 videos in 2024, and struggling with the concept of series. This made me realized that 1) I needed to plan my videos more if I wanted to upgrade my content 2) I needed to have a comfortable set up if I wanted to be able to record my process for series of paintings or challenges. Overall, I was not more consistent in 2024, I did finally reach 100 subscribers to my Youtube channel, but there is no clear growth pattern and it did not allow me to create a community. However, it made me rethink my art practice, and also my environment: How to make it easier to create and easier to film? I also want to put less pressure on myself regarding videos. I always had the feeling that I had to post a video every week, but that ended up being too much and I just could not keep up. So I also tried to rethink my whole process: How to keep things organized, so that I can stay consistent without added pressure? This year, I will try to go for one every two weeks, but keep the pace throughout the year :) I really hope these changes will prove relevant in 2025!
Regarding IG, it is more or less the same realization. I had the habit of just posting whenever I remembered about it. Since the end of year, I have a posting schedule, to help me be more consistent. I know what I want to post, and I have a small database with the content “ready to post”. I do not use any fancy tools to help me, just a basic planner!
New website - what have I already created, and what do I want to create
One of my objectives of 2024 was to re-design my blog and maybe upgrade to a more professional website. This is now done, and I am so happy with the change. It is way easier to maintain, which was something I struggled with on my older blog: everything was a bit tedious, so I just pushed it aside and never implemented the changes. It is more flexible, so I can showcase more of my art very easily, and the website can grow with me (I can add a membership, a newsletter, a shop, etc. if I ever need to).
Creating this website forced me to think about what I wanted to convey with my art. What was the storyline? Why do I want to show it? It also made realize that what I called “series” definitely lacked coherence! When putting all the art pieces together, you could feel that something was off. This was an eye-opener, and inspired me a lot on what I want to create in 2025. I worked on this website at the end of 2024, and I think it was the best thing for me. It helped me realize all the things I had already created. That they were not all junk, but some were actually pretty nice (if I should say so myself). That I had improved. And where I want to go with my art. I think it also hit me more than just looking at some older videos, or some of my sketchbooks etc., because all of my “best” art pieces were displayed at the same place, very neatly.
Learning and attending my first art retreat - the value of studying
In 2024, I continued taking classes on Skillshare, making time for sketchbook practice, playing and studying. I even invested more into this part of art, by subscribing to Sarah Burn’s gouache boxes from Craftamo, and attending to an art retreat hosted by Jess Karp. I have a full post on the art retreat here, so you can go and read that if you want more information. I will also do one on the subscription boxes this year, once I have gone through them all. Beyond these extra things, I bought some art books, spent time on human anatomy, and grew into the habit of drawing in my couch in the evening while watching a TV show or movie. I even tested some live figure drawing sessions.
Overall, I think consciously allocating time to studying art helped me improve (who would have thought!), helped me when I was stuck for more personal pieces, gave me ideas on things I want to try, and made me realize that the things I am painting are “real” art. On that last point, I think that before I thought everything I was doing was studying, because I was not an artist. In a way, it is still true, as I grow with every piece I am making. But, I have finally accepted the fact that my more finalized pieces are not only study pieces, but are also “real” art on their own!
Main take aways :)
Changes in my art practice
All in all, 2024 was very much a transition year for me. I started painting and drawing way more than before. I created lots of paintings, I explored new media, I grew my understanding of color mixing. I felt like I really grew as an artist. Things became more serious to me. I realized that I really loved art and wanted to have it part of my life. But at the same time they also became more fun! Because I now have a mindset and skill level where I can just have fun and explore things :)
New studio!
Going hand in hand with the previous point, 2024 was also a year of changes in my art environment. At the end of 2024, I really took time (with my partner also) to assess our apartment and what wsa working and what was not working. We made a lot of changes in the organization of supplies and of the living spaces, and creating has become way more comfortable! I will probably make a post about my art space, and how it is organized in the coming weeks :)
What to expect in 2025?
Continue learning & better organize my study sessions
Of course, I want to continue learning. I will probably participate into another art retreat this year. I want to go pleinair painting more often. I want to practice my portrait skills. I want to learn new techniques with acrylics. I want to play more with oil pastels. I want to do more master studies. There are still sooo many things I want to work on (the list is infinite, an I have troubles prioritizing). So studying will for sure stay part of my art routine in 2025! Apart from my evening sketches, I have not found yet the best way to organize studying for me. I know I love doing some short challenges to dive into a subject / medium, so I may do some in 2025. I also like watching tutorials for subjects I know less. But I really struggle finding time to do the tutorials… So there is still avenues for improvement in how I organize my study sessions!
Be more coherent & create series
When looking back at some of the pieces I have done in the last 2 years, I feel I can be more coherent. I somehow still want to create series, but I now think that series need to share something more than a subject. It also needs to be coherent in the color scheme / the atmosphere and/or to convey a story (like the same scene in different seasons). This realization has inspired me a lot on short series I can do (like minimal gouache paintings of waterfalls), but I also want to take these learnings into a series of bigger pieces in acrylics, and a series in watercolors… Let’s see what I can manage!
Lots of other things!
Apart from these main objectives on my art practice, there is a ton of things I want to do in 2025. I still want to work towards creating a side business in art. I want to do a first self-portrait. I want to finish the challenges and projects started in 2024. I want to record more of my process and upgrade my video-making (and who know, finally develop a community). I want to create more classes on Skillshare (and hopefully more succesfull). For sure 2025 will be a very full year :) I cannot wait to look back at this post in January 2026, and reflect on the year that will have just ended…
