Ping is here with a big announcement. The Thriving Women podcast is coming to an end…but don’t panic!  Ping is launching her very own brand new show - Botany Works Podcast. Each week on the show Ping, and her high profile guests, will share with you their insights into the world of art from both a creative and business perspective.  So join Ping as she helps you to grow your business, become successful and create a healthy work / life balance. You can listen to Botany Works Podcast on your favourite podcast platform. And thank you for listening, and for all your support and reviews of The Thriving Woman Artist Podcast.    LINKS Botany Works Artist Instagram Join Ping on her new adventure with the Botany Artist Works Podcast: Botany Works Artist - Spotify ABOUT THE PODCAST A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping He, a happy artist from Amsterdam. This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. Ping welcomes you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected]  www.instagram.com/pinghe.art

Welcome to this fresh look at Thriving Women Artist Podcast with your host, Ping He. In this episode, Ping is joined by watercolour artist and owner of Mitta Studio, Darya Mitta. In this wide ranging interview the ladies discuss everything from inspirations to motivation and time management to achieving success. So sit back and enjoy the first new look at what promises to be a great show.  KEY TAKEAWAYS Darya talks about her journey in the art world, from falling in love with painting at school, to working in design, and then taking the leap to follow her heart and become an artist.   Darya explains where she obtained her positive mindset and how reaffirming this on a daily basis helps her progress as an artist.  Darya and Ping talk about the importance of taking your work step by step and not to look for the end until it arrives.  The ladies discuss the importance of time management and balancing life and work commitments and share tips that you might find helpful. BEST MOMENTS “If you don’t think you are a genius, how will other people think it about you?” “Find your potential, because that is the part that is unlimited.” “Don’t be afraid of making mistakes, you can always, always change them.” EPISODE LINKS Darya’s Website Darya’s Instagram ABOUT THE PODCAST A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping He, a happy artist from Amsterdam. This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. Ping welcomes you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast ABOUT THE HOST Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected]  www.instagram.com/pinghe.art

This week's show is a special one, it’s the final ever episode of the Thriving Women Podcast. Ping, Dorien and Sarah are all here to take a look back over the last two and a half years. In this bittersweet episode the ladies share the lessons they have learned, their initial expectations versus the reality of producing a weekly podcast and what the future holds for your favourite thriving women artists.   KEY TAKEAWAYS The ladies talk about some of the things they got from the podcast that they never anticipated, such as inspiration from talking to other artists. Sarah talks about some of the plans for the show and how they never came to fruition, but in retrospect, how that may have been a good thing.  The ladies share the lessons they learned from each other throughout the last two and a half years and how they contributed to making each other better artists. The ladies discuss their future plans including the possibility of bringing the show back in a new format. BEST MOMENTS“With any creative process your goals can change along the way, but the best thing to do is keep moving forward.” “In order to make your work successful you need to have balance with your family life and your personal life.” “Dream big and chase your dreams, no matter what.” ABOUT THE PODCASTA serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam. This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping HePing is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art Sarah van DongenSarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.comsarahvandongenillustration@gmail.comwww.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations Dorien BellaarDorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. [email protected]/dorienbellaar

This week on the show, Sarah, Doreen and Ping are all here to talk about how to stay focused on your own artistic journey. But what is your creative journey? Can you really define it? How do you know when you’re on it or when you’ve fallen off it? And, is there ever an end point? The ladies go into depth on the most personal aspect of being an artist.  KEY TAKEAWAYS The ladies start the discussion by laying out the importance of knowing what your journey is and what your journey isn’t. Doreen talks about the importance of being self aware on your journey and stopping along the way to take stock of how far you’ve come.  Sarah sees her journey not as a single straight line, but as many interconnecting lines that have the potential to take her in directions she never imagined.  The ladies talk about the importance of not comparing your journey to that of others, especially those you consider to be more successful. BEST MOMENTS“Is there an end to your creative journey or is it an ongoing evolution, just like life.” “Creative satisfaction comes from a combination of doing the things that make you happy and speaking your truth.”  “Someone might give off the perception of being successful, but you will never know what they are really experiencing, so don’t waste your time comparing yourself to them.” ABOUT THE PODCASTA serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam. This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.comwww.instagram.com/twapodcast ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping HePing is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van DongenSarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.comsarahvandongenillustration@gmail.comwww.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien BellaarDorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. [email protected]/dorienbellaarThis show was brought to you by Progressive Media

This week Ping, Doreen and Sarah are all here and they’re discussing how to overcome creative fears. All artists have fears, from those just starting out to the most accomplished in their fields. The ladies talk about some common fears, some fears specific to them, tips and tricks on how to overcome them and, are you really an artist if you don’t have fears.  KEY TAKEAWAYS The ladies discuss what their fears are such as the fear of not being good enough and the fear of being compared to others.    Sometimes our fears aren’t rational. Try to remove yourself and look objectively at the problem. Sarah talks about how your art is also a job and not every rejection is personal. Ping talks about embracing fear and how, with a recent commission, she overcame her fear by just ‘taking a leap’ into the unknown.  The ladies talk about one of the most common fears..the fear of a blank page, and share tips on how they overcome it.  BEST MOMENTS“Try not to give your fears too much power as they can control you, use them as an incentive to improve.” “Most of the time our fears can be defeated by simply just starting.” “The more you do it, the easier it will become.” “Instead of being afraid of the task ahead, be grateful for the opportunity.” ABOUT THE PODCASTA serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam. This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.comwww.instagram.com/twapodcast ABOUT THE HOSTSPing HePing is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art Sarah van DongenSarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.comsarahvandongenillustration@gmail.comwww.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations Dorien BellaarDorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. [email protected]/dorienbellaarThis show was brought to you by Progressive Media

This week Ping is joined by artist Marenthe. Marenthe is a successful artist who has specialised in a wide range of practices over a long career. In this interview Marenthe discusses her journey in the art world, tips and tricks she uses on a daily basis, her progression as an artist and some of the challenges she has faced over the years and how she overcame them. KEY TAKEAWAYS Marenthe details her journey as an artist from founding her own design agency and through the twists and turns that led her to where she is today.   Marenthe and Ping share their thoughts on digital versus analog art and the strengths and weaknesses they see in both. Marenthe talks about the business side of art, how most artists try to avoid it and why ‘money’ isn’t a dirty word. Marenthe talks about how she gets over a creative block and details how she finds that ‘taking a leap’ is the thing that always sets her free.  BEST MOMENTS“Have a routine, they are important, but if an idea pops into your head, don’t be afraid to put everything else to one side and run with that idea.” “You have to accept that sometimes it isn’t about pleasure, sometimes you have to do the hard work.” “Promote your art the way you create it, in an authentic way. When it’s from the heart, people will relate to it.” “We don’t know what we don’t know until we experience it.” ABOUT THE PODCASTA serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam. This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast ABOUT THE GUESTMarenthe OttenInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/marenthehttps://www.instagram.com/theartbeatclub Websites: https://www.theartbeatclub.com/https://www.marenthe.com/ ABOUT THE HOSTSPing HePing is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art Sarah van DongenSarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life.www.sarahvandongen.comsarahvandongenillustration@gmail.comwww.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations Dorien BellaarDorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. [email protected]/dorienbellaarThis show was brought to you by Progressive Media

Finally, the gang are all back together. Dorien, Ping and Sarah are all here this week and they’re talking about creative breakthroughs. They share their thoughts on what a creative breakthrough actually is, tips and tricks you can try to achieve one, why they are important and, interestingly, how sometimes they are not what they appear to be. KEY TAKEAWAYS The ladies talk about what a creative breakthrough actually is and how they can sometimes appear small but actually be big. Do breakthroughs find you or do you find them? And are you more likely to get one if you’re not actively looking for it? The ladies discuss. Ping discusses how she has found that if she simplifies her work then she is more likely to achieve a breakthrough. The ladies discuss the idea that having a dramatic change in working practices can often lead to a breakthrough.  BEST MOMENTS “A breakthrough isn’t just winning an award or getting a big advance, sometimes it can just be a small discovery you make on your own.” “If you force yourself to find a breakthrough, you might end up losing sight of why you were looking for one in the first place.” “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got. Don’t be afraid to change directions, you never know where it will lead you.” ABOUT THE PODCAST A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam. This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected]  www.instagram.com/pinghe.art Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations Dorien Bellaar Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarThis show was brought to you by Progressive Media

This week on the show Ping is joined by special guest Tracey English. Tracey has had a long and successful career as an artist working with illustrations and collages. In this interview she shares her creative journey, the lessons she’s learned and her top tips for artists both new and experienced. KEY TAKEAWAYS Tracey talks about her journey to being an illustrator which took her from studying textiles to colour forcesating, to selling her work at market stalls to illustration and finally to where she is today. Tracey and Ping talk about the importance of continuing to find joy in work despite how successful you become as when it becomes just a job, you can lose that creative spark. Tracey shares the most valuable lessons she has learnt throughout her career including a key lessons…stay relevant. The ladies talk about the importance of networking in the art community and how this can be done online, through markets and even taking part in challenges. BEST MOMENTS “The best qualities an artist can have are to be hardworking, open minded, flexible and willing to accept setbacks.” “Your art is like your handwriting, it has a particular look and that’s what draws people to your work.” “The great thing about taking your art to markets is that you get to see people's reaction to it, you don’t get that online.” LINKS Tracey’s Etsy Store ABOUT THE PODCAST A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam. This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations Dorien Bellaar Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarThis show was brought to you by Progressive Media

This week on the show Dorien and Ping are talking about how to create consistency in your artwork. The ladies share their five top tips for creating consistency in your work from taking breaks to finding creative partners. Speaking from experience, Dorien and Ping are here to help you be the best! KEY TAKEAWAYS The ladies talk about the relationship of consistency and motivation and how one informs the other.  Ping talks about how practising in different styles of art helps her motivation and makes her realise that she is more consistent across all of her projects.  Ping clarifies the importance of taking a break from your work and how, by stepping back, you can be more objective about your progress. The ladies talk about the idea of setting yourself goals or joining online communities as a way to make your work more consistent.  BEST MOMENTS “The more you show up, the more you learn, the more motivated you will be and the better you will be.” “Consistency can also mean that you need to take regular breaks, not just keep on going and going.” “Find people to work with and share your work with. You will learn how they work but also how they look at your work.”   ABOUT THE PODCAST A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam. This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected]  www.instagram.com/pinghe.art Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations Dorien Bellaar Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar This show was brought to you by Progressive Media

This week Ping is hosting all by herself, but she is joined by special guest Anna Wilson. Anna is a successful children’s book artist and has created works for Bloomsbury, Hachette and the BBC among many others. Anna shares her journey from a career in academia to becoming a successful artist and shares all the lessons she has learned along the way to help you take the next step in your artistic journey.  KEY TAKEAWAYS Anna talks about her journey to becoming an artist. Despite a career in academia, Anna continued to draw as a hobby. When her husband changed jobs this presented Anna with the opportunity to take a look at her career and she took the leap to becoming an artist.  When Anna decided to pursue art as a career she had to retrain from scratch. She talks about the steps she took and some of the courses and skills she learned that helped her along the way. Anna’s first big step towards success came when she decided to let go of some of the bad habits she had picked up as a hobbyist. Once she embraced change, she received her first commission which led to her finding an agent. Anna talks about how much she has learned from drawing books as opposed to single pieces of art and shares her knowledge on how you can create better images that will flow as a story.  BEST MOMENTS“Life is too short to not do the thing you really want to do.”“You can’t take success for granted. You have to continue to grow and work hard.”“Try not to criticise yourself as much. Your work is a journey, you're not going to be an expert on day one.” ABOUT THE GUESThttps://www.annawilsonink.com/  Anna has spent my life finding magic, often in unexpected places. Someone said to her that she knows how to make even a burning rubbish tip on a riverside look interesting and somehow beautiful.Anna says when she picks up a pen or paint or bottle of ink or an ipad and starts to add lines and colours and create something where there was nothing, she feels like she has come home. She is inspired by people and their stories and she loves to travel. She has been lucky enough to live in Kenya, Mongolia, China, Nepal, Germany, Tasmania, Australia and have travelled through more than 40 countries.Her clients include: Bloomsbury, Hachette, BBC, Cameron Kids Books, BirdLife Australia, Heritage Expeditions, Tribe, Woollykins, Australia Remade, Australian BirdLife Magazine. ABOUT THE PODCASTA serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam. This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people.www.thrivingwomenartists.comwww.instagram.com/twapodcast ABOUT THE HOSTSPing HePing is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art Sarah van DongenSarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life.www.sarahvandongen.comsarahvandongenillustration@gmail.comwww.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrationsDorien BellaarDorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital [email protected]/dorienbellaarThis show was brought to you by Progressive Media

On this week’s show Ping is all by herself, but to make up for the absence of Doreen and Sarah, she is joined by renowned artistic agent Kajsa Blomberg. In a wide ranging interview, Kajsa talks about her journey from being a law graduate to a highly established agent and shares valuable tips and insights for artists that are seeking representation and what they can expect once they have it.  KEY TAKEAWAYS Kajsa graduated from law school, specialising in intellectual property law. After working for Universal music she found herself drawn to working with artists. From there she took the leap to becoming an agent.   Ping and Kajsa discuss the importance of working to your strengths and, in a relationship between an agent and a client, how each must have an understating of the other's role.  Kasja talks about her process of selecting the artists she wants to represent, and gives details of her ‘emotional checklist.’ Kasja shares her top tips for artists that are looking for representation, including, surprisingly, asking yourself if you really need an agent.  BEST MOMENTS“The artist can only see the product, the agent helps them see the opportunities.”“Having an agent isn’t a golden ticket to making money, you still have to be an ambassador of your own work.”“The most important question for an artist to ask themselves is ‘What do I want?’, the answer to this question will help guide all your decisions.” ABOUT THE PODCASTA serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam. This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people.www.thrivingwomenartists.comwww.instagram.com/twapodcast ABOUT THE HOSTSPing HePing is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art Sarah van DongenSarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life.www.sarahvandongen.comsarahvandongenillustration@gmail.comwww.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrationsDorien BellaarDorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital [email protected]/dorienbellaar GUEST LINKS:Kajas Blomberg's website:https://kajsablomberg.nl/Kajas Blomberg’s Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/blombergkajsa/This show was brought to you by Progressive Media

In this week's episode Dorien is back and the ladies are reminiscing about their lives, hopes and dreams two years ago. But have they achieved what they set out to do or have their plans changed in unexpected ways and what affects has this had on their careers and their artistic journeys?  KEY TAKEAWAYS Ping talks about how, when she recovered from breast cancer two years ago, she decided to make a positive change in her life and follow her dreams, not knowing where she would end up or if it would even work, but she knew she was determined.  The ladies talk about motivation and discipline and the importance of keeping going on a project even if the fun aspect of it disappears.   Sarah talks about how over the last two years, she moved from being dedicated to only creating children's books to expanding into all kinds of illustration and the lessons she has learned from having a more open mind about her career.   Unlike the other two ladies, Dorien admits to not making firm plans and her preference to ‘go with the flow’ and expands how this affects her creative flow.  BEST MOMENTS“One of the most important things to have is persistence. Don’t take no for an answer.”“Intrinsic motivation brings you discipline.”“Regardless of how much or little we plan, things always seem to come together for the best.” ABOUT THE PODCASTA serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam. This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people.www.thrivingwomenartists.comwww.instagram.com/twapodcast ABOUT THE HOSTSPing HePing is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art Sarah van DongenSarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life.www.sarahvandongen.comsarahvandongenillustration@gmail.comwww.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations Dorien BellaarDorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital [email protected]/dorienbellaarThis show was brought to you by Progressive Media

This week Ping is at a book fair. But don’t worry, Doreen is back at the mic and the ladies are looking inward. They discuss the topic of believing in yourself and how every artist should find their way to doing it as it will, ultimately, help you grow and produce your best work. KEY TAKEAWAYS What is the emotional value of art? The ladies discuss this idea and how they think it shapes the way artists approach their work. They talk about how, as children, we only see emotional value in the art we make for others, but at what stage do we lose this idea and can we get it back? If you don’t put your work out there, you’ll never know what reaction it will get. Are some artists reluctant to share their work for fear of rejection or because they think no one will be interested in it? Doreen and Sarah talk about why you should always try as you’ll never know if you don’t.  What is the difference between your inner critic and being critical of our work? How do you separate the two and how, once you understand this separation, can it lead to you flourishing as an artist? The ladies discuss the importance of making something from your heart. Don’t be tempted to follow trends or fashion as this will only lead you to compare yourself to others. It takes courage to be true to yourself, but the rewards far outweigh those that you may receive from being ‘popular’. BEST MOMENTS “Every artist should believe that what they are making will be interesting to someone, otherwise why are you making it?” “Just do it, and have fun doing it. That’s the most important thing.” “You never know what might resonate with someone.” ABOUT THE PODCAST A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam. This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He Ping is a watercolour artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected]  www.instagram.com/pinghe.art Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations Dorien Bellaar Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarThis show was brought to you by Progressive Media

This week Ping and Sarah are joined by children's illustrator Emmi Smid. In an in depth interview Emmi shares her journey to becoming a children illustrator and storyteller, some of her success and failures along the way, her working practices and why it is important, to her, to share her stories with the world.  KEY TAKEAWAYS The guest, Emmi, discusses her journey as an artist. How she started working in fine art, then made the realisation that most of her paintings were narrative based. One day, looking at her bookshelf, she had a moment of inspiration, realising that she had always been fascinated with childrens books, from there, she took the leap to being a children's illustrator. The ladies discuss the difference between art being a hobby and a career. Do you lose the hobby aspect of it once you start to be paid for your work? Do friends and family take you seriously if you choose a career as an artist? And, what do the ladies define success as? What are your work habits and how do they compare to others? The ladies share their different approaches on everything from sketch books to full projects and discuss the need for each individual to understand what their unique process is and why they shouldn’t compare it to others.  Emmi talks about the importance of working on personal projects. She talks about how it helps her figure out what is important to her and how, through sharing her stories and perspective on the world, she may be able to help others see things from a different viewpoint or realise that they’re not alone.  BEST MOMENTS “You have to believe in yourself and follow the path that you are on.” “Society has conditioned us to think we are only successful if we make money. But this is not true, if you are doing the thing you love, then you are already successful.” “You’ve got to accept who you are, but at the same time, continue to push yourself.” EPISODE RESOURCES Instagram: @studio.emmi.smid ABOUT THE PODCAST A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam. This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected]  www.instagram.com/pinghe.art Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations Dorien Bellaar Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarThis show was brought to you by Progressive Media

This week, Dorien is busy on a big project, but Sarah and Ping step up and talk you through planning studio time. The ladies pack their years of experience into a fun filled thirty minute episode and share some valuable tips and tricks that guarantee to make you more productive in your studio. KEY TAKEAWAYS The ladies discuss how spending time in your studio to make it tidy and organised is as important as the time you spend in there to work. But remember to personalise your space, decorate not just your walls, but your pen holders, workbooks and bookshelves…remember you are an artist! Remember that lighting your studio is important. You have to find a balance between a lighting set up that makes you comfortable and creates a productive working environment, but also one that will show a true representation of the colours you are working with. If you want to improve your productivity, why not make a diary of what you do in your studio over a week. After that week is over, review your diary and find out what you actually spent your time on. You might be surprised! The ladies discuss the idea of splitting your studio time into sections. Such as, Play Time’ - Where you create art for fun, or ‘Business Time’ - where you concentrate on generating revenue, or ‘Contribute TIme’ - where you try to help your colleagues, your community, a charity or some other third party.   BEST MOMENTS“My studio is a stage and I am a performer, so I need my stage to be organised.”“Sometimes allow yourself to be unproductive, to daydream, to create distance from your work.”“Every morning, prioritise your tasks from most urgent to least urgent.”“Know your “Why”, and then everything you do will be easier.” ABOUT THE PODCASTA serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam. This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people.www.thrivingwomenartists.comwww.instagram.com/twapodcast ABOUT THE HOSTSPing HePing is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art Sarah van DongenSarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life.www.sarahvandongen.comsarahvandongenillustration@gmail.comwww.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations Dorien BellaarDorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital [email protected]/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Dorien is missing, but don’t worry Sarah and Ping are here and they’re going to get personal. This week, the ladies are going to give you an insight into their lives but not the exciting projects they are currently working on, instead they are going to talk about their personal lives and the effect it has on their work. KEY TAKEAWAYS The ladies agree that hard work is the key to success. But advise you to remember to take time off for yourself. If all you are doing is working, then you won’t be able to look at your problems objectively and have any perspective.  The ladies discuss the benefits of a work life balance and how a healthy and happy home life will benefit your mental health and ultimately benefit your work  Sarah is currently not working on a big project. Whilst some people perceive that as her going through a bad patch, she is grateful for the break. It is allowing her to analyse her work and improve the areas she is not happy with. Ping discusses the need she has for her work to have meaning. She is not content with just making a living from selling her work. What she really wants is for customers to buy her works because it resonates with them. The ladies discuss bad moments in their lives and how they would tell themselves “Once we are better, we are going to do so many things.” They agree that it is important to remember that feeling once they return to the normality of daily life   BEST MOMENTS “Most importantly - enjoy this life you have chosen” “Take time to learn to grow.” “Find time for yourself, even if it’s just 5 minutes a day. Do something that makes you happy for those 5 minutes.” “Never forget why you started the journey you are on. If you get stuck, lose sight of your goals or lose heart, then ask yourself, ‘Why did I start?’.” ABOUT THE PODCAST A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam. This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected]  www.instagram.com/pinghe.art Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations Dorien Bellaar Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sarah and Ping are joined by Ema Malyauka, a self taught children's book illustrator, whose Belarusian surname translates to ‘drawing’. Ema discusses her creative process, sharing invaluable advice for young artists, and her journey as a self taught artist from knowing nothing about the industry to becoming a successful illustrator KEY TAKEAWAYS Ema struggled at school with regular lessons, but attended art classes outside of school and constantly received high praise from her teachers. Despite this, Ema decided against attending university to study art and began a journey of self teaching, learning from books, short courses, friends and other artists. Ema is a lifelong fan of childrens books. From an early age she collected childrens books and images from the internet. When she finally decided to become an illustrator she did not hesitate to specialise in childrens illustrations. Ema’s first professional experience was working with a friend who self published their own books. She recommends this to all young artists as it was an opportunity to learn her trade and make mistakes without the pressure that comes with working with an established publishing house. When she started her career she didn’t know anything about the professional world of illustration including publishers and portfolio’s, but she found advice and guidance from fellow artists online that helped her career flourish. To generate her own stories, Ema asks herself a question central to her idea and then makes a library of images and thoughts as well as researching other fairy tales through books and podcasts to ‘feed her brain.’ Ema also recommends creating a nice environment to work in. She finds that she has more inspiration if she covers her sketchbooks in colourful fabric instead of leaving them with their natural covers.   Some of Ema’s favourite illustrators include Adolf Born, Jiří Šalamoun, André François and Varya Yakovleva BEST MOMENTS “It’s a great time for the illustration world because of the increase of mobile phones and tablets, everything has to be more visually pleasing.” “I always recommend young artists to try a project with a friend. You’ll be more relaxed, not afraid to make mistakes and get an understanding of the process.” “Find people in the illustration world online. They are lovely people and will be happy to help and advise you.” “Don’t compare your journey to others. Your journey is what makes you unique as an illustrator.”   EPISODE RESOURCES Ema Malyauka www.instagram.com/ema_malyauka Adolf Born https://historiek.net/de-wondere-wereld-van-adolf-born/146693/ Jiří Šalamoun https://www.pametnaroda.cz/en/salamoun-jiri-1935 André François https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/André_François Varya Yakovleva https://www.instagram.com/varya__yakovleva/following/?hl=en     ABOUT THE PODCAST A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations Dorien Bellaar Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Devon Holzwarth is an award-winning picture book illustrator, author, and painter. She joins Ping and Dorien to tell you all about her life as a Children’s Book Illustrator as well as her creative journey that led her there. Listen in for some great advice from someone who has broken into the illustration industry for themselves.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Devon went to Rhode Island School of Design art school where she majored in textile design. She majored in this because she thought that it had better job prospects than if she had chosen painting. She graduated in 2000 with a BFA. Devon moved her life to Germany when her husband was offered a job there. It was only supposed to be for a few years but she now calls the place home. The great thing about being an artist was that she could work from anywhere and the new environment could lead to new interesting opportunities. The moment that will take you to the next step can be scary and uncomfortable, which makes it hard for many of us to take it. Devon’s moment of taking that step was more of a push, so she didn’t have the opportunity to become wrapped up in whether or not she was comfortable or not. One piece of advice that has stuck with Devon is when she was told ‘you need to put ten years into something before it begins to become successful’. This freaked her out because she found something she enjoyed and didn’t want to wait ten years for it to come to fruition. This lit a fire in her and gave her focus to succeed faster than the ten years she’d been told. Devon decided she should make her own dummy book of her story about a boy and a bee which she took with her to Bologna. She showed it to the people she met there and one of the pieces of advice she got was to separate the one story into two. So she had one story about a bee and one about a boy. That advice she received really paid off after receiving a publishing offer.     BEST MOMENTS   ‘I can do the same thing from somewhere else and be somewhere more interesting’ ‘Sometimes it’s a matter of knowing who you are, it’s difficult to unravel in some ways’ ‘You just need one more little push then you recognise that your path’ ‘If an art director tell you to send them something, you better send them something’   EPISODE RESOURCES   Devon Holzwarth Devon Holzwarth (@devonholzwarth) • Instagram photos and videos [email protected]   ABOUT THE GUEST   Devon Holzwarth is a picture book illustrator, author, and painter. She is a recipient of the Schneider Family Book Award and a notable Sydney Taylor Award, as well as a Society of Illustrators gold medal winner. Born in Washington D.C., Devon grew up in Panama surrounded by nature and her dad's art supplies. She has lived in many other places, including Germany, where she currently resides with her husband, two kids, a galgo dog from Spain and a little dachshund from Romania. Devon earned her BFA in 2000 from the Rhode Island School of Design focusing on screen printing and painting. She has written & illustrated “Found You” and “Sophie’s Stories” and has illustrated a number of picture books including “Tia Fortuna’s New Home”, “LISTEN, How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion” and “Everywhere With You”.   ABOUT THE PODCAST   A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sarah is back on Thriving Women Artists and this week she’s brought the topic of what to do when you’re feeling jealous of other artists. Listen in as Ping, Dorien, and Sarah talk about how they feel jealous, what they do about it, and how jealousy isn’t always a negative thing. Find out what positives can you take from this feeling to drive your own work and achieve your goals.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Jealousy is not only for artists starting out, no matter what stage you are on your journey you will look at someone else's work or where they are and feel envious. Feeling jealous of other people’s work is not necessarily a negative feeling, we can use it to drive our own work, find passion, and grow as an artist. The negative side of jealousy is being overwhelmed, we’ve all spent far too long scrolling through Instagram and feeling like you’ll never have what other people have. You should take action and change your mindset from scarcity to abundance. We all feel jealous of each other, you don’t get that ‘wow’ feeling at your own work. We aren’t surprised by our own work but the choices other people make are a surprise to us and it makes us feel jealous. Embrace your own uniqueness and your own skill set. Be proud of yourself and use that as a base to build off, don’t be jealous of others but be inspired instead. Confidence is the difference between being envious and inspired by others.     BEST MOMENTS   ‘I was depressed because I thought I couldn’t do it, I didn’t pick up my pencil’ ‘If you want something you can grow and learn and practice’ ‘It’s not going to change by itself’ ‘When I know what I’m capable of then I don’t worry about what someone else is doing’   ABOUT THE PODCAST   A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today is a special episode because we have a guest on Thriving Women Artists, Jennifer M. Potter joins Ping and Dorien to talk about her career as a children’s book illustrator. Find out about how Jennifer left her corporate job to follow her creative and artistic passions. Don’t worry, Sarah will be back soon, she’s currently recording some courses for Domestika.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Jennifer was a graphic designer and art director in the corporate world before she had the idea that she wanted to make a webcomic. She worked on it for a year and while she was doing this she saw and signed up for a course in children's book illustration. Jennifer made a lot of really good friends through the Make Art That Sells community and that really helped her when she was struggling to make the adjustment to being her own boss as a freelancer and not having a communal environment. There’s a tip Jennifer has for getting out of her comfort zone. She is the type of person who over-prepares for everything, so by over preparing for the things that are outside her comfort zone it makes her feel more prepared for the challenge. There is a downside to over preparing, that is procrastination. We prepare so much we don’t ever get around to doing the thing. Ping has a solution for this, that when you’re 70% prepared you just go for it. The right feedback is priceless, but they are just people’s opinions so you need to know who is the right person with the right advice for you to listen to as an individual.    BEST MOMENTS ‘I learned how much I took for granted moving from working with people to working alone’ ‘The only way to make something comfortable is to do it’ ‘70% is good enough, you don’t need that extra 30% just to be perfect’   USEFUL RESOURCES 1) Miroslav Šašek https://thamesandhudson.com/miroslav-sasek-9780500023341 2) Edward Gorey https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-Gorey 3) Barbara Westman https://www.amazon.com/Beacon-Hill-Christmas-Barbara-Westman/dp/0395247268 4) Jennifer M. Potter https://www.instagram.com/jennifermpotter   ABOUT THE PODCAST A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on the podcast Sarah, Ping, and Dorien will be giving you tips for creating during stressful times. This could be a generally stressful time in life which we all have or it could be when you’re facing a deadline with your work and have to be creative under that time pressure.   KEY TAKEAWAYS   We all end up leaving work until the last minute to do it, especially when we are students. We have so much time to be creative but end up having to cram it into a short amount of time. So the first piece of advice is to give yourself time, don’t leave it until the pressure is there to finish it. When you are feeling stressed by a large workload, break things down into smaller, more manageable tasks. This way, when you tick off one of these smaller tasks you have that good feeling of achievement to outweigh the stress. Be kind to yourself. One of the ways Ping has learned to be kind to herself is to allow herself to sleep enough. It’s okay to take a break and do something that you enjoy or relaxes you. Prioritise your to do list where the most important things get done first. This way the most stressful tasks are out of the way first. A Gantt chart is a project management tool that illustrates work completed over a period of time in relation to the time planned for the work. A Gantt chart can include the start and end dates of tasks, milestones, dependencies between tasks, assignees, and more.     BEST MOMENTS   ‘I know how long it takes me to do the things I’ve done before’ ‘No multitasking, I don’t want to be distracted’ ‘Turn your ‘to do’ list into a ‘tadaah’ list’ ‘When I’m stressed I ask for collaboration’   USEFUL RESOURCES   Use Gantt charts for project management   ABOUT THE PODCAST   A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the artist you see your work more than anyone else and because you see it so often, it can sometimes feel like it’s becoming stale. So how do we make sure that our art remains fresh and we stay engaged and motivated to work on it? If you’re asking that question then you’re in luck because Ping, Sarah, and Dorien have 7 tips and pieces of advice you can use to keep your work fresh.  KEY TAKEAWAYS If Sarah is feeling like her art has become boring, it’s usually because she feels her life has become a bit boring. So when she feels like this she likes to go out and try or see something new.  As Ping paints flowers, she can feel like she’s painted every flower there is. So when she feels like her work needs to be freshened up she creates a whole new colour palette for a flower or paints it in a different environment that you wouldn’t find it in. She creates her own story around why it is different.  Step back every now and then and stop putting all of your focus on creating. You can take time away from art to reinvent yourself or learn some new skills that you can then take back into your art.  Create work that isn’t for social media, grab a new sketchbook and call it your ugly sketchbook. You don’t need to worry about what goes into it, it’s where creativity and magic happens.  Don’t be afraid to fail, challenge yourself to keep growing. Keep learning, even if you think it’s not related to what you do, you can always take something from it and put it into your work.  Surround yourself with supportive people and ask questions.  BEST MOMENTS ‘My work is a mirror of my life and how I feel’ ‘I find an unexpected angle or perspective’  ‘Sometimes you go into autopilot’ ‘Your learning is not linear, there are ups and downs’ ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today it’s just Ping and Sarah, but don’t worry because Dorien will be back soon. The topic of this podcast is growing your art business beyond being an Instagram artist. Find out the different types of Instagram artists, the pros and cons of posting your art on social media, how you should react to what people say about your art, and advice for growing your business in different ways.   KEY TAKEAWAYS What is an Instagram artist? At first, it seems like it’s someone who only uses Instagram as a marketing tool, but when you think more about it, you can be an artist who only posts their artwork on social media. We all want to spend less time looking at screens, especially our phones. So it’s important to have a balance between using Instagram for work and just scrolling endlessly. Instagram is a great way to get over that fear of sharing your art. You don’t need to go to a show or anything like that, just a few clicks and other people can see what you’ve made. Not everyone’s opinion counts. Your opinion on your art matters most of all. Do it for yourself and not for the likes and comments. You have control of your art and not what other people think you should be doing. When you go out to art shows you get to know like-minded people who you can learn from and use that energy to grow and develop your art. Real life feedback from real people is always going to be more valuable than likes.    BEST MOMENTS ‘I only wanted to make nice things for Instagram, I was too scared to experiment’ ‘Instagram helped me create a drawing habit’ ‘It’s not that people don’t like it, it’s the algorithm’ ‘How many likes will make your day or break your day?’   ABOUT THE PODCAST A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lets face it, there’s no part of life that doesn’t come with the chance of failure, it’s something we all experience. It’s not the failing that matters, it’s how we deal with it that is important. This week on Thriving Women Artists, Ping, Sarah, and Dorien are going to be discussing where they have failed and how they dealt with it to gain a positive outcome.  KEY TAKEAWAYS Failure is a scary thing when it happens, but most of the time you learn a lot from it and it can be beneficial if you choose to take something from it.  A failure can actually be a success if it makes you learn something that will help you grow as an individual. The road to success isn’t a linear process, it has ups and downs.  If you’re going to fail, it’s good to fail early. Don’t let failing at a new thing put you off, we’re not born with all the skills we need, we have to learn them along the way.  Even if the worst thing happens in part of your artistic journey, the world will not end, there is always going to be another day to try again and do better.  Don’t be afraid to talk about your failures with your close circle of friends. You can always learn things from each other and your experience might mean that you can stop someone else from failing.   BEST MOMENTS ‘Failure is like a wake up call or a stop sign’ ‘All of your bad drawings are part of your journey’  ‘Trial and error is the best way to learn’ ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolour artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 there? Is there good exposure? For Dorien, money or the exposure isn’ the first thing she thinks about. She asks if it fits within her vision of the world and if the topic connects with her. For Ping she has a checklist with a scale where she rates the pay, the reputation of the company, whether she will get to be experimental with her art, etc. And if the number that scale adds up to is below a certain level, then it’s not a commission she would find worthwhile. It’s a scientific and emotional way of looking at it. If you only ever say yes to the commissions from charities that will make you feel good, you won’t actually be making very much money or sometimes no money at all. It’s not selfish to put yourself first as an artist. The best assignment isn’t what other people think, it’s all about what you think is best for you at that time. If you evaluate afterwards you will find out if that type of assignment was right for you and if you should do it again at that stage of your career.   BEST MOMENTS ‘I think I worry about what other people are going to say about my decision’ ‘Our best assignments change depending on what stage we are at, at that moment’ ‘Timing is so important, if I had this assignment too early I couldn’t have handled it’ ‘Struggle builds up our resistance’   ABOUT THE PODCAST A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 example, Sarah used to post on Instagram every day but now that schedule doesn’t work for her, and that’s okay. Ping has a sketchbook just for fun which she calls ‘play time’. That creativity can carry over into her work and the ideas she comes up with can also make their way into her work sketchbook. Children are obviously the most important thing in your life when you are a parent. That can mean your time for work and creativity is smaller. But you can always find time no matter how busy you are by being organised and planning. A team is all about communication, if that communication is lacking then the project will probably fail. It’s never too late to get to know yourself even better and it’s never too late to learn about self-love. You can take time off work without having to feel guilty and say no sometimes.     BEST MOMENTS   ‘Goals aren’t set in stone. If things change then you can change them’ ‘If you make work from your hobby then you will work forever and have no hobby’ ‘Work is not the most important thing in your life’ ‘If you don’t try then you don’t know’   ABOUT THE PODCAST   A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 you’re going to make your big masterpiece from nowhere. It’s all the little things that you do on the journey towards your goal that makes your art. You don’t need to overthink what you want to make, surprise yourself with what you make in your sketchbook. Being an artist doesn’t mean you only need to be doing the one thing you set out to do. Sarah wanted to illustrate children’s books but she also found out that she loves teaching as well. You can’t be creative from 9 to 5. We don’t all have 8 hours of creativity a day in us every day and we also don’t all get creative at the same times of day. Be patient and have faith. Your business and portfolio won’t be finished in a day, you need to put the time in and remember that it takes time and you don’t need to panic over it.     BEST MOMENTS   ‘When you’re doing something creative it’s not about the outcome’ ‘There is no “the moment”, every day is the moment’ ‘Why do you work 5 days a week?’ ‘There is an audience for every kind of art’   ABOUT THE PODCAST   A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 is easier because it means she doesn’t need to go back to her original artwork and scan it in again. Dorien also likes to work traditionally but uses digital colour correction on her artwork. Some of her projects are completely digital if it is more suited to the type of project or the time constraints. Ping mainly does traditional art using watercolour, this gives her botanical art a more organic feel which adds to the piece. She doesn't think that digital art can replicate this. When speaking to a publisher, you need to make sure they know the way you work. They can often expect changes very quickly but don’t realise that those few changes could be a week's work. You can always learn to add digital aspects to your work if you start out traditionally, but if you start as a digital artist, you might not learn the skills that a traditional artist would.   BEST MOMENTS ‘Digitally it’s so easy to have a basic colour palette’ ‘If you make the right procedure, your art will come out right, no matter if it’s digital or traditional’ ‘It doesn’t matter if you work digitally or traditionally, at the beginning you’re just not that fast’   EPISODE RESOURCES   Procreate Explore the Photoshop family of apps   ABOUT THE PODCAST   A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 you will learn different things depending on what you study and where. In some places you will learn about the important business side, in others you will not. Being self-taught doesn't mean you’ve never taken an art class. The art teachers you find at universities will often teach art classes. Good teachers will motivate you. If you are self-taught you have to find that motivation or push for motivation yourself. Being truly self-taught is impossible because we all take inspiration from others and learn from the things they do. Being self-taught can allow you to be more free and creative with your learning. You set the curriculum yourself and it’s not set, it can change at any time depending on where you want to take your artwork.  BEST MOMENTS ‘The myth with art school is that if you go then you are an artist’ ‘Nobody creates in a vacuum’ ‘Art school is not going to give you the drive, you yourself have to give you the drive’   ABOUT THE PODCAST A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 go of something when you know it’s there and it doesn’t belong anymore. Try something completely new. Experimenting can help you find something new that might work better than what you have been doing before. Even something as simple as changing the size or type of paper you use is worth experimenting with. Have support from people around you and also from yourself. The more people who understand your journey, the better conversations and advice you can get. First, you should be taking care of yourself then you can help and be helped by others. Step back now and then and reflect on what art you have been making. This allows you to see what you like and don’t like about the work you’ve been doing. Go back to your goals and hidden themes and see if you’re on track to hit them. Not everything you do should go towards your goal, but your goal can keep you focused on what you want. Focus on the things you enjoy and want to develop. If you do the things you enjoy then you’re going in the right direction by default.     BEST MOMENTS   ‘Not everything you do all day has to be going in the right direction, there is room for experimentation’ ‘Sometimes we can only notice things when we’re distanced from them’ ‘The thing that stopped me most was the fear of being judged’ ‘Hello thoughts, thank you and goodbye’   ABOUT THE PODCAST   This a serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Meaning you have it already set out how your art is agreed to be used and when and where it can be used. Ask to see a final sample before your work is published. Have a section in your contract stating that if the person commissioning you wants to use your work for anything else, they have to negotiate with you for permission. For some kinds of work you will be sent a breakdown of how many products with your art on them have been sold. This is for when you are getting a percentage of the sales. If you’re asked to work on a logo you need to remember it’s one of the most important things for the company. It’s so valuable for them so don’t undervalue yourself. Nike bought their logo for $35, and Pepsi’s cost millions. What kind of business is employing you to make a logo, you need to know the brand before you start working, the logo is supposed to represent them and their values.    BEST MOMENTS ‘If you’re new you might not realise all your options’ ‘It’s not only the work you put in, but how long your work will be used for’ ‘Stay playful’   ABOUT THE PODCAST   A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 to showcase her work. She had a little bit of a struggle deciding whether to hand draw or do it digitally, but decided to go digital to improve her skills. Her preference is still analog however. Sarah did a Masters Degree at Cambridge University in Children’s Illustration and at the graduation show she was contacted by a publisher which is how she got her first work published. Being an illustrator is not like being an athlete, you don’t do your best work in your 20s. You always grow and learn and your best work is usually still ahead of you. The nice thing about having a publisher is that they do literally everything except the illustration, they manage everything. The downside to this is that you’ll only be getting a fee or a percentage of the profits. If you self-publish, then there is a lot more work for you but you get to keep more of the money you make. If you’d like some kind of balance between self publishing and working with a publisher, you can outsource parts of the process, for example get a printer who also distributes your book as well or even outsource your marketing.     BEST MOMENTS   ‘If you really want something and work for it and speak it out loud then it can come to you’ ‘You never know where your first book will lead you’ ‘You can tell one story in so many different ways’ ‘Children’s books are a fun project, you live in different worlds, it’s magical’   ABOUT THE PODCAST   A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. KEY TAKEAWAYS We don’t always need more. We find inspiration in the things we like, but the more of the things we like we accumulate, the more clutter you will have and the more money you’ll be spending on it.  It’s not just about spending money on things, it’s being overwhelmed by the other artists we’re finding inspiration from. It is different for every artist but having too many influences around you can make you feel like a piece of work is not yours, just a combination of the things you have around you. It’s something that every artist will feel differently about.  Social media can be an inspiration when we find other people’s creative posts, but it’s also a time drain. Dorien likes to set a timer for her social media use so she doesn’t spend too much time going down the rabbit hole.  Noise and movement can be distracting, but it can also be inspirational.  If you’re finding that some things are becoming too distracting, like social media or art books, try doing something that you can find inspiration in that doesn’t have someone else's imagery in it. Go for a walk or listen to some music, something that you can’t directly take from.  BEST MOMENTS‘We’re people who like to be surrounded by beautiful inspiring objects’ ‘Do I need a dark room with nothing in it to be able to concentrate?’‘Seeing something very specific can be the opposite of inspiration, the only thing I can think of is this one thing’ABOUT THE PODCAST A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people.www.thrivingwomenartists.comwww.instagram.com/twapodcastABOUT THE HOSTSPing He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. [email protected]/pinghe.artSarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life.www.sarahvandongen.comsarahvandongenillustration@gmail.comwww.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrationsDorien Bellaar:Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 your own personal style. So there might not actually be that much of a difference between your own art and the art you’re paid to do. The goal of being an artist is to get paid for making the art you love to make. We don’t become artists to follow what someone else wants us to do, it’s our own creative expression. So even the client work you do should be an expression of yourself. For Sarah it all starts with your personal art goals. There’s no clients and no commission, just personal goals and your own interest in art. It’s crucial to have a driving passion to keep you moving through the bad days. If you don’t have that then you might find yourself resenting some parts of being an artist and then it becomes like any other job. It’s so empowering creating something you love off of your own back without anyone telling you to do it. BEST MOMENTS  ‘You don’t know what you don’t know’ ‘Hopefully this podcast will help you choose to do the things you’re passionate about’ ‘Most people don’t have careers, they have jobs’ ‘It’s important to start creating from your passions’ ‘Keep creating for yourself and not for clients’ ABOUT THE PODCAST A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.    KEY TAKEAWAYS Reorganising, reconnecting, and reframing are the three things that Ping does when she is coming back to her work after a vacation.  To get back into the creative mindset, why not try something just a little creative rather than just jumping straight back in head first.  When you come back from holiday you can use all of those great things you’ve been working on in your travel journal to inspire you to start something new.  Try to finish an old project before you go off on vacation, it can be hard to get back into the same mindset you were in before when you were working on the piece. Getting everything finished before you go can be a bit stressful.  Sarah finds it helpful to spend a day when she gets back just doing the things she needs to do like laundry etc instead of just getting straight back into work. It’s a little bit of self care.  BEST MOMENTS ‘If I don’t have busy hands then I have a busy mind’  ‘You don’t want to jump into panic mode’  ‘If there’s too much pressure I will not do any good work’ ‘Take mini steps and just have fun with it’   ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.    KEY TAKEAWAYS The new places you visit will inspire you in ways you might not realise. When Ping was in Morocco she was inspired by all the different colours she saw around her. Even the smells and foods can inspire your creations.  For Sarah, she needs structure to be creative, but when she’s on holiday she likes to sleep in and not have a plan for her day. It takes up so much space in her mind.  Have a travel journal, it can be used as a less serious version of your sketchbook for when you’re on holiday.  You can even find new ways of being creative by getting yourself some new art supplies on holiday and using them, something different to what you usually use.  Have fun with it, you’re not going to make a masterpiece on your trip. You deserve a good holiday so don’t work too much, just use your art to play around with new things in new surroundings.  BEST MOMENTS ‘It’s inspiring being in a different environment and meeting different people’  ‘We all deserve breaks but there’s part of my mind that wants to be productive’  ‘It feels great to be an observer’  ‘I’m always amazed what 5 or 10 minutes can do’   ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.    KEY TAKEAWAYS There always is a right moment to take the next step, we don’t always know when that is. Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith and sometimes you’ll see the clear path ahead of you. Maybe it’s not a case of you taking the step but someone else doing it for you, for example if you’ve left your job and now is the perfect time.  When you start making art you have all the time to create, but when that becomes your source of income you add all these other things you have to do on top of that. Think about if you have the time to do the business side before you take that step. The next step for you might be taking on your first commissioned work, deciding to open an Etsy store, teaching your first class, or even just committing to regularly posting your work to Instagram for other people to see.  One of Dorien’s latest steps was deciding to collaborate more, she started teaching some classes and even this podcast is a step on her collaborative journey.  Knowing what your ultimate goal is can help you decide which steps you need to take next and how quickly or slowly you need to take them. Ping wants to be the number one in Europe for botanical postcards, so each step she takes is towards that goal.  Taking steps isn’t just taking them for yourself, you can take steps to help other people too. Ping took a side step from her postcard goal to start this podcast and share her experience with others cna create a community.  BEST MOMENTS ‘Never say never’  ‘If she trusts me to do it, then I think I can do it’  ‘You need to have goals or else it’s like being blindfolded’    ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.    KEY TAKEAWAYS It’s Dorien’s inner critic that in the past has stopped her from taking breaks. Ping considered taking a break from work as selfcare. You don’t need to burn out to take a break. Sarah takes breaks to stop her from getting overwhelmed.  There can be such a focus on productivity that it stops us from taking breaks, but taking a break is part of the creative process. If you’re only focused on doing the work then you won’t have time for all the things mentioned in our episode on creativity.  Taking a break can give you perspective, it can be a reflective time for you to think about your work and if you’re happy with the direction it’s going in.  It’s not just work you should take a break from. Social media can be a big distraction and we all get addicted to getting likes and follows. Ping’s advice is to take time off of it to reconnect with your life. When you do use it, go for quality over quantity. If you don’t know yourself then you won’t know what kind of breaks you need. Try lots of different types of breaks, from 5 minutes to taking a whole week to yourself. Do you need time to yourself or do you need to do another creative project? What do you need right now? BEST MOMENTS ‘A lot of people feel like they need to be producing something to be doing something’  ‘You don’t want to get burned out’ ‘Reconnect with yourself and with your life’  ‘You don’t need to apologise that you need to go away for a while’ ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 if we start it then there’s a chance we might fail. Envisioning what she wants to get done beforehand helps Ping overcome making excuses for not working. When you know your excuses are just trying to stop you working because you might fail or be overwhelmed, you should challenge those thoughts, remember that even if it’s not perfect, it’s part of the process and you have learned something. Procrastination is just one form of making excuses. Making excuses for too long can make you angry and frustrated and that just ends up being counterproductive. It’s good to speak out loud about your goals. Having other people who know what you need to be doing makes you accountable.   BEST MOMENTS   ‘The project starts way before the artwork’ ‘The only way to get better is by doing it’ ‘You need to have accountability’ ‘Accountability to myself is the most important’   ABOUT THE PODCAST   A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.    KEY TAKEAWAYS One of the most important things you need to ask yourself before taking on a project is ‘do I feel excited to get this project started’. You also need to know if you want to focus your time on this specific thing you’ve not done before, will it help your career? Getting a new project is a mixture of excitement that someone wants to hire you and being a little afraid of doing something new, it relates back to stepping out of your comfort zone which we have an episode on already.  If you’re doing a new project ask yourself, ‘why me and why now’?. Are they asking because they believe in you or think it’s something you can do, or do they want you to do it because you’re cheap or just because they know you.  Do you currently have the resources to do the project now? And if you don’t, are you going out and buying materials that you’ll never use again? Is it an investment that will help you now or in the future?  When working on a new type of project, always be honest with the client that you’ve not done this kind of thing before.  Having a positive mindset is very important when working in unknown territories. Being positive and having a vision and not focusing on the negatives will help you achieve your goals for the project.  BEST MOMENTS ‘A new project can often take more time’  ‘Sometimes you make the wrong decision but you learn a lot’  ‘It sounds very new and scary but you already have a lot of skills’  ‘When you believe in yourself, you will deliver it’    ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.    KEY TAKEAWAYS Striking the right balance between creativity and productivity doesn’t mean making it 50/50. We all have our own ways of working and own needs.  Creativity has no purpose, it’s pure play and experimentation. Trying to make something perfect is not being creative.  Ping uses a funnel to bring her creativity to a place where it becomes productive. It’s not completely free creativity, but creativity in her own style of work that she can then use to make postcards.  If you’re only concentrated on how many sales you will make and how many clients you have, it will eventually kill your creativity.  You can get yourself into a creative space while being productive in a real life sense. You can allow your mind to wonder while you’re doing the dishes or having a shower or even getting your exercise in. Your body is being productive but because it’s something we do all the time it allows our brains to be creative.  When you’re being productive you have a set goal and you know what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it.  BEST MOMENTS ‘Creativity can be very personal and you don’t have to share it’  ‘There is creativity in routines’  ‘Creativity is about connecting different ideas to a meaningful something’  ‘Productivity is measurable, creativity is not’    ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 deadline to feel overwhelmed by work. Feeling overwhelmed has a lot to do with your state of mind. Your thoughts are something that you can change yourself for the better with the right mindset. When the thing you’re overwhelmed about is illustration, then talk to another illustrator. Find a supporter you can trust who has gone through the same thing as you. When you have a lot of projects on the go, you need to prioritise your tasks so you know you’re getting the most important and time sensitive ones done first. By looking at other peoples work, you will overwhelm yourself. Concentrate on your own and ignore what other people are doing.   BEST MOMENTS   ‘You need a bit of distance from it sometimes’ ‘Starting something can feel overwhelming’ ‘You can’t take yourself out of it alone, you need to talk to someone’ ‘It’s not just the project that overwhelms you, you have other stuff to do too’   ABOUT THE PODCAST   A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.    KEY TAKEAWAYS In certain moments you need to be in a comfort zone to do repetitive work when you need to, but if you’re not taking risks then you are limiting yourself as an artist.  It can be scary to go out of your comfort zone, we feel this way in all walks of life not just in art. It can be tied to fear, rejection, and confidence.  You can go into a cycle, going in and out of comfort zones when those things you once found scary become comfortable. Then you go onto the next new scary thing. Comfort zones are personal to each individual, we all have different areas where we don’t feel as confident or feel scared.  When Sarah filmed her Domestika course she was in a country where she didn’t speak the language, doing something she’s never done before, feeling overwhelmed by what she had to do. At the time she thought it was too far out of her comfort zone. But Sarah got through it and feels like she's grown a lot from the experience.  Chasing something too far away can make you retreat to your comfort zone. Remember to test yourself but don’t take that huge step all at once. It stops being the growing edge at that point. Take a step out of your comfort zone, but make sure it’s the right size step for you.    BEST MOMENTS ‘The comfort zone is a very risk averse place’  ‘Then you can go step by step to the growth zone’  ‘It’s important to be kind to yourself’ ‘We face the challenge and earn a lot of skills along the way’ ‘I did survive….. And thrive’    EPISODE RESOURCES  Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic Helen Stephens   ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.    KEY TAKEAWAYS Ping, Sarah, and Dorien are working for free on this podcast, but see it as investing. Investing their knowledge in you and in themselves. There may be a time when they can make money from it, but right now it’s something designed to help you.  It feels like a catch 22 situation sometimes. You feel you need to be published already for other publishers to actually publish you.   It can be a little awkward doing work for free for friends and family. We want to help them out but when they come to you with feedback it can be so frustrating and leave a sour taste.  If someone does want you to do work for free, it’s worthwhile getting a contract anyway. Make sure you’re getting what you need out of it, for example have it in writing where your art will appear and how many times. That way you know what the gain will be from your time.  Your enjoyment and desire to work on your art can diminish quicker if you’re not getting any reward for your time.  If you are doing some work for someone for free, you need to make sure they know the value of the work you’re doing. For example you can send them an invoice with the regular price displayed but with a 100% discount applied.  BEST MOMENTS ‘Exposure is not going to pay your bills’  ‘It’s that she doesn’t value my time, it’s disrespectful I think’  ‘As a creative it is important that you invest’  ‘You have the power to say yes and say no’   EPISODE RESOURCES  Article on Julia Child Julia Child - “Julia” on HBO max  https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/julia-child-hbo-cast-the-french-chef-obama-netflix-our-great-national- parkshttps://juliachildfoundation.org/   ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.    KEY TAKEAWAYS Ping had a student at one of her classes who came week after week and wasn’t improving. Ping worked with her to find out why and it turns out she needed the right materials, time, and patience to improve. Ping asked her to just focus on one petal and that helped her focus on the details.  Don’t forget to have fun, it’s your job because you enjoy doing it. Think about the journey not the result. Take your time and have fun, give yourself space to grow.  Good courses will give you the tools and perspective you need to improve your skills.  You’ll learn more by making seven bad paintings and reflecting on them, rather than forcing yourself to do one piece you don’t want to do.  You can take a break from working on something when you’re feeling frustrated by it.  Remember that the most meaningful accomplishments in our lives happen slowly.  BEST MOMENTS ‘Practice, experiment, take your time’ ‘Don’t get fixated on improving too much, just embrace the process and have fun’  ‘If you don’t enjoy what you do you’ll be less productive’  ‘Dare to make ugly work’   ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week's episode was inspired by Sarah, who has a very big problem when it comes to organising her digital files. 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.    KEY TAKEAWAYS There are lots of things you should be keeping organised as an artist, your digital files, your physical work, your workspace, and something that’s often overlooked, your mind.  You should have a backup drive on your computer to store both your digital art files and anything related to your business.  When working in a team, like with this podcast, if you organise it can stop confusion over who is doing what work or what work has been done already. Organisation is vital for communication and teamwork.  Declutter! Buy at least 3 of your favourite art supplies. If you can’t find the colour you need, then that will stop you from working, but if you have more than one, then you always have one to hand.  There are lots of apps you can use to remind you of something important or urgent. You can even use a sticky note.    BEST MOMENTS ‘Make a clear division what is essential to store’  ‘I started to add the RGB or CMYK in the file name’  ‘Everything has to be in one place, my studio’   ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.    KEY TAKEAWAYS Disappointment can feel like a very personal thing. You should be aware that we often have high expectations and sometimes we need to separate our work from ourselves. It shouldn't be personal, maybe that project wasn’t right for you, not that you’re a bad artist.  You have to manage your expectations and be realistic. If you only put in a little bit of time then you can’t expect a huge outcome. If you really want something then you need to put in the time and do your best.  After a disappointment, do you want to adapt, adjust, or move on? Ping used the disappointment of getting the feedback from a client that her flower art didn’t sell well in the winter time. She decided to adjust and created a different theme that was actually better for her and her client.  Don’t be afraid of disappointment, if you’re too afraid to make the first step, then you’ll always be stuck where you are. Even if the step isn’t what you had hoped for, at least you have taken it.  BEST MOMENTS ‘One thing successful people have in common is that they don’t quit’  ‘Success is not a purpose’  ‘I didn’t put in the hours because I was afraid to be disappointed in myself’  ‘It’s a growth mindset, you can flip your outcome like a coin’    ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.    KEY TAKEAWAYS Sometimes you’re not even aware that you have a theme when you’ve only just started making art. It’s usually when you look back that you see it.  It’s important to explore and let your theme shine through without pressure. Working to a strict brief can be too restrictive and you won’t discover anything about your theme.  Doing prompts can help you find your theme by being creative.  The more you know yourself the more you will know your hidden theme. The reverse is also true, the more you know the hidden theme the more you know yourself.  Go back to the things you enjoy and start translating those things or the feelings they evoke into your work.  You’re never finished with your hidden theme and it’s not just one theme, BEST MOMENTS ‘It’s not an accident, it’s your heart and soul speaking’  ‘All our work is rooted in our experiences’  ‘You know yourself which work you are really proud of’    ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.    KEY TAKEAWAYS Being successful when it comes to selling depends on what your goals are. Some people might want to sell 50 things a week and some might only need to sell 3 or 4.  You can only get to your goal if you put in the time and effort. You only get out what you put in.  Ping doesn’t give herself a plan B, plan A is the only one and she will make it work.  If you want to sell things from your Etsy store, then you should actively be marketing it and promoting your products, not just waiting for sales.  Remember that you will need the space and time to run your online selling business.  The price you can sell to shops varies depending on their own costs.  A good rule of thumb when it comes to selling is that 20% of your products get you 80% of your revenue. And 20% of your customers give you 80% of your sales.  Make sure your website is as customer friendly as possible. They should be able to find what they’re looking for in as few clicks as possible. If you have a bad website experience, you will lose business.  Personal connections are so important when selling. People invest in us as people first, before they invest in our products. Remember people’s names, be personable, do the little things that will improve relationships.  You can start small but if you want to grow you will need to invest.    BEST MOMENTS ‘In order to sell better you need to look at what resources you have’  ‘You have this product, it feels so special’  ‘Every time we send out an email, 10 orders come in’ ‘Selling is an established relationship’   EPISODE RESOURCES  The Lean Startup - http://theleanstartup.com/   ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why is promoting yourself important? That is the question Ping, Sarah, and Dorien will be discussing this week on Thriving Women Artists. Find out how to promote yourself, why you need to do it, and some top tips that will help you on your artistic journey.   KEY TAKEAWAYS   You can feel different levels of fear depending who you’re promoting yourself to. Fear is actually a good thing, because it means you know it’s important and care about what the person thinks. No matter how far you are in your artistic journey, you will have to promote yourself and will likely feel some kind of fear or anxiety about doing so. Promotion is important because if you want to make a career of art, people need to know who you are, what you do, and why you do it. If you aren’t your own cheerleader, why should someone else be? Your social media is a form of promotion, as well as when you’re networking too, that is also self promotion. Recognise that your fear is there and take steps to overcome it. Separate yourself from your artwork, you are not your art, it’s a product and it’s for sale. You have to be able to detach yourself from it. There’s always a bigger stage you can move on to once you have faced the fear and conquered it.     BEST MOMENTS   ‘You need to increase the value of your career to the people who make the decisions’ ‘In order to have a sustainable career you need to manage yourself as an art business’ ‘You need to show up for your art’ ‘Your personality should shine through your art’ ‘Treat yourself like your best friend would’   ABOUT THE PODCAST   A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Creativity is one of the most important things for an artist, but when you’re feeling a lack of creativity, what can you do to change that? This week on Thriving Women Artists, Ping, Sarah and Dorien will be sharing 12 tips for instant creativity. Find the tips in the show notes below and listen in to hear why these tips will help you find that inspiration you need.    12 Creative Tips Try something new. Collect inspirational pictures and things and make an inspirational file for yourself. Listen to a podcast.  Read or flip through a book.  Make your own journal.  Write yourself a nice encouraging or inspirational note and stick it somewhere.  Make a mess and explore it. Find hidden treasures in your imperfection.  Listen to some nice music.  Connect with nature. Open up your eyes for the beauty in nature. Meditate.  Change your environment.  Learn or start learning something new.    BEST MOMENTS ‘If something resonates with you, do it! Immediately!’  ‘I can do this and I want to do this’  ‘Be kind, work hard, and good things will come to you’   EPISODE RESOURCES Van Beek art supplies Evernote   ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.comwww.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Where have you come from and what is ahead of you? This week on Thriving Women Artists, Ping, Sarah, and Dorien are here to talk about which stage of the creative path you’re on. Find out why it’s important to be conscious of where you are on your path and where the three hosts are on their own creative journeys.    KEY TAKEAWAYS The creative path is almost your vision for what you want as an artist. It covers where you want to go and also where you have been.  Taking on too much work can kill your confidence and set you back on your creative path if it’s too early for you to be taking that much on.  It can be scary to send off your work to publishers if you don’t know where you are on your journey. Knowing where you are will help you know if you’re ready for that step. Even if someone else doesn’t think you’re ready, sometimes you will receive guidance from them.  Your growing edge is that area of your life where there's still a lot of room for improvement but you're pushing ahead and stretching the margins of that area every day. Sometimes it can feel like you’re not going forward. This can be a good thing, it’s your brain processing and allowing you to take on board what you’ve learned up to this point.  Try evaluating a project that was new to you. Find out what you learned and what you liked and didn’t like.    BEST MOMENTS ‘Yes I have been scared, but I always realised that I have to take it step by step’ ‘If you do things you enjoy, you will learn so much faster’  ‘Forget about the noises outside, just make work that represents your voice’    ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.comwww.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As artists, we’re generally more sensitive and more in tune with our emotions and physical wellbeing. In this episode of Thriving Women Artists, Ping, Sarah, and Dorien will be giving you tips for making sure you take care of your own wellbeing and discussing the problems we may face as artists.     KEY TAKEAWAYS It's important to work on your physical and mental health, not just when you’re struggling with it.  Get moving! As artists we aren’t very active in our working lives, so take breaks and make sure you do something physical, even better if it’s in the fresh air.  Keep hydrated during the day! Think about your work space, you spend a lot of your time there. Why not invest in some ergonomic or comfortable equipment. Get a chair that properly supports your back.  If you are struggling with your mental health, don’t be afraid to ask for help. It might sound cliché but you’re not alone and other people feel the way you do.  BEST MOMENTS ‘There are so many deadlines to meet, but you only have one body to look after’  ‘Trust that it won’t stay bad forever, there will be better days’ ‘There are stages where you feel strong enough to share’    EPISODE RESOURCES Julia Cameron - The Artist’s Way   ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.comwww.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  [email protected]/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.comsarahvandongenillustration@gmail.comwww.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you keep focused as an artist? We’ve all wasted time scrolling our phone or putting off one piece of work for another. This week on Thriving Women Artists, Ping, Sarah, and Dorien will be sharing their tips on staying focused, avoiding distractions, and being accountable.    KEY TAKEAWAYS Have someone to make you feel accountable for being distracted and wasting your work time. Shared work spaces or collaborative working can help with this.  Be realistic when setting goals and planning your time. If your goals are not realistic then you won’t get things done and will have that negative feeling of not completing a task. Plan around your peak creative times.  Working on a single task can be better than multitasking. If you;re working on multiple things at once you’re more likely to make mistakes and your focus is going to be split. It takes discipline to just work on one thing while you know in the back of your mind that you have other things to do.  Your desk space should be a place for work, if you’re sitting there playing games on your phone or other things, then your brain will not associate your desk with work.  Take a break throughout the day, away from your desk. Go out for a little walk and some fresh air. We can’t focus for 8 hours in a row.  BEST MOMENTS ‘I try not to overwhelm myself’  ‘Finishing your tasks will make you feel motivated’ ‘I get ahead of myself and want to start with the finished project’    ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are very few examples of people who have made it in art entirely on their own. Nearly every successful artist has had help along the way. This week on Thriving Women Artists, Ping, Sarah, and Dorien will be discussing the difference between a mentor, a teacher, and someone who just inspires you.    KEY TAKEAWAYS Mentorships foster a connection between you and someone who can guide you with developing your art work, through the art world, and through your creative life. A mentor can help you see a bigger picture.  Different mentors can help you develop different areas of your career, from your art to your business.  A mentor can introduce you to other people who might be able to help you out. A teacher or a tutor would teach you a specific skill and are specialised in it. They might have knowledge of a specific type of art or material. You can work with teachers one on one, in classes, or even online.  No matter what outside influences you have, whether it’s a mentor or a teacher or inspiration from someone else, remember that you are your own artist. Nobody can tell you what your voice is.  Workshops and classes have a really great atmosphere of passionate people, not just the teachers but other students too. You’ll also find different materials provided that you might not have had a chance to use.    BEST MOMENTS ‘You feel like established artists have done it on their own, but they haven't’  ‘There are moments where a teacher is also a mentor’  ‘Inspiration is everywhere, but you need to know what kind of artist you want to be’ ‘People buy your joy’ ‘Be kind, work hard, and good things will come to you’   VALUABLE RESOURCES 1) MA Children’s Book Illustration - https://aru.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/childrens-book-illustration 2) Juliet Docherty - https://www.instagram.com/colourtutor 3) Lodewijk Thijssen - https://www.lodewijkthijssen.nl/ 4) Marianna Rio - https://www.instagram.com/amarianario 5) Lies Kindt - https://www.lieskindt.nl/ 6) Lilla Rogers - https://lillarogers.com/ 7) John Lee - https://www.instagram.com/john_lee_official   ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.comwww.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  [email protected]/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.comsarahvandongenillustration@gmail.comwww.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is networking and why is it important for an artist to do? This week on Thriving Women Artists, Ping, Sarah, and Dorien tell you why, give their experiences, and give you some great tips on how to network and build your own network of artists. Join the discussion on trust, self confidence, and faking it until you make it.    KEY TAKEAWAYS Networking isn’t only about getting further in your career, it’s about surrounding yourself with likeminded people or people you can learn from or teach. Networking is about growth. Getting to build new relationships and gain new expertise from the people you’ve built those relationships with.  Working as an artist can sometimes be pretty lonely working from home or a studio all by yourself. You can put in a lot of work and find out new information yourself, or you can build a relationship and exchange information with someone who has different skills and knowledge to you. This is a great solution to the problem of being lonely and saves you that time and energy of finding everything out yourself.  Having a group of people around you helps you gain confidence and helps you be proud of yourself and your work. People are generally very supportive.  When you get an assignment, remember that they already like your work. You don’t need to feel nervous that they won’t like what you do. Take confidence from being asked to do the job.  A network can help you set your own goals and decide which direction you want to go.  Social media is also a network that you build, it’s called social networking for a reason. Reach out to people and ask questions or compliment their work.  BEST MOMENTS ‘Networking is belonging to a community or different communities’  ‘It’s been made difficult for women to say that they’re proud of something’  ‘Everything is teamwork, it’s so important’   VALUABLE RESOURCES www.scbwi.orgwww.instagram.com/sketchbreakfast   ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.comwww.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  [email protected]/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.comsarahvandongenillustration@gmail.comwww.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All of you lovely listeners have been sending in so many questions we had to bring you a part 2 of answering questions from listeners. When should you start selling your art? Would you recommend teaching online courses? What distracts you from making art and how do you deal with it? Ping, Sarah, and Dorien will be answering these questions and more.    KEY TAKEAWAYS There are print on demand websites which can do all of the manufacturing and postage for you. It’s a good tool to use when you’re starting out but you only get a small percentage of the profits.  Look for small group exhibitions to showcase your work in a smaller, more supportive environment. Also remember you might not make sales on the day of the exhibition. Make sure you give out your contact information to anyone who is interested and you might get sales at a later date.  If you’re selling low cost items like postcards, why not sell them in bundles. You will sell more volume and make more money.  Your phone is a huge distraction, don’t put it on your desk or in your pocket. Put it on the other side of the room or even a different room all together.  If you’re being distracted, try and find out why you’re being distracted at that moment or what it is that is distracting you. Are you distracted because you’re struggling with a part of your work?  BEST MOMENTS ‘In the beginning it’s not about the money, it’s an investment process in yourself’ ‘I’m building my art muscles by exercising in my sketchbook’  ‘If you follow your intuition you’ll be in a place where you really enjoy learning new things’  ‘Colour gets all the credit but tone does all the work’    VALUABLE RESOURCES https://society6.com/https://www.redbubble.com/   ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.comwww.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  [email protected]/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.comsarahvandongenillustration@gmail.comwww.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The first guest on Thriving Women Artists had to be Katya Tikhova. Katya is an illustrator for children’s and middle grade publishing, as well as that, Katya is also a mother. Find out all about how Katya got into illustration, and hear her and Ping’s experiences of motherhood and being a parent while striving to succeed as artists. KEY TAKEAWAYS It’s so life changing becoming a mother that Katya feared that she would lose her ability to make art or that she just wouldn’t have the time to commit to it. As a freelance worker you always have a fear of being a starving artist, that fear is made bigger when you have a child to care for. You can plan as much as you want for motherhood, but things will always be different from how you expect them to be. It can be hard as a mother to leave your child and switch from parent mode to another. Ping said to herself that if she is spending time doing something other than being a mother, it would have to be something she loves doing. For a baby, it’s important to have a happy mum. Taking time for your art is part of taking care of yourself, and you need to take care of yourself if you’re going to take care of someone else. Every time you feel guilty, remember that. Make plans for your time, it can be for a day or for a week, then add in about 30% for flexibility.  BEST MOMENTS ‘There is never a right moment to be a mum’ ‘I want to be a good mum and also a good artist’ ‘You should be a good team with your partner’ ‘When you are happy and healthy you can give more to the world and more to your child’ VALUABLE RESOURCES Follow Katya Tikhova on Instagram Katyatikhova.co [email protected] ABOUT THE GUEST Katya Tikhova is an illustrator from Siberia (Novosibirs, Russia), who now lives in Amsterdam, Netherlands. You can find her work in children’s and middle grade publishing. Katya uses both digital and traditional materials including gouache, watercolour,  colored pencils, and cut paper. ABOUT THE PODCAST A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The topic of discussion is collaboration this week on Thriving Women Artists. Join Ping, Sarah, and Dorien as they collaborate to share their knowledge with you. Find out what a collaboration is, the different forms, advantages and disadvantages, their own experiences, and important things to keep in mind.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Collaboration is working together on a shared goal. If there is only one person working on a project there is only one point of view and all the work is on one person. In a collaboration you share the workload and get a wider set of ideas to bring to the project. Everyone has their own personality and strengths, a good team utilises that.  Collaboration can also be a good way to save your time so you can focus your attention on something that will make you money. For example if it will take you a long time to build your own website, you can pay someone else to do it. Your time is then free for other things and your collaboration brings in someone with skills you don’t have.   Sometimes you need to be confident in yourself and your abilities to be part of a good collaboration.  In a collaboration it’s important to get input for everyone involved. Welcome new ideas and make people feel valued.  BEST MOMENTS ‘You share the responsibility so it makes it less stressful’  ‘You need to know the right people to work together’  ‘I felt scared because it would be a big commitment’    ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We all have moments where we just can’t find the creativity we normally have to finish or even start a task. This is a creative block, and this week on Thriving Women Artists, Sarah, Ping, and Dorien will be telling you all about their own creative blocks, the different types, the reasons behind them, and why they can sometimes be a good thing.    KEY TAKEAWAYS Creative blocks, or barriers to inspiration, can be described as the inability to access your internal creativity. Those in creative professions such as writers, musicians, performers, artists, are often more likely to be affected by creative blocks, which can last for days, weeks, months, or even years. You can have a creative block for specific things. You might be able to do all the sketching you want, but when it comes down to a piece of client work you may be unable to put ink on the page.  The causes of a creative block can be procrastination, feeling overwhelmed, perfectionism, and letting your inner critic take over.  Sarah sometimes feels like the inner critic stops her from being creative. She finds that listening to loud music or watching a movie she has seen before can help distract her from listening to her inner critic.  Dorien had an injury to her arm that made it hard for her to work, she knew she would get past it because she had a similar injury to her none painting arm. She stayed positive and didn’t let the stress of the block overwhelm her.  Creative blocks happen for a reason and can be very important moments in your creative life, almost like a reset to stop and take a breath, then look ahead.  The first step to dealing with a creative block is to accept it and allow yourself to stop. It is a signal and a need for change.  Remember that struggles emphasise the creative good times you’ve had. Growth happens within your struggles.  BEST MOMENTS ‘I put a wall in front of myself and cannot work’ ‘You have to trust that it will end’  ‘You’re forced to stop, which is scary, but it can be a positive thing’  ‘Productivity is not the most important thing in the world’    EPISODE RESOURCES  Big Magic : Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert Creative Block by Gemma Lawrence The Creative Licence: Giving yourself Permission to Be the Artist You Truly Are by Danny Gregory   ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.comwww.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  [email protected]/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.comsarahvandongenillustration@gmail.comwww.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Find out what a children’s book portfolio is, why you should have one, when you should use one, what to put in it, and much more on this week's Thriving Women Artists. Join Ping, Sarah, and Dorien as they discuss this topic and give you some great real world advice to help anyone starting out in the world of children’s book illustration.   KEY TAKEAWAYS   Your children’s book portfolio should be filled with professional style work that publishers can look at and know your ability straight away. By making a portfolio you can narrow down and make your niche in children's illustration. IT can help you discover what you’re passionate about making. You can make different portfolios for different publishers or styles of book. If one publisher makes books for older kids, you can leave out some of the stuff aimed at younger children. However don’t make it only one type of thing because sometimes people want to see something different to what they usually do. If you’re asking yourself if it is the right time to start your children’s book portfolio, it is always a good time to get started. It’s a process of growing like everything else in art. Remember that quality is much more important than quantity.       BEST MOMENTS   ‘It’s not only about skill, they also want to know how you think differently’ ‘Find a publisher who fits to your work’   EPISODE RESOURCES   Beatrice Alemagna   Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators   ABOUT THE PODCAST   A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you price your art? It seems like such a hard question for an artist to answer. We’re taught not to talk about money, but that’s exactly what Sarah, Ping, and Dorien are talking about this week on the thriving Women Artist podcast. Find out not only how you should be pricing your work, but also why it is important to do so.   KEY TAKEAWAYS   Working towards the right price is very important. You need to be happy with the amount you’re being paid and the client has to feel like it’s a fair price. If you are allowing yourself to be underpaid, that allows people to underpay other artists. This has partly led to the art licensing world paying half the price it used to. An original illustration should be more expensive than a scan or print. Scans or prints can be replicated, the original cannot. When pricing your art you don’t only need to take into account the amount of time you’re spending on the artwork, but also the material costs involved. Think about this when making digital art too. You have invested in the equipment and software to be able to make the art. Also consider any costs and time costs in travel and research. As a self employed person, you do not get sick pay or holiday pay, or money going into your pension. You need to make sure you’re charging enough to save for these things. Don’t be afraid to ask for a client's budget.     BEST MOMENTS ‘Making art is undervalued’ ‘If your price is too low it can be hard to ask for a higher price in the future’ ‘I deliver 200% more to the clients than my competitors’ ‘Time is money I’m sorry to say’   EPISODE RESOURCES   Facebook groups: - illustrators for fair pay - illustration pricing discussion group Book: Graphic Artist's Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines   ABOUT THE PODCAST A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today’s episode is all about you, our dear listeners! Ping, Sarah, and Dorien will be answering your questions this week on The Thriving Women Artist’s Podcast. Find out what the trio have to say about getting the right tools for the job, dealing with your inner critic, going from digital to a sketchbook, if talent is more important than hard work, and many more useful tips to help you create the art you love.   KEY TAKEAWAYS   Remember that you’re doing it for yourself, and you’re allowed to treat yourself to the things you want to do. Importance can only be assigned by you, it doesn’t have anything to do with time or money if you don’t want it to. If you want to make art then you should first of all do it for the love of doing it. If you were a plumber, you would make sure you buy all the tools you need, so why not do that as an artist. Good quality supplies will often make it easier, but it doesn’t have to be loads of the expensive kinds, you can also experiment with other materials. Being an artist isn’t about how much you sell, or if you even sell anything at all. Anyone can call themselves an artist if they’re creating something. If you’re taking part in courses, work out what you want to learn from it before you start. It took Ping a while to work that out after starting course after course after course. They can be a good place to just practice, and maybe you’ll find something new that you are passionate about.     BEST MOMENTS  ‘If it makes you feel good making art then you should do it’ ‘Without art, I would have never survived’ ‘Don’t focus on the end result, focus on the process’ ‘Style isn’t something you choose, it’s like your personality’   EPISODE RESOURCES Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Dutch Illustrators’ event Children’s Book Illustration Summer School Bologna Children’s Book Fair   ABOUT THE PODCAST   A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Happy New Year! It’s 2022 and everyone seems to be making plans. This week on The Thriving Women Artists’ Podcast, Ping, Sarah, and Dorien are talking about how making plans can help you with not just your art, but finding that elusive work life balance too. Don’t forget you can download your free Let’s Get Started worksheet in the resources below.    KEY TAKEAWAYS Planning makes you more efficient with how you use your time. The more efficient you are with your time, the less stressed you will be, and potentially you will be able to take on more work.  When making a plan you should include time for yourself or your sketchbook work, not just your client work.  Having some down time to take care of yourself can allow you to de-stress. Also planning time to connect with your clients more allows you to improve your relationship with them and gain a greater understanding of the work.  As an artist it feels like you need to fill your weekdays with work but just cramming in work might not actually be productive.  There are often deadlines or events where you want to go and show your work. Planning in advance of these can help you hit these targets by knowing what you need to do and when.    BEST MOMENTS ‘Making a plan will help make you successful’  ‘Being productive all the time doesn’t really work for me’  ‘In order to be productive you need to know yourself’  ‘We learn from each other and I’m so thankful for that’  EPISODE RESOURCES  Download your free Let’s Get Started worksheet here ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With 2022 fast approaching, Sarah, Dorien, and Ping look back on what they have learned in the last year. This week on Thriving Women Artists, find out their personal experiences as artists and how the three hosts have each individually learned from them. We hope you can take something from this and have a great New Year!   KEY TAKEAWAYS   Make a list of the things you want to do and want to achieve in the next year. It’s not a habit you should only do once a year, you can even make a weekly list of goals and accomplishments.  Sarah has learned that social media isn’t everything. You can’t create amazing stuff all day every day. She has also learned that she doesn’t want to do picture books full time, it’s a lot of hard work and Sarah wants to spend more time on her own art. It’s comforting to know that she doesn’t need to look for them all the time, just a few a year will do.  Dorien has learned that it’s good to surround yourself with people who you trust and can be open with. People who you can share your struggles with make good friends and a good form of support. Dorien has also learned to ask for help when you need it.  Ping has learned in 2021 that it’s important to practice self care, we need to take care of our bodies and mental health to be able to work in the first place. She also has learned not to be afraid to ask for help. Ping has also learned to manage her time, especially on social media.  BEST MOMENTS   ‘There is more that makes me happy than just art’  ‘Confidence comes with  practice’  ‘I’m so happy that I’ve made best friends with my sketchbook’  ‘Overconfidence will kill you’    ABOUT THE PODCAST    A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.comwww.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.comsarahvandongenillustration@gmail.comwww.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sketchbooks are an interesting and personal place, it’s such an amazing way to improve and progress as an artist. This week on The Thriving Women Artists’ Podcast, Sarah, Ping, and Dorien discuss the benefits of working in a sketchbook, why they always have one with them, what you can use your sketchbook for, and how to start the habit of using one regularly. Make sure you follow @twapodcast on Instagram for a weekly drawing prompt.   KEY TAKEAWAYS If you’re using a sketchbook you don’t lose any of the work you’ve done. You can look back and see how you’ve improved or changed, or even find inspiration. A sketchbook is a playground where you can experiment. You don’t have to fill it with masterpieces. Sketchbooks help you formulate what’s in your mind and transfer it onto the page. It’s like the skeleton of your work. When you keep a sketchbook you notice the different moods you have when you’re working. You can look back and see how productive you were at one time or maybe you can see that you are suffering from a lack of inspiration. Get different sizes and different types of paper. You can have different books for different types of sketches. You can print off or design your own cover so you have a connection to it before you even start working with it.   BEST MOMENTS ‘It’s such an encouragement to look back and see the progress’ ‘Failure is allowed’ ‘How can I work though this in a way that I enjoy it and keep going’   ABOUT THE PODCAST A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"If you’ve not done something before it doesn’t mean you won’t be successful when you do" Your first commission, that’s a seriously big moment. But if you’ve never done any commission work before, then you might not know how it works. This week on Thriving Women Artists, Ping, Sarah, and Dorien will guide you through what you need to know through each step of the process. Find out how much you should charge? How do you communicate with the client? How does a contract work? And so many more useful tips for making your commissioned artwork.  KEY TAKEAWAYS The first thing you should be doing when you have an enquiry is ask for their budget, the deadline, and where and how your art will be used.  Do your research on the company if there is information freely available.  It can always help to meet face to face if you can, but if you’re in different places then you can always talk on the phone. Make sure you have all the information easy to access via e-mail.  It’s okay to say no, that budget doesn’t work for me, or the time frame is too small.  Keep your client updated on the work. If you send a sketch then they can give feedback, that’s better than sending the final artwork and it being wrong.  You can share your working process with the client so they understand how you work and what they can expect.  Unless your client is paying for all of your time, then your time is not theirs. You still have to live your life and work for what you’re worth. Working for free or less than you’re worth just devalues your time and your art.  The contract should say the deadlines, fees, feedback rounds, how the art will be used and how long for. It’s generally a standard thing to ask for 50% upfront.    BEST MOMENTS ‘If you’ve not done something before it doesn’t mean you won’t be successful when you do’  ‘A no is always negotiable’  ‘It’s always okay to ask for more’ ‘If you’re listening to our podcast then please don’t work for free’   ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.comwww.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  [email protected]/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.comsarahvandongenillustration@gmail.comwww.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you actually make money as an artist? Where can you sell your art and who are you selling it to? How can you make money in other ways? These are just some of the questions Ping, Sarah, and Dorien will be answering this week on the Thriving Women Artists podcast. Not every revenue generator is right for everyone, so listen in to discover what might be the best fit for you and your art.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Dorien sees commissions and assignments as different things. Commissions are art you do for clients and are usually more creative. An assignment is more like a logo for a client or something similar. Ping sells her products direct to consumers and wholesale to shops, the two have different price points. Print on demand is where you upload your illustration online and you choose how you want it to be printed and what on. The platform then prints it off once an order has been received by a customer. The advantage is that you don’t need to invest in stock or packaging for this but you would typically only get 10% to 15% of the money. You can licence your work too. For example allowing a company or brand to use your artwork for a specified amount of time. You can also sell your art or photography in the form of stock imagery. Teaching art is another way you can make cash. Sarah teaches online workshops, which is good because you can work with anyone anywhere, but you do lose that face to face contact. She also teaches workshops hosted by someone else in their space and she takes a percentage fee. Dorien has started teaching at an art education institute one evening a week. All of the facilities and invoicing are set by the institute but the curriculum is hers to decide. YouTube can be a way to make money from advertising if you have a way you can transfer your art to the style of the platform. Online you can make a percentage profit using affiliate links where you are promoting someone else's product or services. Sarah has made money from being an influencer, a company sends her products to use or promote and she charges them a fee. You can also enter your art into competitions and if you’re good and lucky then you can earn a little money doing it. Obviously one of the big ways to make money would be to sell your art to a gallery, either originals or prints.   BEST MOMENTS ‘That being done by someone else can save a lot of stress’ ‘If you make a plan and you fail, then you can try again and again’ ‘It’s important to see what ways of making money fit you’   ABOUT THE PODCAST A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feedback is the topic of conversation this week on Thriving Women Artists. We all want to know people’s honest opinions and what we can potentially work on improving. Join Ping, Sarah and Dorien as they discuss why feedback is important, how to give it, when to give it, and a little bit of their own experiences.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Feedback can be educated or uneducated, it can be a reaction or it can be thought out. It can cover the whole spectrum of critical to positive. Don’t just think about what they are saying, look at who is saying it and why. You can also get feedback on the process around your work. If you’re working with clients they may give this, or in some cases give no feedback at all, it happens. Always remember to ask yourself what is the purpose for you wanting feedback and who are you getting feedback from. Are they the right person who can help you know what you want to find out. If you want feedback on your book illustrations, then ask someone involved in that process. When you’re getting feedback you can ask questions, find out more about what they think and make sure you’re getting the right advice for what you need. Don’t take it personal. Your art is a part of you, but it’s not you. If you’re getting feedback from a client, remember that you’re both working towards the same goal. When giving feedback, start with something specific, honest, and positive.   BEST MOMENTS   ‘It’s not about the work you’re making, it’s about if you love making it’ ‘You don’t need to be completely happy with all of your work before you ask for feedback’ ‘They like to see the process from sketch to final art’ ‘There’s no failure, only feedback’   ABOUT THE PODCAST A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam. This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teachers Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Struggles, they can be pretty universal, but how do you overcome them? That’s the topic of conversation on this week’s episode of Thriving Women Artists. Join Sarah, Ping, and Dorien as they discuss their personal struggles and how they work to overcome them. Hopefully you’ll pick up some tips and tricks that can help you in your day-to-day life.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Struggles can include, having too many ideas and not staying focused, time management and balancing work with family life, self-doubt, and not taking enough care of yourself. The first step in overcoming your struggles is to acknowledge them. Stand still and notice the things you find easy and the things that you find difficult. Sarah documents these things and finds it easier to manage them that way. Sometimes Ping forgets herself in the roles she has to play, as a woman, as a mother, as an artist. A lot of problems can start from not knowing who you are. The better you know yourself the better you can identify your struggles. You can try using tricks to make the things you don’t enjoy feel more fun. Even if it’s something as simple as buying yourself some new art supplies. You should always ask for help if you need it, not just asking others but also asking yourself for some down time or to remind yourself to take care of your needs.   BEST MOMENTS   ‘Know your weakness but also know your strengths’ ‘I create a support system, I say please help me’ ‘You can create the mood, create the flow’   ABOUT THE PODCAST   A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teachers Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why should you be using social media as an artist? That’s the question the Thriving Women Artists will be discussing this week. Find out what platforms Ping, Sarah, and Dorien use, how they gain benefits from them, and what content you should be posting. Why not check out the links to all the podcast's social media in the bios below.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Sarah and Dorien mostly use Instagram but Ping tends to use TikTok as well as Instagram. These are primarily visual mediums which work well for artists. You can use social media to connect with other artists, gain inspiration, and discover new things that you have never seen before. Sarah has limited herself to 30 minutes on Instagram per day. She also gets a lot of work through her Instagram page. Ping is motivated to pick up a paintbrush by seeing other people’s amazing work online. It’s a good idea to have a watermark or signature on any work posted online. It’s always worth not posting the highest resolution image you have online, so if someone takes it, they don’t have the best version. Social media is just a good way to show your work. Tell the world what kind of artist you are and what areas you work in. It’s better to focus on one or two platforms. Nobody has the time to post on everything. Sarah uses her website for the finished product, but Instagram is her play space, it can be messy on there.   BEST MOMENTS ‘I’ve met people abroad and we stay connected via Instagram’ ‘I’m actually quite lazy but I cover it with structure and rules’ ‘You should do it because you like it. I’m not the kind to work out the algorithm’   ABOUT THE PODCAST A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast   ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teachers Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Thriving Women Artists, Ping, Sarah, and Dorien share their own experience with their inner critic and how they overcome it. Listen in to find useful tips and advice for artists of all levels looking to gain confidence and drowning out that little voice that tells you your work is not good enough.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Sarah believes that if you don’t pay attention to your inner critic then it can’t grow. She also has a mantra translating to ‘I can do this and I want to do this’ which she repeats to herself in her head. Dorien has remembered a quote she learned at a yoga retreat, ‘hello thoughts, thank you and goodbye’. This helps her acknowledge and let go of the things her inner critic says. Ping adds an element of logic to her inner critic. She looks at what actions she can take to improve certain things, but doesn’t exaggerate what her inner critic says. She is in control, not the negative voice. She has also stopped comparing herself with established artists. Tips for overcoming your inner critic. Go for a walk to clear your head. Draw a caricature of your inner critic, make it seem silly and small. Let other creativity take over, like playing an instrument. Ask yourself if the things your inner critic says are even valid. If you’ve only just started out then you can’t be expected to make a masterpiece. Manage expectations. Do what the Thriving Women Artists is all about, surround yourself with other creatives who you can share your experience with. Gain support and confidence through others.   BEST MOMENTS   ‘I have a small inner critic, but she’s not allowed in my studio’ ‘You cannot make masterpieces all the time, it’s about growth and the process’ ‘When I was young the inner critic took up a lot of space’ ‘If you gave the inner critic her own way, it would overtake you’   ABOUT THE PODCAST   A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teachers Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Thriving Women Artists, Ping, Sarah, and Dorien will discuss why it’s important to strive for improvement in your art and how you can go about doing that. Listen in for personal stories of drawing apple after apple, and easy tips on how you can improve your art.  KEY TAKEAWAYS Find out where you are in your art, what do you do that you’re already happy with and what do you want to improve on. Once you know where you are and where you want to be, you can start to fill in the gaps.  Set yourself one task at a time, for example, do you want to work on your form or your colour palette? Break things down into small achievable goals.  Working on improving something can sometimes feel uninspiring, doing the same thing over and over. Why not check out the episode on inspiration to find out how you can inject some creativity into the work you’re trying to improve.  There’s nothing wrong with repetition, as long as you’re doing it mindfully with purpose.  Remember you can always improve but you can’t be a perfect artist who can do everything.  BEST MOMENTS ‘I have like ten sketch books filled with apples’  ‘You have to put your own personality in your drawing’  ‘Then it grows more organic and naturally’  ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. Thriving Woman Artists Website Instagram ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teachers Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  Ping He Art  Ping He Art Email  Ping He Art Instagram Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. Sarah's Website Sarah's Email Sarah Instagram Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  Dorien Bellaar Doriens Email Dorien Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Join Ping, Sarah, and Dorien as they discuss the difference between copying and being inspired by another piece of art. As well as that you’ll hear all about the different forms of inspiration and what inspires these Thriving Women Artists. See the list of inspirations in the links below.   KEY TAKEAWAYS By copying someone else's work you can’t truly know and understand the reasoning behind the work. When Sarah copies someone else’s work she does not publish or post anything, she keeps it in her sketch book. This is a technique to learn to illustrate something that you don’t have a lot of experience in. It is essentially practice to learn from and then adapt into your own style. You can spend too much time trying to inspire yourself and not enough time making your own work. Going down a Pinterest rabbit-hole can give some inspiration, but can also just be a distraction. You don’t have to only find inspiration in visual art. So many artists are inspired by books they read as a child and the music they’re listening to. Learning to create your own artwork takes time. But all good things take time.   BEST MOMENTS ‘If I had kept going with copying other artists then I would not be where I am today’ ‘You learn less by copying, rather than being inspired by something’ ‘You are the magic!’   EPISODE RESOURCES http://www.beatricealemagna.com/ https://www.janeray.com/ https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en https://www.marcmartin.com/ https://www.semykina.com/ https://www.theartoffun.com/about   ABOUT THE PODCAST A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teachers Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Getting your first commission is something you’ll never forget. In this episode of Thriving Women Artists, Sarah, Ping, and Dorien will talk about their first commissions, what they learned from it, and what they would do differently now. Listen in to find out what the trio would recommend you add to your first commission check-list.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Your first work might not pay very much but a little exposure can be good. It’s bad to undersell yourself but for the first few commissions most artists will make that sacrifice. It can be good to meet a client face to face and get a feel for what they are looking for. The more you know someone the easier you will find it to get on the same page. Make sure you agree what your work will be used for and have your terms of use agreed. Make it clear that the art you make for a client can only be used for that stated purpose. If those terms aren’t adhered to, then don’t be afraid to bring it up with the client. One-size-fits-all isn’t the best approach to commissioned art. That goes both for your work and how you work with the client.   BEST MOMENTS ‘It was nice to be chosen to do this work’ ‘I was a little angry about it and should have said something’ ‘If someone pays a lot then I always feel like I have to give it all’ ‘It’s up to me to say yes or no’   EPISODE RESOURCES https://makeartthatsells.com/ https://theaoi.com/ https://lillarogers.com/ https://www.bno.nl/ https://www.behance.net/search   ABOUT THE PODCAST   A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS   Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teachers Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is creativity, why is it important to cultivate creativity, and how do you do that? These are just a few of the questions Sarah, Ping, and Dorien will be answering on this week’s episode of Thriving Women Artists. They also share their stories of trying new things to add that spark of creativity to their work.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Creativity is about more than just making something. You can be creative in so many ways, such as finding solutions from a different perspective. Creativity is also about playfulness, letting go, using your imagination and being curious. Being scared to fail is the opposite of being creative. It’s not about the outcome, it’s about the process. Routines are very valuable but some of the best creativity can come outside of our routines. While Dorien’s right shoulder was injured she found new ways of being creative using her left hand to paint. She used her situation to her advantage. Sarah is blocking an entire day to try something new, like visiting new places and taking part in courses. If you have 5 minutes you can do something creative, it doesn't have to be an entire day. Even if that’s just listening to music and getting lost in it.   BEST MOMENTS ‘If you practice being creative, you get better at it’ ‘I wish I had 48 hours a day’ ‘Let the paint guide me, let the source guide me’ ‘Part of cultivating creativity is like keeping the cookie jar full’   READING LIST Cultivating Creativity: Daily Rituals for Visual Inspiration by Maria Fabrizio Cultivating Creativity: Reconnecting with yourself and becoming more self-aware through writing by Lilliana Rose Cultivating Creativity: A Practical Guide to Unlocking Your Creative Potential by Joe Bailey Nurturing Young Innovators: Cultivating Creativity in the classroom, Home and Community by Laura McLaughlin Taddei and Stephanie Smith Buhai   ABOUT THE PODCAST A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teachers Botanical Illustration courses online and offline. www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art Sarah van Dongen Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art. www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected] www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The business of art. That’s the topic of conversation on Thriving Women Artists this week. Join Ping, Sarah, and Dorien in the final part of three podcasts designed to help you get started as an artist. Hear all about why the business side is important, what it is, when you should start thinking about it, and how they did it.   KEY TAKEAWAYS You may think business and art don’t mix. But if you want to take your art past the point of being a hobby then you have to treat the business side seriously.  Develop a business mindset. Most businesses have a business plan so why shouldn't you as an artist. Write down your mission, what type of artist are you, who are you targeting? Work out how much you will need to earn, what you can charge, what do you need to make it a viable for you to pursue being an artist.  All three hosts started their businesses in different ways at different times. Ping started her first business while studying so knew that side of things before becoming a full-time artist. She has had a bookkeeper since the beginning whereas Sarah has been doing it all herself. There is no right way to start, it just has to be right for you.  Study the field you want to work in. Research how people are commissioned, how much you can expect to make, what is your competition, maybe there is a gap in the market.   Set up the tools you need in advance. Have your social media, e-mail, and website all ready to go.   BEST MOMENTS ‘Have savings and don’t quit your day job straight away’ ‘Don’t be afraid of better artists. Surrounding yourself with talented people helps you grow’ ‘Put yourself in the shoes of a professional’   ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teachers Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you get yourself out there into the wild world of art? That’s the topic of conversation on Thriving Women Artists this week. Join Ping, Sarah, and Dorien in the second of three podcasts designed to help you get started as an artist. This episode is all about portfolios. How do you make them? Where you put them? And who do you show them to?   KEY TAKEAWAYS It can be very scary to put your art out there, but there’s no set timeline on when you should show off your portfolio. Some people will take a year to build up their portfolio, whereas others like to show their process and progress by sharing things as they’re completed. You can treat your Instagram as a playground or as a gallery.  What field do you want to work in? Do you want to be a children's illustrator, or graphic designer, or make graphic novels. Do research into your passion and tailor your portfolio towards those needs.  Your portfolio should be work that you really loved making. If you have old things in there that you don’t enjoy making anymore, remove them. What if a publisher asked you to make something in a style you no longer like working in.      BEST MOMENTS ‘Sometimes you need to ignore your inner critic’ ‘People should understand your work without you standing next to it telling them about it’   VALUABLE RESOURCES  http://dribble.com/https://www.behance.net/https://www.scbwi.org/MA Children’s Book Illustration https://aru.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/childrens-book-illustration   ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teachers Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you get started as an artist? That’s the topic of conversation on Thriving Women Artists this week. Join Ping, Sarah, and Dorien in the first of three podcasts designed to help you get started as an artist. Find out why space, time, and tools are important, and find out why our three hosts wanted to become artists.    KEY TAKEAWAYS Set out time for yourself, it can be 20 minutes an evening. You don’t need to do it 9 to 5 every week day. Just find a little time to create in your busy life, whatever amount of time you can fit in. You could have access to a big studio, or just a desk in your bedroom, you need space to create. Not just a physical space, but the mental space to allow yourself to be dedicated to be creative. Making art can seem unimportant, but you should tell yourself it’s important to you. It can be part of self-care, which makes it important.  Think about how you want your physical space to be. Do you work well in a clean quiet environment? Or can you work in messy one with noise and distractions? You don’t need the best tools to create good art. The only thing you need is a piece of paper and a pencil. However, it can feel like a nice motivating treat to start with something nice and fresh. There is no right tool for the job.  It can be scary to put your own work out there on Instagram. The more you see people like your work you can gain confidence. You can use it as a perfect portfolio piece, or you can just use it as a playground. Remember that likes and follows aren’t an indicator of success.    BEST MOMENTS ‘Most children are artists I think’ ‘You don’t have to wait for the perfect mindset, just doodle and have fun’ ‘Learn to create without someone telling you what to make’   ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teachers Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why are routines important? How do you set a routine? And how do you break them? That’s the topic of conversation on Thriving Women Artists this week. Join Ping, Sarah, and Dorien as they talk about their routines and how they can turn a bad day into a good day.    KEY TAKEAWAYS Other people can help you set a routine. Dorien goes for a walk every morning, which is a great way to get your body and mind ready for the day, but let’s face it, we can all feel a little lazy sometimes. That’s why if you set these routines with other people, you’re more likely to keep it up.  Being an artist is such an immobile job, which can be bad for your body and mind. Sarah makes sure she has a work out before starting work.  As a parent, Ping gets all the exercise she needs, so her morning routine involves watering her pants and relaxing with a hot drink. She also has an afternoon nap to recharge during the day.  Balance the things you like with the things you don’t. You don’t want to have an entire day just doing the things you don’t enjoy, mix it with the things that motivate you to work.  What routine fits you? If it doesn’t feel good then try another one.    BEST MOMENTS ‘Don’t e-mail me at the weekend, I won’t get back to you’ ‘It can feel selfish making something that’s just for you. But it’s not’   ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teachers Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is style? How do you find it? And how do you refine it? That’s the topic of conversation on Thriving Women Artists this week. Join Ping, Sarah, and Dorien as they talk about their creative styles and how they discovered them.    KEY TAKEAWAYS The way you work needs to be fun for you. Sarah doesn’t like to spend hours and hours doing the same thing, she loses motivation. That’s all part of her style, working quickly to stay passionate about the single piece of art she’s making.  Dorien loves to observe people, their movements and interactions with others. That’s why her style often revolves around designing characters.  Ping is passionate about flowers which is a huge influence on the art she creates. Her style comes from what she loves.  If you’re starting out make a collection of things that inspire you. Work out what makes you feel something and analyse why you like it. It can be a piece of music, a smell, a part of nature. Get the feeling of it and try and put that into your work.  For every project you take on you need to think about the purpose of the art and who the audience is. The style of the piece should be right for both of those.  Your style is not fixed, you keep growing as a person and your style will grow with you. Never stop exploring and trying something new.  A sketch book is for yourself. Don’t be afraid to make ugly art, it’s all part of the learning process. It’s the first step in everyone’s process of finding their style.      BEST MOMENTS ‘Style is intertwined with your personality’ ‘It’s easy to analyse other people’s style but you should be able to define your own’ ‘Ink painting is spontaneous. What’s done is done’   ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teachers Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Join Ping, Sarah, and Dorien as they talk about the artist’s journey on this week's episode of Thriving Woman Artists. Listen in to find out how the trio became professional artists and how nobody is an overnight success. Hear all about how they got started, where they are now, and where they’re going next.    KEY TAKEAWAYS Everyone’s journey is unique. The three hosts all came from different backgrounds and started their artistic journey from different points. They didn’t all go straight to art school, instead studying and working in other fields before their passion for illustration drew them in. Art school doesn't have to be the starting point. Dorien applied for art school and a course in scientific drawing but was not accepted. Not every great or successful artist went to art school. There are no set paths to becoming an artist.  We all have different goals, success should be measured against ourselves, not compared to anyone else. Weather your goal is to write a book, launch your own stationary line, or expand your greetings card business to more stores. You set your own targets.   BEST MOMENTS   ‘I said I’m going to work on my art full time. It was the best investment ever’ ‘You don’t get permission from anyone to be an artist’ ‘If you want to be an artist just start right now. Call yourself an artist and start’   ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teachers Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the first episode of Thriving Women Artists. Three friends and freelance artists from Amsterdam get together to discuss making a living out of their art, finding your style, and generally supporting each other and you in all your creative pursuits.    KEY TAKEAWAYS   This is a podcast for anyone looking to support other people in the arts and helping each other thrive.  In the coming weeks you’ll find out how to start your own art business, networking and communicating with clients, and creating an online presence. Plus, many more topics all around the theme of women artists thriving.     ABOUT THE PODCAST  A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam.  This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people. www.thrivingwomenartists.com www.instagram.com/twapodcast    ABOUT THE HOSTS Ping He  Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teachers Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.  www.pinghe.art [email protected] www.instagram.com/pinghe.art   Sarah van Dongen  Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life. www.sarahvandongen.com [email protected] www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations   Dorien Bellaar: Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.  www.dorienbellaar.nl [email protected]  www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.