Liz Kohler Brown

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There is this crazy dream in your mind. Something you think you could do, or become. You've been wondering if you can do it, and agonizing over how it could fail. You've probably even played out scenarios where you are publicly shamed for the failure of the thing you haven't even started yet. "Remember that time Liz tried starting three different businesses in a row that totally bombed?? hahaha"⁠
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The truth is, the idea might bomb. My first three attempts to start my own business did. I lugged my ceramics around to craft fairs for years, trying to make enough money to cover my materials expenses (accounting failure?). I set up an Etsy shop selling screen printed textiles, but couldn't seem to sell to anyone other than my Mom (design failure?). I tried teaching classes at a local art center, but every time attendance was too low, they canceled the class and I lost a week of income (marketing failure?).⁠
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These things were painful at the time, but looking back, I had to have those failures to find my groove. Because the only way to know what is right for you, is to first know what is wrong for you. The only way to find out, is to try, fail, try again, and fail as many times as you need to in order to get it right.⁠
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What have you been afraid to try?⁠
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#ipadlettering #lettering #handlettering #letteringchallenge #letteringart #letterings #letteringdesign #letteringdaily #letteringlove #letteringcommunity #handletter #procreate #ipad #ipadart #draw #paint #creativity #digitalart #ipadpro #ipadart #ipadartist #ipadartists #ipadartwork #ipadarts #ipadartoftheday #ipadartmobile #ipadartists #ipadartwork #digitalartist

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There are always at least 3 things on my desk: something hot to drink, something to inspire me, and something to draw with (usually my iPad). I've noticed over the years that creatives are very picky about their desks. Some love the chaotic mess of papers strewn around and paint splattered on canvases, while others are neat freaks who wipe their table down a few times a day (this might be me). What's always on your desk?⁠
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#procreate #ipad #ipadart #draw #paint #creativity #digitalart #ipadpro #ipadart #ipadartist #ipadartists #ipadartwork #ipadarts #ipadartoftheday #ipadartmobile #ipadartists #ipadartwork #digitalartist #digitalartwork #digitalarts #digitalartists⁠

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My dad sews his own clothes. Picture colorful pieces of fabric you'd find at a thrift shop sewn together in a wild hand-stitched pattern. His clothes are so eye-catching that people often stop him on the street and ask where they can buy the outfit. Despite all the buzz around his handiwork, he never tries to sell a single item. When I asked him why, he said he likes to keep his creative work and his "work work" separate.⁠
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While I'm the complete opposite (I love spending all day, every day, doing what I love) I can totally understand why he protects his creative work in this way. It's easy to get so caught up in following trends, chasing likes, and hoping for sales that you lose sight of why you started in the first place. It's even easier to watch your own style change as you succumb to the pressures of constantly increasing your followers and sales.⁠
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While I don't think there is any "right way" to do your creative work, I do think it's important for us to constantly remind ourselves why we're doing this. If it was really for the money, we would just go to business school. If it was really for the likes, we would post pictures of our butts in yoga pants. It's really for the joy of creating, the rush you get when you create something beautiful, and the satisfaction you feel when you lie down in bed at night knowing that you are following your creative passion.⁠
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Do you keep your creative work separate from making money or do you mix the two?⁠
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#creativity #creatividad #create #creative #creativityfound #creativity_love #creativityeveryday⁠
#ipadlettering #lettering #handlettering #letteringchallenge #letteringart #letterings #letteringdesign #letteringdaily #letteringlove #letteringcommunity #handletter⁠
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So many people have asked me how I make my Procreate texture brushes, so I wanted to share my whole process from start to finish. It's messy, yes, but so totally worth it to get the gritty, varied textures that come from REAL paint.⁠⠀
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This is my shortest tutorial yet -- only 28 minutes long! Check it out to learn how to make your own texture brushes with stuff you probably already have at home.⁠⠀
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#procreate #ipad #ipadart #draw #paint #creativity #digitalart #ipadpro #ipadart #ipadartist #ipadartists #ipadartwork #ipadarts #ipadartoftheday #ipadartmobile #ipadartists #ipadartwork #digitalartist #digitalartwork #digitalarts #digitalartists⁠⠀

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Some artists will tell you that you have to make work that follows the trends if you want to be successful. Some will tell you that following trends will ensure that you languish in mediocrity for your whole career. I think the answer is somewhere in the middle.⁠
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It's important to know the trends. To understand them and use them when you need to sell work or attract clients. But it's also important to always be exploring YOUR trends, and remembering that someone out there starts every trend, and there is no reason the next one couldn't be yours.⁠
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#creativity #creatividad #create #creative #creativityfound #creativity_love #creativityeveryday

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Want to hear a not-so-secret secret to getting over a creative block? Just start layering. What if you layered those leaves, with those other leaves? Or what if you did a whole page of lettering, then lowered the opacity and drew shapes over it. Layering will bring out overlapping and negative spaces that you could never have imagined without combining two shapes.⁠
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What are some of your secrets for overcoming creative blocks?⁠
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#creativity #creatividad #create #creative #creativityfound #creativity_love #creativityeveryday⁠
#procreate #ipad #ipadart #draw #paint #creativity #digitalart #ipadpro #ipadart #ipadartist #ipadartists #ipadartwork #ipadarts #ipadartoftheday #ipadartmobile #ipadartists #ipadartwork #digitalartist #digitalartwork #digitalarts #digitalartists⁠

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One of my favorite pastimes is to try to make digital art that doesn't look digital. To try to create a brush that looks like a real brush, or to try to create a texture that looks like a real canvas.⁠
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I try to "dirty up" every piece with flecks, scratches, and paper texture, until I think someone would look at it and say "Is it....digital?" I don't really care if someone thinks it is or isn't digital, but I love the process of trying to create the textures and layers in a real painting.⁠
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What do you do to try to make your work less digital? Or do you embrace the digital look?⁠
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#creativity #creatividad #create #creative #creativityfound #creativity_love #creativityeveryday

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I love layering texture in Procreate. There is something so satisfying about building up 10, 20, 30 layers of texture and subtle color shifts to get a gritty feel on the digital canvas. I used the stamps from my Art Nouveau class to make this piece, then I just went crazy with texture for about 30 minutes. Thinking about a whole bird series now....⁠
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#creativity #creatividad #create #creative #creativityfound #creativity_love #creativityeveryday⁠
#procreate #ipad #ipadart #draw #paint #creativity #digitalart #ipadpro #ipadart #ipadartist #ipadartists #ipadartwork #ipadarts #ipadartoftheday #ipadartmobile #ipadartists #ipadartwork #digitalartist #digitalartwork #digitalarts #digitalartists⁠

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When you first starting creating and sharing your work with the world, it's easy to feel like a newbie who doesn't know what their doing. The thing is, no matter how great your work is, or how long you've been creating, someone else has been doing it longer and better. So comparing ourselves to others is a worthless activity.⁠
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The true point of creating is the experience of doing it, not the result. Not the likes or favorites or sales. It's the feeling of creating a drawing that you thought you could never make. It's the feeling of finishing a huge project that you thought you'd never finish. It's the pleasure in collecting resources and creating color palettes.⁠
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So if you ask yourself, "Do I really know what I'm doing?", try to answer, "Maybe not, but it really doesn't matter if you're enjoying it."⁠
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#creativity #creatividad #create #creative #creativityfound #creativity_love #creativityeveryday

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What I love about the Art Nouveau style is that everything is fluid. Each design element seems to flow into the next one, and every shape seems connected to the ones around it. I made this piece using the reductive process in my class on Art Nouveau illustrations in Procreate. Check it out to see the full process!⁠
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#procreate #ipad #ipadart #draw #paint #creativity #digitalart #ipadpro #ipadart #ipadartist #ipadartists #ipadartwork #ipadarts #ipadartoftheday #ipadartmobile #ipadartists #ipadartwork #digitalartist #digitalartwork #digitalarts #digitalartists⁠

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Our comfort zones are so.....comfortable. If we always draw the same shape, or use the same colors, we know we are safe. Nothing will go wrong if we just keep doing things like we've been doing them all along.⁠
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The scary thing about comfort zones are that they stop us from ever realizing all the other amazing things that are out there waiting for us.⁠
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I studied ceramics in high school and got a few compliments on my work, so when I decided to go to college the logical choice was to have ceramics as my focus. I loved painting, but I didn't think I was very good at it, so I avoided it for a few years. I understood clay, but painting and drawing was a big scary mystery that only PAINTERS understood.⁠
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It took me years to admit to myself that I hated clay. It's dirty, dusty, heavy, messy, and labor intensive. While I love looking at other people's ceramic work, I truly hated making it and wanted to be a designer/painter/illustrator all along. Why did I stick with ceramics for so long? It was comfortable. I knew all the lingo and could hold my own with potters in their 50s. ⁠
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When I finally jumped into a 2D medium I had A LOT of ugly surprises, but I finally felt like I was on the right path.⁠
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Have you ever gone outside your creative comfort zone or do you feel stuck in yours right now?⁠
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#creativity #creatividad #create #creative #creativityfound #creativity_love #creativityeveryday

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