Greetings Artisan!

2025 is right around the corner…

And if you’re like me, you’re probably thinking about those big artistic dreams again. The ones that keep showing up on your New Year’s resolutions. The projects that live rent-free in your imagination.

Maybe it’s that graphic novel you’ve been planning. That art book you want to create. That world-building project that’s been nagging at the back of your mind.

Every year we tell ourselves “This is the year I’ll make it happen!”

But here’s the thing - I’ve noticed that artistic dreams aren’t just about skill or talent or even time. After 20+ years as a professional artist, I’ve learned there are specific patterns that determine whether these dreams become reality or remain eternal New Year’s resolutions.

In my latest video, I break down three critical elements that can help turn your 2025 artistic aspirations into actual finished projects.

You can check it out here:

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But I want to dig deeper into these ideas, because they’ve completely changed how I approach my own artistic goals…

Understand Your Artistic DNA

One of the most interesting realizations I’ve had after spending a decade teaching artists is that we often fight against our natural inclinations.

Some of us are built for speed - we thrive on quick iterations, new challenges, and constant variety. Others find joy in patience and refinement - spending hours perfecting a single piece.

Neither is better. But choosing the wrong path can feel like pushing a boulder uphill.

Consider these questions:

• Do you get energized by new challenges or prefer perfecting the same skills?
• Are you naturally patient with details or do you work best at speed?
• Do you need creative control or thrive in collaborative environments?

Let's look at these key differences more closely. Where do you fall on these?

Repetition vs Variety Do you enjoy perfecting the same type of work, or do you need constant change and new challenges?

Patience vs Speed Can you happily work on a single piece for 100+ hours, or do you thrive on quick, energetic creation?

Detail vs Looseness Do you naturally focus on fine details, or are you more interested in broader strokes and bigger shapes?

Narrative vs Non-narrative Focus Are you driven by storytelling and character development, or do you prefer focusing purely on visual appeal?

Creative Control Some artists need complete ownership over their creative decisions, while others thrive when interpreting and executing others' visions.

Collaboration Style Some artists energize through daily team interaction and meetings, while others prefer working independently with minimal interaction. This is a classic introvert vs extrovert divide.

These aren't just personality quirks - they're fundamental aspects of your artistic DNA that can guide your choices. More importantly, they tend to stay consistent throughout your career. You can learn new skills, but fighting against your natural inclinations is like swimming upstream.

Let me share something personal: It took me years of soul searching to really understand my own artistic DNA. I learned to create highly detailed, long-form illustrations. I developed the skill, put in the hours. But my natural preference always swung back to faster work. That revelation was actually liberating - it helped me find my sweet spot in concept art and comic books, industries where speed isn't just acceptable, it's vital.

Here's how these tendencies play out in different fields:

Narrative Focus:

• Feature animation teams obsess over story structure, character arcs, and narrative nuance
• Action game artists often focus purely on visual impact and gameplay feel

Creative Control:

• Some artists need complete ownership over their creative decisions
• Others thrive when interpreting and executing others' visions

Collaboration Style:

• Some artists energize through daily team interaction and meetings
• Others prefer working independently with minimal interaction

For instance, if you hate finishing things but love rapid ideation, concept art might be your sweet spot. If you obsess over details and have infinite patience, illustration and large scale work might be your calling.

These differences apply even if you are just thinking of doing this as a hobby. It’s key to figure out what you actually enjoy doing.

The Timeline Truth

Here’s something that took me years to learn: Progress isn’t about speed - it’s about sustainability. As we’re planning our 2025 projects, this is crucial to understand.

We often beat ourselves up for not moving fast enough toward our goals. But what matters is:

• Having a clear destination
• Moving in the right direction
• Maintaining a sustainable pace

Let me share a success story that you might have heard me talk about before; Matt Rhodes, who created the beautiful Tellurion graphic novel, knew what pace he could maintain - one page per week. Not because he couldn’t work faster, but because he’d tested this pace on smaller projects first. He knew it was sustainable. He could plan around it. Most importantly, he stuck to it.

This is how real projects get finished. Not with bursts of New Year’s motivation, but with realistic, sustainable pacing.

Want to calculate your own timeline? Here’s what I recommend:

1. Break your project into countable units (pages, illustrations, chapters)
2. Test your sustainable pace with a small project first
3. Do the math - be realistic about how long it will take
4. Set up weekly milestones rather than thinking in months or years
5. Track your progress consistently

I’ve seen artists complete amazing projects at one page per week, while others work at five pages per day. The key isn’t the speed - it’s the consistency and sustainability of your pace.

Here’s a tip I use: Set your minimum sustainable pace lower than you think you can achieve.

If you think you can do two pages per week, plan for one. This builds in room for life to happen and lets you feel good about exceeding your goals rather than constantly falling short.

Set up small, achievable milestones.

Track your progress.

Celebrate those small wins!

They add up more than you think - and by this time next year, you might be looking back at a finished project instead of another forgotten resolution.

The Power of Simplicity

Want to know a secret? This bears repeating... The most productive artists often have the simplest processes.

As we head into 2025, you’ll be bombarded with new tools, tutorials, and techniques promising to transform your art. But here’s what I’ve learned from both my successful and unsuccessful projects- complexity is the enemy of completion.

When I started my first French comic project, I was mixing styles and trying to find new brushes all the time.

It was a mess.

As I worked on that project (7 Pirates) things naturally simplified. I figured out what worked and got my process down to a fine art.

Then when I started my next project I went back to the drawing board and made it complicated again.

(It took me a while to learn this one properly!)

As you can imagine, despite new found skills and abilities, this added complexity soon gave way to a simpler technique and process by the end of the book.

By my latest project for Star Atlas: CORE, I stripped everything down to basics from the get go:

• One main brush for lines
• Simple flat colors
• Basic shadow layer (used sparingly)
• Easy to apply effects like texture and blur
• Color grading and atmospheric passes at the end to add most of the sophistication

The result? Not only did I work faster, but the art looked more consistent and professional.

Here’s how to simplify your process for 2025:

1. Identify your core toolkit
   • What are the 2-3 brushes you actually use 90% of the time?
   • Which tools consistently give you good results?
   • What’s the minimum setup you need to create good work?
2. Create a reliable workflow
   • Document your basic process steps
   • Make project templates for common tasks
   • Remove any steps that aren’t absolutely necessary
3. Resist the “new tool” trap
   • Before adding any new tool or technique, ask: “Will this make my work better, or just more complicated?”
   • Test new methods on small projects first
   • Keep your old reliable process as a fallback

Remember: Every new tool or technique you add is another thing that can break, another thing to manage, another thing to slow you down.

The most satisfying feeling isn’t having the most complex process - it’s having a finished project. And simple, reliable processes are how you get there.

The Bottom Line

Your artistic dreams are achievable. But the path there might look different than you imagined.

Start by really understanding yourself as an artist. Be honest about your natural inclinations. Set up sustainable timelines. Keep your processes simple.

These might not be the most exciting tips - they’re not about secret techniques or magical shortcuts. But they’re the foundation of turning artistic dreams into reality.

What are your thoughts on this? Hit reply and let me know what you are working on in 2025.

Cheers!

-Tim