Hello, I'm Bonny Snowdon, ex-corporate person, and mother turned successful artist entrepreneur. It wasn't that long ago though that I lacked the confidence, vision, and support network to focus on growing my dream business. Fast forward past many life curve balls, waves of self-doubt, and so many lessons learned. And you'll see ignite my thriving online coloured pencil artist community,
a community that changes members' lives for the better, and gives me freedom to live abundantly whilst doing what I love and spending quality time with my beloved family and dogs, all whilst creating my best artwork with coloured pencils and mentoring others to do the same. But this life wasn't always how it was for me. It used to only exist in my imagination. I've created the,
It's A Bonny Old Life podcast to help increase people's confidence, share mine and my community's experience, and hope through fascinating personal stories, champion the other amazing humans in my personal, professional, and membership community, and create another channel through which I can support others to realize their dreams. If you're a passionate coloured pencil artist or an aspiring one who's looking to create their best work and a joyful life you love,
you are in the right place. Grab a cup and a custard cream, let's get cracking. We all have challenges from time to time when it comes to our art. And in this video, I just chat around some of the challenges that I've had, some of the things that you can do to overcome those challenges and to recognize what those challenges are and,
and how to overcome them. How do you push through those really tough parts of your, of your drawings? You know, when it gets to the point where you, you either lose interest in it or, you know, it's become so frustrating because things aren't quite going to plan. How do you keep going, you know, with one piece or,
because I know some people can give up for months. They, they just get so despondent with their work that they can, you know, they, they can stop drawing for, for, for weeks a at a time just because they've, you know, they've, they've just fallen outta love with what it is that they're doing. And then people find it very hard to get back into things,
you know, and, and, and don't feel inspired. I have to say it's, well, it's not easier, but you don't really have a choice when it's a job and you have to feed your children and pay your mortgage because you, you, you, what do you do? You, I can't just stop drawing if, you know. So actually in a way it's a,
it is a little bit easier if you do it as a job because you don't really have a choice. But if you are doing it as a, as a hobby, you know, it, it's so easy to lose faith and, and lose, you know, inspiration and everything and just stop. And it's, you know, it's a shame because as a hobby,
drawing is the most fantastic way of, you know, forgetting all of your troubles. And, you know, it's a, it's a really, really good form of mindfulness and it's, it, it's just, it's just fantastic. But then what happens is you, you can run into the issue of yes, it's, you know, it's, it's,
it's a good form of mindfulness and it's a good form of forgetting all your troubles, but it kind of brings a whole, a whole load of new troubles. You know, if things don't start, if things aren't working as you'd like them to be working, then it can start to become actually a really frustrating hobby, you know, and, and who wants to do something that,
that is frustrating. So it, you know, it's about trying to find ways of getting over that frustration so that you can carry on with, with the absolute pure joy of drawing, you know, and I, and I think one of the ways of being able to get over that frustration is, is realizing and recognizing that that, that this medium is very,
very slow and it goes through a lot of stages where it doesn't look particularly great, you know? And as soon as you start to come to terms with that, then you can push on through those parts where it's frustrating and, and ugly and what have you. And the other thing as well to remember is that, you know, if you are an artist who's been,
you know, going for some time and you, you know, you are learning and you, your, you know, your, your pieces are, are, are good and you're quite confident in what you're doing sometimes that that step up to the next bit of your development that can have a really, really tough effect on, on people. Because it's almost like,
you know, you, you, you know what you're doing, you're confident in what you're doing, and then all of a sudden you change things up a little bit, try some new techniques, and it's almost like you are back at the beginning again, and it's like, whoa, you know, I can't draw. Or, you know, and recognizing that,
that you are trying new techniques or new paper or new whatever, you are just switching things up. You are, you are developing your style, recognizing that, that for what it is in that, you know, you are, you are, you are stepping out of your comfort zone and you're moving into completely new territory and you are learning new things and,
you know, remembering how long it took you to learn your, you know, your, your current techniques to begin with that then is gonna be able to help you get over those stumbling blocks as well. You know, because change is hard. Change is very hard. And when you start to change your, or learn new things, you know, you,
you do go right back to the beginning. I know I was trying some new paper and I mean, well, I haven't carried on with it because it was just like, which is, which is bad really, because I should have, I should have carried on with it. But it was very, very smooth and I had to use totally and utterly different techniques to be able to get anywhere with it.
And oh my goodness, it was like a 5-year-old had drawn, you know, the, what I was trying to do. I could not get to grips with it at all. I mean, it was ultra, ultra smooth. And, and actually I should have I, and I, well, I still should, you know, persevere really, but it's completely different way of drawing,
you know, to, to what I'm doing at the moment. And it's, it's really tough, really tough. And it's much, much easier to give up, much easier, you know? So I think we all find our comfort zones definitely, but it is good to switch things up and try new things because, you know, learning new stuff I think is,
is brilliant. You know, I'm always wanting to develop and learn, but it's, it's hard. So, you know, if you're, if you're getting to the point where you're feeling a little bit di despondent with your drawing, or you, or you are, you know, you're finding things a little bit tough and, and maybe not, not inspired or things aren't working out quite as you hoped they would,
well then, you know, it's a case of well, having a look at things and thinking, well, why, why, why am I finding it tough? Is it because it's new to me? And if it's new to you, well then it's a learning curve and that's brilliant, you know, you are learning new things and of course you're gonna find it tough,
you know, is it the fact that you are just maybe stuck in a rut? Maybe you need to try something new. You know, there's all these different things. If you just kind of, you know, talk to yourself and, and, and find out why you are feeling how you are feeling about your drawing, well then, you know,
you can start to come up with some answers and to build plans so that you can actually get over, you know, the, the, the issues that you are currently having. You know, it's, it's supposed to be a joyous exercises drawing. And I know, know that sometimes it is and sometimes it really isn't, you know, so, so finding out what's kind of stopping you and blocking you is a,
is a good thing to do. And actually chatting whilst you are drawing, I think has really, really helped me. Talking through techniques and everything, obviously for my, for my tutorials and videos and everything has really, really helped me to understand what it is that I'm doing, why I am doing it, and you know, what works and what doesn't work.
And I think that since I've started videoing my work has actually improved. I mean, I have had some, some really good professional critique as well, which has, has helped incredibly. But I do think talking through what I'm doing has, has helped significantly because it's made me realize actually, you know, sometimes I do things and there's a reason why I am doing them,
you know, and, and it, and it just kind of cements the reasons why I'm doing stuff. But it also makes me slow down a little bit as well. I do have a tendency just to kind of rush a little bit and, you know, just kind of talking through things has really helped me slow down a little bit too, which is good.
I really hope you enjoyed listening to this episode of my, it's a Bunny Old Life podcast. If you did, I'd be so grateful to you for emailing me or texting a link to the show or sharing it on social media with those you know, who might like it too. My mission with this podcast is all about sharing mine and my community's experience and hope by telling your fascinating personal stories,
championing the other amazing humans in my personal, professional, and membership community, and to create another channel through which I can support you to realize your coloured pencil and life dreams. If you haven't done so yet, please help me on my mission to spread positivity and joy throughout the coloured pencil world by following me on my socials at Bonny Snowdon Academy or by getting on my [email protected].
And remember, I truly believe if I can live the life of my dreams doing what I love, then you can too. We just need to keep championing and supporting each other along the way in order to make it happen. Till next time.
