We recently connected with Lauren Duvall and have shared our conversation below.
Lauren , so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
Honestly, it took me such a long time to develop my confidence and self-esteem. But one thing that I changed that helped me with my confidence, well actually a few things, was to be easier on myself. The other things I did that helped me with my confidence is to not compare my art to others. I try to look at the artists and different artwork as a source of inspiration. One of the hardest things I did to help with my self-esteem is to not worry about making other people happy. I’m a very big people-pleaser and it took me so many years to start breaking out of it. It’s okay not to please everyone. But, it’s really important to do things that will make you happy in the end, even when it’s hard. But your self esteem will get better once you do that, along with the other things I mentioned above.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Right now I am a part time illustrator that is working on getting my business up and going. I have an etsy shop, where you can find items like custom embroidered beanies, prints, homemade clay pins, and more! I also do local art markets throughout the year and take on custom commissions, like pet portraits, family portraits, etc. I would love to have it grow more so that I can someday do it full time. One of my goals is to get my foot into the world of picture books! Another goal is to write an illustrate my own book that shows the importance of nature and the wonder that it brings and to encourage kids to play outside with their friends.
I am an artist with many hats. I can make art in a variety of mediums, and I can also get a bit crafty as well with my embroidering and sewing. I love to learn and to keep my hands moving since I have ADHD. One of the things that I love to create is whimsical and cute illustrations, that have a fantasy kick to them. If you want to know more about my process behind the scenes for my art, I have a Patreon launching on Feb. 1st and I’m offering monthly newsletters and phone wallpaper downloads that are completely free!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Something that I find important is to not be afraid of trying new things, or the concept of failing because something doesn’t look perfect. That’s what art is essentially. It gives us the freedom to make messes and to be free of the confines of everyday life. Another aspect that is important to learn is that practice makes perfect. I took a portraiture class in college and one of my assignments was to create 100 2in by 2in portraits of different people that went from one side of the face to the other. The first few rows weren’t great, but as you get closer to the bottom, you can see the development you’ve made, and it was super impactful for me.
For the last thing that I would find important is to keep a track of your progress in someway. Whether its by doing a giant project like the 100 portrait assignment I mentioned before, or redrawing the same piece you’ve made years ago. In my sketchbook I always draw a portrait of myself at the very front of it. If I’m still using that sketchbook a year or two after I got it, I would draw another portrait of myself to see my improvement. I also love taking my old art pieces and redrawing them in my current style and it’s super satisfying to see how much I’ve improved when I feel like I haven’t improved at all.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
As someone who struggles with ADHD, I tend to get really overwhelmed at times. Somethings that I do when that happens at my other job is that I take a moment to stop what I’m doing and take a few deep breaths and give myself a pep talk. When I’m working on my art and I start to feel overwhelmed from the project I’m working on. I usually whip out my sketchbook, put on a comfort show, and just do some mindless doodles and draw some of my comfort characters to get the sense of overwhelm to ease away. When that sense of overwhelm has gone down, I”ll go back to that piece I was working on before and continue on. I think another thing that I do to help with not feeling overwhelmed is to stay organized on what projects you’re doing. I recently started to use an app called Notion, and I bought a template from an illustrator named Jen Ortega who owns the business Fructus Illustrations. Her template is super easy to navigate and it makes it easy for me to keep all my projects in check for my business.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://laurelsketches.wixsite.com/mysite
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/laurelsketches_
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/laurelsketches/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@laurelsketches_
- Other: Etsy: http://etsy.com/shop/Laurelsketches Patreon: patreon.com/Laurelsketches Commission form: https://forms.gle/EkMtaBu23d6gwZGa6 Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@laurelsketches
