Winter Walk, December 2025

As the pace softens and the new year comes into view, there’s often a quiet sense of possibility in the air.

It’s like a mirror has been held up to what you’d promise yourself you’d do – if only you had the time.

This is when expectations and comparison creeps in.

Goals grow too big too fast, and before you know it, the idea of making this your “best art year ever” quietly freezes you in place.

So what do you do next?

Experiment without expectation.

Painting a wall is better than waiting for your next masterpiece. One colour on the page is better than agonising over the perfect nineteenth-century palette.

Doodle, draw, paint, make. If you are putting a mark to a page, you are creating.

Confidence does not arrive first. It follows the work.

Small, regular creative acts keep the wheels turning. Most breakthroughs happen while you are simply showing up, not forcing results.

A rough value study counts.

A colour swatch counts.

An unfinished sketch counts.

Four words that help

“I’ll try it anyway.”

I can’t draw an accurate portrait. “I’ll try it anyway.”
I don’t have all the colours for the lesson. “I’ll try it anyway.”
I feel uneasy sketching outside. “I’ll try it anyway.”

The tries become marks, and the marks become evidence.

Every sketch, every mix, every imperfect attempt quietly proves you are becoming the artist you want to be.

Picture yourself a year from now with a thousand small pieces of ‘artistic evidence’ behind you. Growth becomes unavoidable.

So step into that uneasy space before the new year. This is where artistic confidence is made.

Wishing you a fantastic, creative new year ahead,

Will