Our artist development programme

It’s challenging to schedule, organise and preserve time for training and personal development work, whether that’s in a large or small creative studio or even as a freelancer. But, I believe it’s important to set time aside to understand yourself as an artist better - to dedicate time to an ongoing journey of artistic self discovery. 

Even though we all know how important it is for individual artists and the company, it’s all too easy to let the training and personal work slip under the radar with production pressures and looming deadlines. Those last minute, high pressure projects that sometimes arrive when we least expect it, do usually take priority. Which is why last year, we set out to reimagine how we approached the Artists Development Programme. The aim was to make it more consistent and less disruptive to the production schedule. 

Rather than taking artists out of production for longer periods of time throughout the year, we decided training should be woven into an artists daily routine. Allowing artists dedicated time every day for learning and researching enabled them to identify and work on their personal goals and passions. This way, artist development became a habit, rather than a hindrance. 

Now that 1 year has passed here are some of my thoughts on how to strike that balance and keep a good healthy creative mind:

Take small steps and keep going.

I believe consistency is much more important than occasional one off efforts. Surely there is a place for time intense courses when needed, but having a routine is much more sustainable and will pay off in the long term. Call it microdosing.

Create a ‘safe’ creative environment and remove expectations.

The learning and personal work should be fully driven by the artists wishes and passions. My role is to help to discover what those are, to guide and to listen.

Share progress and celebrate milestones.

Create a platform and hold events where progress can be shared and motivate fellow artists. Below you can see some of the amazing personal work our team has produced over the last 12 months, culminating with Gallery Night. An event where we shared our insights, experiences and art, including wine too.

Surround yourself with people that keep you inspired and push you forward.

All of this was ultimately down to our super talented team that was open to test new things and bravely express their artistic voices.

Don’t be an instant gratification monkey.

Changes take time, focus on small quality focused training periods and creative exercises, make a routine out of it and bit by bit results will come.

Go surfing in space, find your cosmic moose. 

Psst..This one will be explained at a later date.

The subjects that our artists focused on ranged from traditional arts such as drawing and watercolour, digital painting and concept design to Houdini magic and game engines. 

Keep an eye on our Instagram in the next few months, where our artists will be showcasing their journeys.