Artistic Adventures with Victoria

Introduction

As I approach the one-year mark of my artistic explorations, I find myself at a crossroads, contemplating the future direction of my creative adventures. It’s time to make plans.

Hobby vs. Profession

In the beginning, I wondered if it was possible to be an artist with a casual twist. Luckily, it seems that I don’t need to be a hardcore artist with pure artistic expression. It’s perfectly okay to have art as a fun, fulfilling hobby. Though sometimes it has to give way to my day-to-day job, I believe you can balance both.

Now that we’ve established this is just a hobby, do I still need structured plans and targets? If these aren’t needed, how do I know if I’ve made it? Have I met my goal, or is the joy of creation enough? I must add a short side note: if the “joy of creation” were my target, what would I write about? My feelings, maybe? I think not.

Based on these thoughts, I believe one must have a target. Even though I’m still unable to state mine clearly, I think a plan is definitely needed.

Dreaming Big – From Thoughts to Action

Does a dream become a goal with planning? The first step might be making an actual list of my dreams. I dream of belonging to a small creative community on YouTube and having some followers who enjoy my channel. It’s also my dream to get the next Alexia and Phoebe book written and published. I’m also dreaming of publishing the next coloring book and making a Christmas-themed color-with-me video while listening to an audiobook. 

While browsing the internet, I came across a page filled with animal coloring pages for children. Though I’m not the target audience, I might enjoy coloring some of the images. I also want to keep my blog updated.

A random list of dreams—ever-growing—is not a set of goals. This list needs some editing and organizing. However, the transformation of dreams into achievable goals starts with prioritization. I’ve used a simple rating system combining my interest level, audience interest, and potential revenue generation to create an objective, prioritized list of goals.

Practical Planning – Quarterly Approach

Is it too much to use a Quarterly Approach to define the practical next steps for a hobby? Maybe it’s a bit too corporate, but let’s keep it light!

With a prioritized list in hand, I plan to focus on completing the “Pride and Prejudice” series, despite its niche appeal. This series is personally significant, and I’m committed to finishing it. These will still be time-lapse videos with the audiobook. Along with these videos, I might do some additional Title & Thumbnail testing—so, beware of the Zombies! If this comment made no sense, I might refer you to this old blog post.

I’ll also kick off a new series, “What Have I Colored This Month,” emphasizing my unique creations instead of mainstream coloring books. I will use images from Birds and Blooms as material for this series, along with other ideas to expand the range of themes. This approach makes coloring much more fun.

I will take a break from publishing coloring books. Instead, I will have a local printing house print copies of the images I want to color and use in my videos. I know it would be easier to get new books and color those images, but I want to maintain my full artistic freedom and color my own vision. Getting a full set of images or even an idea of a sufficient number of images is time-consuming. Maybe I will return to this project later.

Ongoing Challenges and Unanswered Questions

As this post nears its end, it’s time to address the most difficult question: what should I do with the Alexia and Phoebe story? I cannot answer this definitively just yet. There is a problem with it, and discussing that requires a blog post of its own. However, I hope to go through my notes during the summer and be wiser come fall.P.S. Rest assured, I’ll keep the blog updated, and you’ll be the first to hear about all the exciting twists and turns in these adventures.