How to Develop a Growth Mindset as an Artist (And Why It’s More Important Than Talent)
There’s a quiet revolution that happens when an artist shifts from asking, “Am I good enough?” to asking, “How can I grow from this?” That’s the difference a growth mindset can make. In this post, I want to share what this shift looks like in real time: the messy, hopeful, vulnerable truth about creating art when your inner critic is loud, your skills are evolving, and your dreams are huge.
“Cocoa Cafe” by Therese Tucker for #tinseltown2025 challenge.
There’s a quiet revolution that happens when an artist shifts from asking, “Am I good enough?” to asking, “How can I grow from this?” That’s the difference a growth mindset can make. In this post, I want to share what this shift looks like in real time: the messy, hopeful, vulnerable truth about creating art when your inner critic is loud, your skills are evolving, and your dreams are huge.
Whether you're in a season of expansion or frustration, I hope these thoughts will help you reconnect to your creative path and keep walking it with love.
1. What a Growth Mindset Looks Like in Real Life
For me, a growth mindset as an artist means deeply believing that my skills, talents, and voice aren’t fixed. They’re alive and expanding with every brushstroke, sketch, or creative decision I make.
Even when a piece doesn’t turn out how I hoped, I’ve learned to trust that each session sharpens my hand and my eye, and takes me one step closer to the artist I’m becoming.
2. What It Feels Like When I’m Stuck in a Fixed Mindset
Every time my inner critic flares up, I know I’m brushing up against a fixed mindset. It’s that harsh, “reasonable-sounding” voice that tells me my work isn’t good enough, or that someone else’s style or polish means I should just quit trying.
Recently, while working on the #TinselTown2025 challenge, a cozy Christmas village illustration series, my self-doubt came in fast. I love this style of work, but I don’t feel confident in it yet, and my inner critic had a lot to say about how “wrong” it all looked.
Fixed mindset thinking makes you feel like you’re trapped in a box, with only one “right” way to make art. And that’s a lie.
3. How I Shift Back into Growth Mode
When I catch myself spiraling, I remind myself: This is just one piece. It’s not the defining moment of my career. It’s one brushstroke in a much bigger picture.
I also work with my nervous system with a few deep breaths, a body shake, a little movement to get my energy flowing again. I remind myself that moving the body helps move the mind.
Growth lives in motion, not perfection.
4. A Trick That Helps Me Regain Perspective
When things start feeling visually or emotionally “off,” I give myself permission to walk away. Distance softens the critical voice and resets your eyes.
Sometimes, I even invert my body by hanging my head over the edge of the bed upside down or do a stretch to literally shift my view. It sounds simple, but changing how you look at your work helps you feel differently about it too.
5. To the Artist Who’s Feeling Behind…
Have compassion for yourself. You feel this way because you care deeply. That’s a beautiful thing.
If your vision feels far away, know that most dreams are made up of tiny steps, not giant leaps. There are days when I can only sketch for 5 minutes. But that 5 minutes helps me feel my momentum.
If I showed up today, then I’m closer to my dream than I was yesterday. And so are you.
6. Want Support for Your Creative Growth?
If this post resonated, you might love some of the spaces I’ve created to support other sensitive creatives:
🎨 Follow my journey on Patreon — See my collections unfold, get exclusive access to stickers, postcards, behind-the-scenes process, and more.
🌠 Try the free Dream Lab — My guided tool to help you clarify your soul-aligned “North Star” so you can turn big dreams into grounded direction.
🌙 Join the Epic Year Workshop — This workshop turns your soul-aligned dream into a 12-month creative strategy rooted in nervous system alignment, numerology + your progressed moon.
Final Thoughts
You don’t need to be perfect to be powerful. You don’t need to be the most polished to be on your path. You just need to keep showing up.
If you’ve been looking for a sign to keep going — this is it.
Dreaming While Creating: How I’m Grounding My Art Practice in Big Vision Season
As I prepare to host the Epic Year Workshop inside my other business, Blythe Starlight, I’ve been reflecting on how much energy it takes to hold a big dream while also staying present in my art.
I turned some quick ice sketches into this quick digital piece recently.
As I prepare to host the Epic Year Workshop inside my other business, Blythe Starlight, I’ve been reflecting on how much energy it takes to hold a big dream while also staying present in my art.
Big dreams stretch you. They ask more from you. And yet, this season, I’ve found ways to stay grounded even while navigating behind-the-scenes projects, emotional ebbs and flows, and the natural tension of expansion.
I wanted to share a few of those ways with you today because maybe you’re also trying to hold a big vision while tending your art and your sensitive, creative soul.
1. Letting Practice Be Simple—But Consistent
Right now, I’m sketching every night. Nothing fancy or precious, just showing up. I’m using a tiny sketchbook I call my “Sketchbook of Rage” because of how annoying its shape and paper are. That’s the point. It forces me to let go of perfectionism and just draw quickly, freely, and repetitively.
I’m using a set color palette and experimenting with turning quick sketches into digital versions, trying to bridge the gap between my traditional and digital style. Some of it works. Some of it doesn’t. But it’s moving me forward, which matters more than perfect results.
2. Dreaming Into the Future (With a Plan I Can Feel)
I’ve also selected my Big Dream Statement for 2026 using the Starlight Dream Lab, a free tool that helps you find your North Star by working with your nervous system, symbols, and body-based knowing.
Instead of starting with strategy, it starts with how you want to feel. Then we anchor that feeling into a future memory that you can recall right away to reconnect to your expansion and purpose. This process gave me a vision that still lights me up every time I think about it.
And that’s the energy I’m bringing into the Epic Year Workshop (read more about that here) where we turn that soul vision into a personalized, practical strategy.
3. Gentle Reminder: Creatives Need a New Kind of Strategy
If you’re a sensitive creative like me, chances are you’ve struggled to turn your dreams into steps. Traditional strategy can feel too rigid or overly masculine. That’s why I designed The Epic Year: to guide intuitive dreamers in building a plan that’s soul-aligned, cyclical, and actually exciting to follow.
Because dreaming doesn’t stop when you start creating. It evolves. And the more grounded you feel, the more powerful your work becomes.
Want to Join Me?
✨ If you’re curious about your own North Star and want a gentle tool to explore it, download the Starlight Dream Lab here (it’s free.)
🎨 Want to watch how my Big Dream unfolds through art? Follow me over on Patreon where I share behind-the-scenes sketches, polls, rewards, and process.
🌠 And if you’re ready to map your own creative dream with a somatic, strategic container join me for the Epic Year 2026 Workshop. We start soon.