Great Books For Savvy Artists.

So I talked it over with the king, and we've decided that there's something to be learnt from recent events. One tiny little lesson before I give you what you came for, our book recommendations for savvy artist's life and business. I read a lot so I have a lot to say in just a moment but before we get there.

It doesn't feel right to overload my awesome readers with content after such a heavy post like the last post. Click here if you didn't see it.

So instead of that, we have decided to put out today's post celebrating world book day, then leave posting for a while to give time and space and respect to our loved ones currently grieving.

Hope that's cool with you guys!

Anyway, 's let's get on with it, shall we?

I have decided to put this in 3 sections and there are roughly 12 books in all. Again I remind you pretty much all of these are affiliate links, this means that we may make a little tiny commission if you buy any of the books we suggest, but this will be no extra cost to you. It basically just means we get more jaffa cakes and hot chocolate to keep churning out content to inspire and encourage you guys.

Sound good?

Great!

Our First Section Is Life

Ok, guys, the whole point of these books is to help you be a better you. A better you will likely be able to produce better art. Get it?

Quick note, there's nothing wrong with the you, you are now, but we as humans are always moving towards something, it may as well be something better.

Here's the list.

Off-Balance On Purpose - Dan Thurmon I believe that work/life balance is a myth that can interfere with our art. Dan explains what's better to do instead of trying to balance things. 

Shut Up, Stop Whining, and Get a Life: A Kick-Butt Approach to a Better Life This book was life-changing for me. If you are fed up of fluffy little self-help books and need something with a few more nuts to chew on. This is your book. Loved it! Still, live by many of the principles in this book.

Calm - Fearne Cotton  If you want something a little more gentle then Fearne Cotton has got you covered. All of her books are fab, but this is my favourite.

Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway - Susan Jeffers This was such a good book that really helped me get over myself so that I could just get on with getting my art up online. It's been one heck of a journey ever since, and I owe that in part to the lessons and simple writing style of the late, great Susan Jeffers.

Our Second Section Is Business

This is my personal favourite section and narrowing this down to just 4 was hard, but here's the best of the best when it comes to business books.

Craft a Creative Business: Making & Marketing a Successful Creative Business This is such a good little handbook for all artists wanting to sell their work.

She Means Business: Turn Your Ideas into Reality and Become a Wildly Successful Entrepreneur Pretty self-explanatory. Enjoy the surprise.

Small is the New Big - Seth Godin  - Seriously if you haven't read any of Seth Godin's books you should! Bonus because I can't not include it Linchpin that book revolutionised my business!

Secrets of Closing the Sale by Zig Ziglar It's been a hot minute but from what I remember, it's pretty good.

Our Final Section Is Art

So for this section, the listings are not going to be explained because I want to list a fair few and I know that these books will impact different types of artists in different ways. Enjoy guys! 

The Simpsons Handbook Secret Tips from the Pros 

How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way

How To Draw Stupid And Other Essentials Of Cartooning By Kyle Baker

Manga Martial Arts: Over 50 Basic Lessons For Drawing The World's Most Popular Fighting Style

The Animator's Survival Kit (Paperback) Richard E. Williams


If you like my style of books, please come follow me over on GoodReads

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Move From Moving On To Moving Forward

Moving on and moving forward,

 they are the same thing, right?

Well actually no.

Once you have chosen to see life as seasonal and started chasing fulfilment rather than happiness, the next step toward success is moving on from moving on.

Let me explain.

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Moving on gives the impression you’ve buried the past and now you're going to build something new on its grave and pretend it never happened. Moving forward is acknowledging the past, for what it is , learning what you can, and then deciding that it doesn’t define you and your still going to move forward with your dreams and in life because nothing can hold you back. You won’t give anything permission to do so. Good on you!

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You can move on from things and still not be over it, but hiding from your feelings is not going to help you. If you bury half-open wounds then poison will fester beneath your scars. You gotta make sure that you’re not running from your yourself. Trust me it’s exhausting and only leads to making laps around the same old mountains over and over again and those scars won’t fully heal. If you build on the grave of a wound such as this,then zombies from the past may grab your heels and pull you down. 

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I know it can be hard to face certain things that lurk back there, but you don’t have to do it alone and in the long run, dealing with and owning your stuff will be good for you. Even if you decide that what lurks back there is gone now or too painful and you're not going to give it much thought beyond forgiving all that need it, including yourself, giving it to a higher power and being more aware of the good things in your life and letting time do its work. It’s still important to make the decision and at least let yourself know what you have decided. If you feel the need to reach out to someone, then do it. There is no shame in asking for help, it’s actually really brave and a very loving thing to do for yourself.

Once you have done this, you will be ready to move forward in life and that is awesome on so many levels!

So then let’s get you on to another level with a plan!

Today you get a little bit of homework

Firstly, have a look in your heart and see that you have not buried your past alive, no one wants to get chased by zombies! 

Secondly, write down your dreams, even if they seem completely unrealistically possible. 

Write them down anyway or better yet, why not make a vision board? If you can visually see the goals you're shooting for, then it gives you motivation to actually do the work to get there.Pinterest is perfect for this.

If you're into the idea of self help, then here's a couple of really cool bits and pieces that may also help you move forward, not just move on from where you are right now. I can not recommend the first highly enough! Game changer!

The other two are just useful and nice to have, and it doesn't help that they are super cute! With the third one, those stickers are so adorable, I have so many and use mine all the time, but the idea is that happy planner stickers is what I recommending, they help me stay motivated and I am sure they can help you get stuff done too! Quick reminder the below are affiliate links, I may make a small commission with no extra cost to you if you decide to buy any of the things I recommend. 

The Five Minute Journal: A Happier You in 5 Minutes a Day
(Again,can not recommend highly enough)

Motivational Gallon Water Bottle  - especially good for helping you to keep on track with your fitness goals.

Paper House Planner, Journal, Dairy, Notebook Assorted Colours - highly recommend journal stickers in general, doesn't have to be these ones but these are adorable and so sweet!


That's about it today.

Got a complaint or a comment? Let me know below and let's all together grow! 

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How To Handle Hard Times ( In A City Like London)

Disclaimer :The following post is written purely from experience, if you are going through a hard time and feel the need to do so, you should seek professional assistance from the reverent sources. I am not a doctor, counselor or therapist, if you choose to take my advise you do so at your own risk. 

Before I get into this, I need to say that although I have acknowledged the king of this blog, in so much as I have asked permission to do this, I act alone in the following...

The nature of what I am about to share with you, is not something that anyone else should bare the weight of, since this is my decision, based on my own convictions.

I am sorry this sounds so dramatic, but anyone who knew the old me in person will know, drama and Hayley Esther kind of go hand in hand. I admit to this fully, and it is for the purpose of leaning into a language I have taught those that love and support me, to expect from me, that I now choose to make my exist in a dramatic fashion as the writing of this post.

I have never been more sure of anything in my entire life.

You see the happiest day of my life was and is the day that I died.

For those of you in the UK you may have noticed that the closer we get to Brexit, the more uncertain things seem to be becoming, however even in these uncertain times, let me assure there is still hope.

All you have to do is learn to die.

Let me explain,

Often times, something has to die in order for something else to live. There are births and deaths everyday, these two things are the only certainties in our physical world. We humans like seasons, just think back a few weeks ago, the end of 2018 brought on the beginning of 2019. I'm not going to labor on this point anymore, but I think you get the idea.

The fact is in life, seasons change and so things have to come to an end in order for something to new to begin.

Bottom line is in order for you lead an amazing, abundant, joy filled life, you first have to die to some things that are no good to you.

Now I know this would be the perfect place to share my faith in Jesus Christ, but that's it. This short two sentences, does just that, if you die to the world and come alive to Christ, you will experience joy on a whole other level, message me if you want details, but this post is not about that. ( This is a note for our seasoned followers)

The gospel of Jesus Christ should never be for sale, therefore there are no affiliate links in this post, but if you do want to support us, so we can focus on creating great content for you, please consider either donating or checking out my store. Thank you. Now then let's get on with it.

Before we get into it, I need to first outline 5 things you should die to in order to lead a more joy-filled life. These are general tips, my London specific tips will be up later this week.

1. You Should Die To Perfectionism

This may seem like a obvious one, but honey you are not perfect, and trying to be is only going to frustrate you and deplete your energy. That energy can be spent better else where, and the fact is that irregardless of how close you get to the mark, you will never, ever be 100% pure in every sense of the word. For starters, you can't control the fact you have breathed air that is polluted at some point in your life, not to mention all of the icky feelings you have experienced over time. Emotion is a good thing, and keeping it disciplined is important, this is true, but the fact is you won't succeed with this 100% of the time. For your own sake, let your hair down and just be who you are, not who you are trying to be.

2. You Should Die To People Pleasing

This follows on from the last point and I know it's a hard reality to accept but we can't please 100% of the people 100% of the time. Diversity means compromise, and part of that comprise means you have a right to your own mind and voice irregardless of what you are about. You absolutely should be respectful, but if you feel strongly about something you have the right to back up your beliefs with words, and actions...and what's more, most of the time you should because evil only increases when good people do nothing.

3. You Should Die To Happiness

Happiness is fleeting, it is a feeling,but fulfillment goes deeper than that. You won't be happy every second of the day even if you are fulfilled, but you will be happier a lot more of the time, just by consequence of being true to you who you are, and building towards a life build on firm foundations. Building life on any feeling is not stable, but let me remind you at this point, joy is not a feeling.

4. Die To Legalism & Come Alive To Peace

My definition of legalism is anything that seeks to create unrealistic standards with rules and regulations that go beyond the basics of what is needed to maintain the illusion of fairness. This can be in organised religion, but sometimes its not. 

Apply this to your belief structure.

Results may be varied.

Point still stands for those of you I have aimed to communicate this point with. I know my niche on this point, but forget the points and geometric shapes, they are just as restrictive, I'm sticking to flowers!

Life is far more peaceful that way!

5. Die To Grace & Wake Up To Mercy

On the flip side, where are my white nights at?

Let me just make this crystal clear for you, even if your intentions  are the best in the world, in the end, grace won't save you, mercy will. Seek the one who offers mercy and you will find the abundance of security and life they promised you. Those who trade freedom for security wind up with neither, this is a fact, but it is also true those that rely on hyper gracious freedoms will one day wake up to find they were just as trapped as those they mocked for being trapped in legalism.

For us humans, extremes are rarely good. Mercy is for sure the way to go.

I feel like I have pushed about as far as is reasonable in this post and so I am gonna leave it there for now. Expect part two later this week.

Until then,  catch us over on social media.

At the moment, Pintrest is a massive part of our every day life, but we are also on Instagram, Facebook. DevientArt  and Twitter. 

Hopefully we will see you over on one of those.

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