Artist in Progress by Milena Milak | Substack

The Brush Playground (plus a little travel and a lot of writing)

I’ve been away, both literally and creatively. Now I’m back, and I want to share a little of what I’ve been making behind the scenes.

Jun 10 •

Free posts

How I apply startup thinking to my art career

I only joined a startup at the age of 34. Before that I was cruising by doing freelance work. Including a few years as a tattoo artist which is…

May 12 •

The Analog Day: what if your phone had opening hours?

A ritual that helped me reclaim sketchbook time (and slow down my dopamine-addicted brain)

May 7 •

The secret to a consistent sketchbook practice? Sketch first, ask later.

How shifting from obsessing on the subject matter to the process (and joy!) itself helped me build a pretty consistent sketchbook practice.

Apr 23 •

I made a brush set to get that mixed-media look in Procreate. Want to try it early?

I’ve been keeping something exciting under wraps, and I can finally share it with you! After weeks of testing, tweaking, and putting everything…

Mar 26 •

Analog Day

Analog Day prompt #2: make it fast

Here's your Analog Day sketchbook prompt for this week

Jun 7 •

Cinematic Composition Challenge

Cinematic Composition Challenge: From Jurassic Park to Fox Astronomers

This month's study begins with a dinosaur claw and ends with a fox family exploring the solar system. Here’s how I turned a movie still into a picture…

May 21 •

Can a Tarantino scene inspire a picture book? (AKA Cinematic Composition Challenge)

Hey there! It’s me again! Remember when I wrote about analyzing movie stills and cinematography to improve my composition skills?

Apr 9 •

Cinematic Composition Challenge: from The Sopranos scene to a children book illustration

Cinematographers are basically visual storytelling wizards, so why not steal a little bit of their magic and use it for building my portfolio?

Feb 24 •

Introducing the Cinematic Composition Challenge

Let's learn composition by analyzing movie stills

Feb 19 •

I found a way to up my composition game - Part 1

After receiving rejections in September, I’ve been diving deep into refining my portfolio. One of the areas I’m focusing on is composition.

Feb 13 •

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