Adam Ming

A screenshot essay titled 'Dear Creator, capture today's fleeting ideas before they're lost forever — and turn them into the work only you can create.' The body text discusses the importance of capturing unique thoughts and feelings that arise each day, emphasizing that these configurations of ideas are fleeting gifts. The author shares their personal practice of filling a sketchbook daily, which led to discovering characters for a story a year later. The essay encourages readers to choose a method of documentation, such as a journal or sketchbook, and stresses the importance of consistency in preserving ideas that may otherwise be forgotten.

Need ideas, start looking in your sketchbook

Screenshot essay titled 'If You Keep Starting Over, You’ll Never Finish: Here’s The Daily Routine That Breaks The Cycle'. The essay discusses the author's journey towards establishing a career in illustrating picture books. It narrates a moment of reflection during a coffee meeting with a classmate who mocks the author's tendency to begin new projects. Despite the jibe, the author emphasizes the importance of consistency, highlighting their progress over the past two years, including submitting illustrations for one book and working on two others. The author concludes with a commitment to daily practice in their craft, valuing even short time spent on their work.

I’m writing Atomic Essays for 30 Days, this one was about a painful jab when I told a friend I was starting a career as a picture-book illustrator at 40

If you write everyday.

Draw every day.

Make art everyday.

Some of it will be good.

That doesn’t mean the rest of it is wasted.

Picture shows the front cover of the book I'm Building a Nest: Find Out How 50 Animals Make Their Homes by Saskia Gwinn, Illustrated by Adam Ming with a bird building a nest and other creatures looking on.

I'm Building a Nest: Find Out How 50 Animals Make Their Homes by Saskia Gwinn, Illustrated by Adam Ming

Review by @sareenmclay.bsky.social

@adamming.bsky.social

#saskiagwinn#quartokids
#nonfiction#childrensbooks#childrensbooksillustration#booksforkids#kidlit#booksforchildren#nature#nests#spring

There are 5 things I learned that really had a profound impact on how I illustrate, I’m sharing this in a free emails series

Www.tenminuteartist.com

A screenshot essay titled 'Morning Drawing (that I did in the afternoon)' featuring a drawing created by the author. The drawing is visually vibrant and expressive, showcasing a blend of colors and playful shapes, highlighting the artist's unique style. The text surrounding the drawing discusses the artistic process and inspiration behind the work. The essay conveys a sense of humor about the title, indicating a playful approach to time management in art creation.

To get 1 step removed from the reference, I did studies in my sketchbook, then drew this from my sketchbook

Screenshot essay titled '5 Reasons Why I Believe Social Media is Still A Useful Promotional Tool for Artists,' featuring five key points: 1. You can DM anybody - sharing how reaching out to others can help when you're stuck. 2. Your comments are actually welcome - emphasizing the importance of giving meaningful feedback and how it can lead to more engagement. 3. Your bio is your elevator pitch - highlighting the significance of a concise bio to convey who you are and what you offer. 4. Your content is your credibility - discussing how social media serves as a platform to showcase your offerings and demonstrate authenticity. 5. An 11-second reel could get thousands of views - mentioning the potential impact of engaging with reels on your visibility. The author concludes with encouragement for readers to leverage these insights to advance their goals.

Do we still hate social media?

Screenshot essay titled 'Other Artists Are Not The Competition' discusses the author's initial perception of competition in a children's illustration class. The author reflects on their mindset of needing to defeat fellow artists, but realizes through experience that learning from others is more valuable than competition. The essay includes three key insights: the author initially struggled to discern quality in art, gained significant learning from peer interactions more than the course content, and offers a metaphor comparing artists on a key ring, indicating that each artist serves a unique purpose rather than competing against one another.

Other artist are not the competition

Don't get busy, get focused.

You can build a bestselling Substack in just 20 hours per month if you eliminate everything that doesn't directly serve your core purpose and audience.

Before: A stack of blank sketchbooks collecting dust.

After: A daily practice that transforms procrastination into production.

The bridge?

10 deliberate minutes that compound over time.

Most of us aren't actively saying 'no' to our creative calling.

We're just finding increasingly sophisticated ways to avoid saying 'yes.'

What looks like exploring multiple paths is often fear finding new escape routes.

The number, the badge, the award. Those are not the point.

The milestone isn't the point. It's just a measuring stick for your growth. Chasing numbers in creative work is about developing new skills that each new level demands from you.

The point is growth

https://www.tenminuteartist.com/p/your-first-creative-prompt-plus-7 Today's 10-minute challenge: Give me your reasons

You don’t need hours. You just need 10 minutes today.

I help you build your own 10 minute practice at https://www.tenminuteartist.com/p/your-first-creative-prompt-plus-7

It revealed my artistic voice.

Style Is something you uncover: slowly, quietly, through repetition.
Daily sketching helped me see what I returned to, over and over.

And it gave me something to shape.

It laid the foundation for bigger things.

Every “real” project I’ve done started in the sketchbook.
That character, that layout, that style: I found them here, by accident, in daily pages.

It gave me mindfulness.

10 minutes of drawing = 10 minutes of peace.
A break from noise. A way to process feelings.

Sketching became my mental reset button.

Small action, big calm.

It became my garden of ideas.

A throwaway doodle. A weird shape. A scribbled caption.

Daily pages collect stray sparks that can become characters, stories, or full projects.

Nothing is wasted.

It taught me to battle Resistance.

You know the enemy: doubt, procrastination, perfectionism.

A sketchbook is where you learn to start anyway.

This habit is your anchor when motivation just isn’t there.

It earned me credibility.

Your sketchbook is your visual diary.

It’s where art directors glimpse your brain at work—raw, real, evolving.
First they look at your portfolio. Then they ask for your sketchbook.

It became my creative gym.

Your sketchbook isn’t a product. It’s practice.
Every page is a rep. A stretch. A warmup.
Daily sketching builds strength, stamina, and identity.

Especially on days when you don’t feel like showing up.

Our dreams are built with bricks called habits.

This one quiet ritual, just 10 minutes a day, helped me go from unpublished to illustrating 14 book in 3 years

Here’s what I learned from keeping a daily sketchbook:
[THREAD]

https://open.substack.com/pub/artgym/p/mistakes-people-make-when-posing?r=p60pf&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false Plus: Katie and Adam discuss ArtGym (2 min video)

Want to put this lessons into practice, RSVP for this live drawing workshop!

https://open.substack.com/pub/artgym/p/mistakes-people-make-when-posing?r=p60pf&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

10/10 There’s no story.

A good pose doesn’t just show a body—it shows a moment.

What just happened?

What’s about to happen?

If your pose answers neither, keep sketching.

9/10 The pose doesn’t fit the character.

Is your shy bookworm standing like a WWE wrestler?

Know your character’s emotional vocabulary.

Pose accordingly.

8/10 You overposed it.

Not every pose needs jazz hands and a backflip.

If you force energy where it’s not needed, you lose clarity.

Let quiet moments stay quiet.

7/10 Your character is emotionally flat because you are. (Sorry)

If you’re neutral, your pose will be too.

Step into the scene.

Feel it in your body.

Then draw.

6/10 You hid the hands and feet.

We get it—hands are hard.

But they’re also expressive as hell.

Show them.

Use them.

They carry emotion more than you think.

5/10 You forgot the spine, hips, and shoulders.

These three parts tell you everything about the pose.

If they’re locked or misaligned, the whole figure feels broken.

4/10 The character has no weight.

Feet floating.

Hips not shifting.

Limbs that don’t push or pull.

If the character doesn’t feel grounded, they won’t feel real.

3/10 Your silhouette is mush.

If you can’t recognize the pose in shadow, neither can your viewer.

Simplify and separate the limbs.

Think stage acting, not figure drawing.