As an artist, especially an artist who makes products, it can be overwhelming when expected to have new art every season. The expectation, of course, is not by customers, it is just by the demand for product.
Keeping Up with The Joneses' or... Seasons.
When you are growing your business, ideally, you want to stay relevant to potential customers, but it can be challenging when you are an artist. When I create my artwork, it is often by mood and time. When I'm in the mood and have the time. This does not always coincide with specific seasons or holidays. Sometimes it does, and I'm like "GO TEAM," and other times, I feel this pressure I put on myself to create just "stuff" for the season.
In the mood
This past year, I was finishing my Master's, and I didn't have a lot of free time for my hobbies(artwork). My Masters required both my technical and creative mind, so all of that was used up with my classes and research. I was genuinely not in the mood to do anything extra besides sleep.
Fast forward to the present day, and I've graduated. I am now in the mood to return to my art and develop my skills. However, that has not coincided with creating any seasonal collections. I have developed my bookbinding skills while using current artwork.
You can just use AI..
I think we can all agree that AI is trash. It is very distinct. I'm not a fan of the color, and it doesn't meet my needs. I also don't get the same fulfillment from AI as I do from creating my own artwork. So using AI to speed up the process wouldn't help.
Plan Ahead
The trend is to plan ahead. A lot of Fashion companies are planning for Christmas 2026 already or already have their plans. You get Pantone's colors a year in advance. There are trend forecasts so you have pattern ideas.
In theory, this will work and this works well for large companies that have teams of people to bounce ideas of and the resources to make these happen.
But.. small business are not fast fashion and they shouldn't be fast fashion. The beauty of small businesses is that you get unique items that were created with love. Of course they will have some trends but for the most part you are getting what is in the mood for that artist.
Current Plans
I've decided to focus on the current artwork that I already have created and use in various formats such as stickers, bookmarks, and journals. When I changed my mindset about how I approach art, it has really helped me get back into creating art. I really went into a long artist block because I kept feeling like I needed to have something for a season and then when I couldn't make this imaginary timeline I gave myself, I would be like "ugh.. whatever, I'm not doing anything then.."
So, revisiting some of my previous work and utilizing that for some products and leaning into other creations has help changed my mindset and hopefully in 2026, I will have some new artwork to share with the world.
As an Artist do you feel you need to create new work for each season?
-Ayla