How "Learning in Public" Can Transform Your Art Journey

Feb 5

Written By Tommy

For years, I’ve been trying to teach myself how to draw. I would start with a ton of motivation, but eventually… motivation would fade, and I’d stop entirely—only to start again months later... with the same result. This is the cycle I was stuck into.

So after a lot of research I decided to try something new: learning in public. And now I will try explain you why I think it can be a true game changer for any artist. Something that can break this cycle of mine.

What Is "Learning in Public"?

I first came across this idea from a YouTube video, this one on the "Verbal to Visual" channel:

So the idea behind “learning in public” is sharing what you learn while you learn it. It’s a way to document your journey for others to see… and even benefit from. It's a practice that was common even in ancient times and we now can leverage the power of internet and social media to make it even more powerful.

This concept is very popular in the developer world, where people call it “coding in public”, but I think that it can be just as powerful for learning art—or anything else really. Think of it as “open-sourcing” your knowledge. By sharing your art studies, you can create a space for others to learn and grow alongside you.

And I am going now to list you 5 reasons why learning in public can be truly powerful for us artists too.

1. Accountability and Consistency

Consistency is one of the hardest parts for us self-taught artists. Learning privately often means you’re on your own, with no one to hold you accountable (unlike in art school where you have exams, assignments, teachers, peers, …). This isolation can lead to slower progress or, worse, it can be one of the main factors that lead to burnout.

Sound familiar? I’ve been there too—starting with tons of motivation, only to burn out after a while and quit. Then I’d start again few months later, only for the cycle to repeat.

By sharing my journey publicly, my hope is to broke this pattern. Knowing others are watching will keep me accountable, I am basically creating a classroom environment.
A key to this is making a public commitment, like sharing a goal or posting weekly updates, to feel more responsible for showing up. Studies even show that public commitments drastically boosts consistency. I basically will feel “forced” to show up.

2. Sharing Knowledge and Exchanging Feedback

Learning in public isn’t just about accountability for yourself (we are not selfish here:) it’s also about sharing what you learn with others, it's a two way relation. Others can literally look at what you're doing from above your shoulder. They can pick up tricks you just learned OR spot mistakes and try to avoid them, while you can interact with them and share your struggles and successes.
When you share your journey, you not only inspire and help others, but also create opportunities to receive constructive feedback in return.

Feedback is one of the most powerful tools for growth, it can dramatically accelerate your progress. And don’t be scared to share your mistakes… from what I have personally seen, most people in the art community are very supportive to new artists, especially when they see genuine effort and wanting to learn.

3. Building a Community

Humans are social creatures, we naturally connect with individuals like us.
This is why by sharing your progress publicly you can connect with like-minded individuals who share your passion.

It will be possible for everyone in this group to exchange tips or share struggles… building a community can make the learning process far more enjoyable. It’s something you just don’t get when you’re learning alone at your desk. This can really save you from burnout sometimes.

4. Tracking Your Progress

One of the additional benefits of learning in public apart from the social aspect, is having a diary of your growth. Even if nobody sees your content (which is unlikely), you’ll still have a record of your journey and you'll be able to look back at where you where 1 month or 1 year ago.

This archive, this diary is invaluable for tracking improvement over time. You’ll see how far you’ve come and gain motivation to keep pushing forward. AND the worse you are at the beginning the better! You will be able to see more improvement going forward (this is a common practice in art schools too).

5. From (passive) Consumption to (active) Creation

Most of us self-taught artists (me in primis) fall into the trap of passively consuming content—watching endless tutorials with the illusion of being productive or getting better. You get better with practice. Period.

Learning in public can be what pushes you to shift from being a consumer to a creator. You'll finally apply all the concepts and techniques you got from watching hours and hours of drawing tutorials. And now you’re not only going to put into practice what you’ve learned, but also give something back to the art community with content creation. It’s a powerful way to grow as both an artist and a contributor.

This is a beautiful concept I took from this video by Thiago Forte:

6. AI

Yep. The elephant in the room… Have you ever heard the saying

“It’s ALL about the journey, not the final destination”

— Someone

Well I think this is particularly important in the world we live in right now. Because you see… the absolute worst thing that generative ai is doing - apart from the slop - is killing the artistic process, killing the journey.

In a world where, even before ai, only the final result is important, ai is bringing this madness to the extreme and almost taking away from us the beauty of creating, of the process. I mean they are giving us a finished piece in just a few seconds and a prompt.

I say this is NOT art. Art it’s all about the journey, because it’s during this journey that you grow, you change you discover yourself not only as an artist… but especially as a person first.

With the mistakes, the wins, the ups and the downs... So let me correct the previous quote with this one…

“ART’s all about the journey, not the final destination”

— Someone Else

So I think we have a responsibility as artists, as creatives, as art community as a whole to defend the artistic process. We have to remind people what a journey art can be.

Yes this journey is difficult, yes it is frustrating… There will be times when you just want turn around and go back, but exactly those moments show you that it is really worth it… Because you are evolving. You are pushing past your level. Let’s normalize the struggle. Art is not easy, it will never be… Art is not about instant gratification.

How to Start "Learning in Public"

If this “learning in public” idea resonates with you, here’s how I think it's a good way to approach it:

Choose a Platform: choose the platform that you like the most or that fits your content better. I’m personally going to use YouTube because it allows me to document the whole process, not just the final results (and in addition I love video creation). But you could also use Instagram, a blog, or even a Discord server if you want to go more "private".
Set Goals: they can be weekly or monthly. At the start of each period, I set a specific goal, like studying gesture drawing or anatomy, perspective and so on... something you really want start to learn (NOT master) in that timeframe.
Do the Work: PRACTICE. Dedicate any time you have to practicing and learning that topic.
Share Your Journey: At the end of the week or month, create a video or post summarizing what you’ve learned, the struggles you faced, and any resources you found helpful.
(You can post stuff more frequently even during this learning period)

Some final thoughts... Don’t wait until you feel “good enough” to share your work—because you will never feel like this, especially as an artist. Perfectionism can hold you back from taking the most important step: starting.

Your art (or videos) don’t have to be perfect. The whole point is to learn, grow, and connect with others. Whether you post on YouTube, Instagram, or anywhere else, the key is to show up and share your journey.

Remember: you’re doing this not for the numbers, but to help others—and to help yourself.

So, go public. Share your progress. And most importantly, don’t wait!