Artist Elena Sheidlina gave advice to beginners in art

Elena Sheidlina is a 23-year-old artist, millionaire blogger and model who creates a “magical world around her.” For 5 years now she has been working on unreal images, organizing exhibitions, collaborating with global brands, experimenting with appearance and giving inspiration to millions of people even in the most remote corners of the planet!

In his new video with an intriguing title “What should I do with my life?” she gave advice to those who want to connect their lives with art. She answered the most common questions, talked about the prospects for creative professions and shared her experiences and goals.

Success story: “It’s not about talent, it’s about luck.”

Lena began her story with her own story. Her path was fast enough, and as many people think, too easy. While still a minor, the girl published cute photos on VKontakte, and then, for fun, she began to shoot cozy videos on YouTube: about friends, boyfriend and crafts.

Over time, her modeling skills began to improve, and Sheidlina discovered Instagram, where she already tried harder on the pictures, lights and poses on them. Then her long journey into art, travel and collaboration with brands began.

“My experience may not be representative of most viewers. It’s not my talent, it’s the case. All the cemeteries of the world are packed to capacity with failed and unrevealed talents, and I … What am I? Most of you believe, and they are right, that my relevance as an artist in Russia is only because of the number of my subscribers and blogging. Yes, this is a huge start-up capital, but it would be foolish not to use it, ”says the platinum blonde.

Soon, the student felt that the paintings could not only express her feelings, but also feed her. And she got carried away even more.

“When I felt financially stable, the first thing I did was find a private tutor on the tutor’s website and studied with him five times a week for a year. Well, what else could I do to compare myself with people who spent most of their lives in art institutions? Nothing. And I won’t even try! I just point to the problem and improve my skills, ”the blogger continues.

Now the girl receives a lot of money for a job that she truly loves. She herself chooses with whom she wants to cooperate and what exactly she wants to do for this or that project. Her ideas are so unique that there will always be demand for them:

“When I receive a request for an illustration, I immediately say that I am not a designer, and I do not even know how to draw pictures to order. But I have an idea that comes up when I get inspired by an advertising project. And this idea, along with my package of services, which may include photography, video, installation and even performances, I sell to global brands such as Nike, BMW, PayPal, Swatch … In general, the opposite is true! A flip-flop ”.

Beginner Tips: “Don’t Strive to Be the Best”

And yet – what to do in order to gain the same success? The artist warned that there are no exact instructions, but still she can give some tips.

“What advice can I give to an aspiring artist? If you take away my Instagram, early popularity, financial opportunity – what in the bottom line can I say? Probably, I can say the main thing: do not strive to be the best. The point is that drawing is not such a rare gift. There are millions of people like me, and most of them are much more talented than me, although I am not a novice artist, ”she says.

The girl also recommended developing social networks, because they are the “main calling card” for creative individuals. Do not be afraid to share your work on the Internet: with experience, shyness will go away and an audience will appear.

Finally, the fashion designer noted that as soon as you decide to draw, you should immediately hire an individual teacher – “Whitewashed with gray hair, with an academic education, the one who is currently painting.”

Yes, you have to sweat a lot before daily drawing becomes a habit. But when you get involved – “You will understand how easy it is.”

“In the meantime – I advise you to surprise!”, – the photographer finished the recommendations with a smile.

About fears, disappointments and goals

Despite the fact that Elena Sheidlina is one of the most popular artists in the country, sometimes she is covered by a wave of self-doubt and lack of confidence in her work.

“Do you know what really excites me? What if the opportunity to exhibit abroad – only because of my apparent weight? I have no goal of becoming successful. Rather not remain a self-confident upstart and push the works forward of my “I”, the girl reflects.

She is still afraid that someone who is better versed in art will criticize her. Sheidlina calls her main fear the words from educated people that photography of oneself is not art, but narcissism, and all her paintings differ from the rules of proportions, shadows and anatomy.

“How can this fear be overcome? To become educated myself, to feed myself with knowledge and skills in order to defend and talk about her art, ”the artist thinks.

This is what she does. It gets better all the time.

But her career brought her not only hundreds of happy moments, but also turned her worldview upside down. And sometimes the new, big world of art makes the blogger upset. So, her main disappointment in recent years has become the too great importance of numbers in life. Money, subscribers – only this evaluates a person’s talent, and not the quality of work and creativity of ideas:

“The main criterion for the success of a work of art in the 21st century is money. And nothing but them defines you as a successful artist. How many tickets have you sold for the exhibition? Have all your paintings been bought up by collectors? And that’s all. In the Internet environment, these are also your subscribers. The more, the more talented and successful you are, the greater your potential. “

On money and expenses for studying abroad: “It is quite possible to earn a million rubles from your drawings”

And yet, what are these numbers? Perhaps the question of artists’ earnings is one of the most common comments under the blogger’s publications. According to stereotypes, artists are slightly crazy people. They can hardly find money for bread and are very poor, but for some reason they still continue to paint.

But in the realities of our century, this is not the case, and successful artists can compete in income with representatives of the highest paid professions.

“As it turned out, earning a million rubles from your drawings is quite possible. The world is so big that you can always find work if you have an art education. But if you are more interested in being in the first league and getting hundreds of thousands of dollars, then I can probably answer this question in three years, ”the girl said with a self-confident smile.

As she said earlier, skills need to be constantly improved in order to sooner or later become a truly educated person in their field. Elena takes this seriously and is looking for the best educational institutions for herself. True, her last experience of studying in Florence turned out to be dubious – it was too much money to live there.

And now – specific numbers:

“I entered the commercial academy. And I have two intensive courses in which I will not get a higher education diploma. The first intensive course is 6 weeks. The cost is 3800 euros. The next course is from January to the end of July. It’s 12,800. I don’t count the tickets, only accommodation. Taking into account the huge discount due to the pandemic, housing came out at 10 thousand euros. We do not eat in restaurants, only at home. And it costs 150 euros for a week on food. The total amount of my studies in Florence is 33,050 euros. “

Of course, studying abroad is great for a portfolio, but according to the blogger, studying for free or extremely cheap will not work – this is a myth. Even if you enter a country with free education for foreigners, it will take a pretty big sum to get a student visa.