Hello Artist Friend,
🇵🇹 in March 2027 Adam will be hosting a Drawing Retreat in Monsaraz, Portugal, Bookings are now open.
Hello Artist Friend,
Welcome to Ten Minute Artist: the leading newsletter for building a daily creative habit through daily drawing and journal prompts, encouragement, perspective, meditations and practice advice for living a more creative life.
You don’t need to wait until you have your perfect situation to start creating, but you can absolutely start creating today in small increments.
These tiny increments do add up and as they do they create momentum, confidence and a body of work. 200 million people in the world share one creative project, and that is the keeping a diary.
I want to encourage you to keep an Artist Diary; a place for daily mini art adventures. It’s been scientifically proven that engaging in some kind of creative act for as little as 20 minutes a day can make a meaningful impact on your physical and mental well being.
I believe that by getting off your phone and into your artist diary we can get those benefits in as little as 10 minutes. And if you’re asking yourself, “What exactly you’re going to put into an Artist Diary?”
You’re in the right place.
Who is Ten Minute Artist for?
Ten Minute Artist is specially for:
🕶️ Shadow Artist: For some reason you have been lead to believe that you don’t deserve to make art even though you consider yourself highly creative, and as a result you are working in some art adjacent industry, perhaps as a curator, designer, teacher, shop keeper or some other behind the scenes role supporting ‘real artist’, I’m not asking you to change careers, I’m simply asking you to give yourselves 10 minutes a day to create for yourself.
✏️ Aspiring Artist: Whether you went to art school or are teaching yourself art, the journey to go pro or even making a meaningful income from art can sometimes be so all consuming, that we forget to make art for the pure joy of it, for you the prescription is the same 10 minutes a day to create for your self will recharge your creative batteries, fill you with energy, and give you you a clearer sense of purpose. Your artist diary also serves as an engine and reservoir of creative capital.
👨🎨 Creative Professionals: Even creative professionals need a space that is completely free from commercial concerns, a place to connect with their geeky passions as well as other artist and just make art for the pure joy of it. You know this but it’s just hard to make the time or decide what to draw.
Now, here’s how I can help…
The Biggest Roadblocks To Making Art For Yourself
Roadblock #1: Lack of Time — Many people feel they don’t have enough free time in their busy schedules to dedicate to a daily art practice. They struggle to find even 10-15 minutes per day to commit to creative activities.
Roadblock #2: Feelings of Inadequacy — Some people are held back by a belief that they “aren’t artistic” or lack the necessary skills to create art. They may feel intimidated or self-conscious about their abilities, leading to a reluctance to start.
Roadblock #3 Fear of Failure or Imperfection —The pressure to create “good” art every day can be paralysing. People may avoid starting a daily practice out of a fear of not meeting their own high standards or producing work they deem unworthy.
Roadblock #4 Difficulty Forming New Habits — Establishing a consistent daily routine can be challenging, especially if someone has struggled to maintain habits in the past. The initial effort required to make art a regular part of the day can seem daunting.
Roadblock # 5 Competing Priorities — With work, family responsibilities, and other commitments, daily art may not feel like a top priority for everyone. Other tasks and obligations can easily take precedence, pushing creative time to the side.
Roadblock #6 Not Even Knowing Where to Start — Lack of knowledge or too much knowledge could leave one paralysed and not even know where to start.
Roadblock #7 Lack of Community — Outside of art school it’s not easy to find other creatives who are willing to share their journey and imperfect creations. Creating in isolation might seem futile without a sense of accountability or camaraderie
Roadblock #8 No Recovery Plan When You Fall Off — Life happens and with out a plan to get you back on track if you fall off, a missed day can quickly become, weeks, months and even years…speaking from experience.
Now, lets talk about how to solve these…
Ten Minute Artist: Daily Meditations, Prompts And Education to Help Keep You Creating In Tiny Increments.
Here’s what you can expect from me for free — every single weekday:
A Daily Meditation
Austin Kleon says; “books are made from books”. Well so are Newsletters, they are also made from other newsletters. By regularly collecting notes from the finest prompts, essays, interviews and courses and creativity, I continue to amass a library of notes on the creative practice. Tempered with my own experience I share these notes as daily meditations for encouragement, insight and practical advice.
A Daily Prompt
I’ll also share a drawing and occasionally writing prompt based on the meditation, so you can go straight to creating. The prompts leave lost of room for creativity and interpretation. And are all designed to be completed in as little as 10 minutes.
Start And Keep A Drawing Habit
It’s a shame most people stop drawing by the time they are 7, mostly through external pressures, together with the help of the ten minute artist community, I want to help create a safe space for you to start drawing again and keep going!
By doing the prompts you become a Ten Minute Artist, no existing skills required!
Who Am I?
Let me introduce myself.
Adam Ming is a startup cofounder turned picture-book illustrator at 40, the change also marked the beginnings of this newsletter, since then, Adam has gone on to illustrate nearly 20 books in his first 5 years in the business for top publishers including, Harper Collins, Penguin Random House, Bloomsbury, Hatchett, Magic Cat, Walker Books and Anderson Press to name a few.
His books have won and be nominated for numerous awards voted, by libraries, kids and other institutions, notably “Down the Hole” was shortlisted as Children’s Book Of The Year by Barnes and Noble, as well as a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard and “Where Are You Really From” was awarded book of the year in it’s category by The Week, Junior Book Awards.
Some books illustrated by Adam
Popular Post
Want to get a taste of the kind of content you can expect around here?
Here are some of the most popular posts:
I also love answering questions about the creative practice and my journey into illustration!
So if you want me to answer any questions about these topics, just leave a comment on any newsletter post, I read them all! :)
⬇️ What you get when you join ⬇️
🎁 For starters, I have a gift for you.
The moment you become a free subscriber, I’ll share my ultimate drawing prompt called the Ten Minute Visual Journal Method as a 5-Day FREE email course.
This is a prompt I use almost everyday for its simplicity and density of what it has to offer in a single 10 minutes session. In this course I go deep to unpack every facet of this prompt that I’ve spent more than 500 days spanning a number of sketchbooks.
When You’re Ready For Something Deeper
The daily dispatches will always be free.
But for artists who want a structured path to take their sketches from daily ritual to a calling card, paid members unlock two things:
1. The 30 Day Gameplan (Live Cohorts):
Three times a year, our entire community kicks off a synchronized 30-day sprint. The goal is turning the daily ritual into a goldmine for ideas and kick start a process of earning True Fans. Turning your daily habit into the engine of a professional creative practice. (Founding Tier)
2. The Monthly Studio Deep Dives:
Once a month, I pull back the curtain on how books are made, how to make friends in the industry, how to put together a portfolio, and how to keep growing without burning out. Plus answers to your biggest questions about being a freelance illustrator making picturebooks. (Paid Tier)
Click here to join Ten Minute Artist (and start building your daily creative habit.)
🫰If you are a writer on Substack , please consider recommending Ten Minute Artist to help grow this amazing community of readers! Thank You!
