Digital minimalism "for Artists"
“Digital minimalism” is a term coined by Dr. Cal Newport. The core idea is simple: use tech on purpose, not by default. You choose the tools that serve your values, and you aggressively cut the rest.
Because right now?
You’re not “bad at focus.”
You’re living inside a marketplace where influencers, platforms, and brands get paid when you can’t look away.
And artists are especially vulnerable to this trap:
- You scroll “for inspiration”
- You save a few things (good)
- Then you keep scrolling (not good)
- And suddenly your brain is stuffed with other people’s taste
In small doses, consuming art is healthy. You’ll discover new techniques, support creators you respect, and expand your visual library. But when it turns into doomscrolling.. those “tiny” minutes stacked across a day.
Two things start to happen:
- Your originality gets diluted. Not because you’re a thief. Because your subconscious is a sponge. You absorb what you stare at.
- Your motivation gets watered down. If your work is constantly tuned to what performs, what trends, what gets approved… you slowly stop making the thing that made you an artist in the first place.
And that’s the real danger: When life inevitably hits hard, you won’t just feel “uninspired.” You’ll feel disconnected from your own work. Almost like you’re producing content for a stranger.
That’s when the usual sedatives show up: dissociation, Netflix, gaming, bed. And quitting starts to feel… reasonable.
The fix: 80/20 input-output
If you want a healthy relationship with other creators, use this rule:
80% output. 20% input. 80% creation. 20% consumption.
The goal isn’t isolation. It’s dominance. You spend so much time deep in your own themes, experiments, and obsessions that when you finally consume art… its influence becomes a drop in your ocean, not the ocean itself.
And once you’re not drowning, we can do the fun part:
Amplify Your Aesthetic. Not by copying people. By extracting what’s teachable and turning it into your signature. Why? Because clarity arrives when you cut.
Amplify Your Aesthetic
Most artists don’t “find their style” at 14 and ride into the sunset. We collect influences like magnets. Multiple mediums, multiple moods, multiple eras, and it can take years to understand what’s actually ours.
Experimenting is good. Necessary, even. It teaches you what you like, what you hate, and what you’re willing to suffer for.
I struggled with this for years until someone gave me a deceptively simple idea:
“Pick your top ten artists. Study them.”
Sounds clean. Feels impossible.
Because narrowing hundreds of artists down to ten isn’t a list-making exercise. It’s identity pressure.
When I finally started boiling the list down, I realized something important:
I didn’t actually want to make art like my favorite artists.
I loved their work enough to hang it on my walls, but that didn’t translate to specific techniques I wanted to train from them. Most of them were painters… and paint was never my first language.
So I kept the spirit of the advice, but changed the execution:
Not “copy your heroes.” Extract what you can actually study. Build a style from skills you can repeat instead of vibes you can’t reproduce.
That’s what “Amplify Your Aesthetic” is.
Amplify Your Aesthetic: The Process
This is for newer artists or anyone who feels stylistically scattered. A method to find, name, and sharpen your aesthetic in five moves.
Keep what’s teachable. Honor what you love.
1) Raid the Vault
- Pull from a collection you already have (saved posts, screenshots, pins, books), or browse a site where you can admire artists.
Collect 30–50 images (screenshots, pins, scans).
Don’t judge yet. Just gather what grabs you.
2) Create the List
Curate ~20 artists you feel genuinely drawn to.
- Mix it up: living/deceased, famous/obscure, multiple mediums.
- Don’t overthink “influence.” Choose what compels you.
3) Name the Pattern
- Look for recurring themes and signals. Some are obvious (horror, surrealism).
- Some are yours to invent (“cathedral skin,” “industrial silence,” “soft violence,” “neon ritual”).
Group your 20 artists into 3–6 theme clusters.
4) Commit the Burn
(Shou Sugi Ban: the Japanese wood-burning technique. You burn away the surface to reveal what lasts.)
Now you remove what you admire…but can’t actually study.
For each artist, ask: Can I point to a technique I can train right now? Not a vibe. Not “their aura.” A skill.
Examples:
- lighting control
- anatomy clarity
- texture rendering
- composition rhythm
- color harmony / palettes
Keep ~10 artists where the technique is teachable to you, right now.
Bonus tip: If you can’t name the technique, use an LLM (ChatGPT/Claude) to help you label what you’re seeing.
5) Creative Carbon
(Solid Identity)
From what survived the burn,
pick 3 themes from your theme clusters.
These become your anchors.
They’re the motifs that keep resurfacing even when you try to branch out. So don’t fight them.
Name them. Own them. Lean in. (That’s an SEO tactic.)
You should have 3 distinct themes that align with your creative core now. If you want to hack your brain. Turn it into a one-liner and repeat it to yourself before every art session. Example:
“I return to ___ to make people feel ___.”
Optional: Study Plan
- Turn your 10-artist techniques into a simple plan:
- Each week: 2 micro-studies + 1 original piece applying 1–2 techniques
- Lock constraints (palette, aspect ratio, time limit, tool limit).
- Post, reflect, adjust.
Bonus tip: Use an LLM to structure your weekly plan and keep it realistic.
Don't feel like thinking?
Before we wrap this up. I mentioned LLMs a few times. If you want to go that route. I know some of you do. I crafted some prompts you can steal to smooth the whole process over, so you can get back to the real work. Here you go.
2) The List
ChatGPT can’t “Raid your Vault,” but give it names and why you like them, it pulls everything else.
LLM assist:
You are my “Aesthetic Interviewer.” I’ll paste short notes on 20 artists
(example: “I like H.R. Geiger because of detailed alien yams.”)
Return a table with:
– Artist
– What pulls me (rewrite my sentence for clarity)
– Dominant themes (3)
3) Name the Patterns
LLM assist:
Cluster these 20 artists into 3–6 themes:
– Give each theme a name + 1-sentence definition
– List 3 visual markers per theme (what I’d literally see in the frame)
– List 3 emotional markers per theme (what I’d likely feel)
4) Commit the burn
Choose the 10 you vibe hardest with. ChatGPT can spot the technique for you.
LLM assist:
You are my “Technique Extractor.” For each of these 10 artists extract:
– 2 trainable techniques (specific and observable)
– 1 micro-exercise I could do in 30–60 minutes to practice each technique
Then, recommend which 10 artists I should keep (based on synergy and my stated goals).
5) Creative Carbon
LLM assist:
Turn my chosen 3–4 themes into brand-ready one-liners:
– “I return to ___ to make people feel ___.”
– Provide 3 visual prompts per theme I could use to generate study references (no proper nouns).
Optional: Study Plan
LLM assist
Create an 8-week study plan from my 10 “keeper” artists:
– Each week: 2 micro-studies (≤60 min each) + 1 applied piece
– List exact constraints (canvas size, palette rules, time limit)
– Include a reflection checklist for what to keep/kill next week
Customer Avatar Research
If your GoreHoundGang. You mix business tactics with art. This is a hack to find your tribe.
LLM assist
Synthesize my “Audience Aesthetic Statement” in ≤25 words.
Then list:
– 3 subreddits/Discords/forums
– 3 online magazines or IG curators
– 10 hashtags (low/med/high competition mix)
All aligned to my aesthetic.
Closing Statement
That’s the whole technique.
Don’t overcomplicate your art or your process. The point isn’t to “solve yourself.” The point is to make more work and make it more you every week.
If you’re just starting (or restarting after life hit you with a chair)
The most important step is still the same:
Start.
Get the first few hundred ugly drawings out of the way. Your future style is buried under reps.
And if your early work makes your eyes bleed.. good. Show it to your mom. She’ll love it. I’m developing cataracts over here. I’m an old man.
Jokes aside: I hope this helps. Blessings up. Hexes down. -Avi Hex
