The start of a new year feels much like opening a brand-new sketchbook—a time to imagine what’s possible and set intentions for artistic growth. But as artists, planning meaningful goals isn’t just about check boxes or chasing productivity. It’s about creating the environment to nurture your creativity, align with your values, and allow your art to evolve naturally.
In this post, I’ll share my process for planning meaningful artistic goals in 2025, one that centers around your unique creativity rather than external pressures. Whether you’re seeking to improve your skills, try a new art technique or share your work in a way that feels connected to your artistic vision, this post will help you craft goals that feel personal, meaningful and achievable.
Revisiting the Story of Your Art
Every piece of art you’ve created tells a story—not just about the subject on the canvas but about who you were when you created it. Revisiting the story of your art means stepping back and looking at your creative journey as a whole. What themes have emerged in your work? What emotions or ideas were you exploring?
Take a moment to flip through old sketchbooks or pull out pieces you haven’t seen in a while. Each creation holds a piece of your artistic story. Maybe some pieces remind you of breakthroughs—when you tried a new technique or finally captured a concept that had eluded you. Others might reflect moments of struggle, when the work didn’t flow as easily. Both are equally valuable.
As you revisit your story, ask yourself:
- What drew me to create this?
- How have my techniques or subject matter evolved?
- Are there recurring themes or colors that feel like a part of me?
- What does this story tell me about who I am as an artist?
This reflection can feel grounding, reminding you of the passion that brought you to art in the first place. By understanding where you’ve been, you can better guide where you’re headed. Perhaps your next chapter involves revisiting old ideas with fresh eyes or exploring a completely new direction.
Refining Your Visual Language
As artists, our work speaks a unique visual language, a way of communicating ideas, emotions and stories without words. This language is personal and evolves as we grow. When setting goals for the new year, consider how you want to refine and develop your visual language.
Questions to consider:
- What aspects of your work feel most “you”?
- Are there techniques, subjects, or color palettes you want to explore further to deepen your artistic identity?
You can work on your visual language by creating a series of works focused on a specific theme or experimenting with new techniques to see how they align with your creative identity. Document your progress in a sketchbook or journal to reflect on how your visual language evolves over time.
Setting Process-Oriented Goals Over Outcome Goals
When beginning your art journey, it’s easy to become fixated on the outcomes like making more creative work and finishing paintings. While these goals have their place, focusing solely on results can sometimes feel overwhelming or even disheartening, especially when things don’t go as planned. That’s why process- oriented goals-ones that focus on the how rather than the what- can be transformative for your artistic practice.
When you shift your attention to the creative process, you prioritize showing up, experimenting and learning. Instead of aiming for a finished product, you commit to habits that make the act of creating fulfilling and consistent. The magic lies in the work—because when you trust the process, the outcomes tend to take care of themselves.
Examples of Process-Oriented Goals:
- Daily Sketching Practice: Set aside 10 minutes each day to sketch in your sketchbook without worrying about the quality or subject matter. This cultivates consistency and lowers the pressure to produce “perfect" art.
- Create Without Posting: Challenge yourself to create a series of artworks just for you. Art that you don’t share with others. This helps you reconnect with the joy of creating without external validation.
Why It Matters:
Process-oriented goals allow you to celebrate small, meaningful wins. You can feel accomplished after showing up to paint for 30 minutes, even if the work isn’t finished or perfect. These goals help you focus on the joy of creating rather than chasing the external markers of success. By prioritizing the process, you create space for inspiration to flow naturally. You build a sustainable art practice that grows with you.
Build a Creative Path That Feels True to You
Setting artistic goals is about creating a framework that nurtures your creativity and aligns with your unique artistic vision. If you’re ready to craft goals that center around your specific journey, I invite you to explore my eBook, Align and Create. This guide is designed to help you approach goal setting with clarity and purpose offering practical strategies and thoughtful prompts to make the most of your creative year ahead.
You can download Align and Create here.
Let’s make 2025 a year of making art that supports your creative goals.
xo
