Begin, then Refine and Evolve.

In the beginning of Mini Portrait Studio, there was actual acrylic paint involved. I had the idea to provide an on-the-spot portrait experience where I sat behind a heavy portable window 🪟 and my subject sat across from me. While this experience was indeed eye-catching, it was also greatly nerve-wracking when a line was formed and it took a ton of prep work. I can remember sweating bullets while trying to mix the perfect skin tones for each person, trying my best to time myself and paint accurately while also interacting with my subjects and trying not to scowl too hard with my concentration face in front of them.

Before I began, my biggest fear was that nobody would be interested in me painting them, so I undercharged because all I wanted was to be wanted. Once I had proof that there was demand for what I had to offer, I had to up my prices so that I would have more time to create with less stress.

My goal is always to have art be an accessible experience, so upping my prices came with the creation of offerings that would be less time, effort, and materials for less money. Thus the floating heads on paper were born.

Part of the appeal of my pop-up experiences was that I was capable of creating on-the-spot. It didn’t take much to convince people with affordable pricing for the every-day person and same-day completion and delivery, but I noticed that it occasionally attracted impulsive and sometimes impatient buyers. As if drawing something accurately within 5-10 minutes wasn’t impressive, it unfortunately made some people devalue my offerings when the possibility of it being instantaneous was still on the table. I learned that as a small business owner, I was only preparing myself to be slightly busy as long as I remained a secret. But I needed to prepare myself fully for being widely seen and busy.