Bonny Snowdon is a North Yorkshire-based, award winning Coloured Pencil Artist and an artists’ mentor specialising in animal portraits. As part of her training at The Bonny Snowdon Academy, Bonny helps students with their confidence. Bonny says, “We’re not all blessed with an abundance of confidence, and it can be incredibly challenging to build confidence, which can stop us from doing what we really want to do. So, as part of my course, I go through a few points that can help grow confidence and build some really great habits, so that my students have that self belief and can get on with what they want to be doing.”
Prior to being an artist Bonny worked as a business coach, helping people with their confidence and this is an important part of her Academy’s approach. Kindness is another key element of her training, with a very inclusive ethos that is inspiring so many people to succeed. Bonny says, “My goal is to help as many people as possible enjoy coloured pencil art, increase their confidence and realise their dreams.”
Bonny explains how we can help ourselves to be more confident, “So, what is it that affects our confidence and how can we make it grow? Two of the biggest things in building confidence are positivity and resilience. They are two of the major building blocks, in my view, of building confidence in yourself and being able to achieve your goals. Positivity and resilience come together, and one affects the other, but positivity itself has a huge impact on our attitude and behaviour.”
“To give you an example of a situation where this applies, think of a time when you’ve walked into a room where there’s a group of people, and they’re all a little bit sombre or a little bit grumpy, and the whole atmosphere in that room is one of tension. That then affects you, and you then get sucked into that same behaviour and that same emotion.”
“If, however, you were feeling a little bit grumpy yourself and you walked into a room where there was an awful lot of laughter and people having a lovely time, and somebody grabs you by the hand and says “Oh, hi! How are you? It’s so lovely to see you!” or somebody tells you a joke and you start to feel a little bit happier, it’s the result of the cumulative effect of all of that fantastic positivity rubbing off on you.”
“We’ve all had days when we wake up really grumpy one morning, we get out of bed the wrong way, things start to go wrong, and for the rest of the day it feels like everything else will go wrong too. And, chances are, things will go wrong, because we’ve allowed ourselves to stay in that mindset. Whereas, if we’d changed our attitude, then our behaviour throughout the day would have likely changed as well.”
“And it is tricky, but you can pull yourself out of that cycle. Sometimes it’s as simple as just having a bit of a smile, having a bit of a laugh with somebody, even when you feel you have to force yourself. It’s about getting into the habit of doing something that makes you happy when you’re feeling down. Whether that’s watching a funny video, or going onto Instagram and looking at some funny cats! Whatever it is, it’s really important if you’re wanting to boost your positivity and, in turn, boost your confidence.”
Bonny Snowdon Academy student, Sue Dally comments, “Bonny is so inspirational and gives you massive confidence, while being so engaging and funny. You can totally immerse yourself in what you are drawing while enjoying the wonderful chatter and humour. Bonny has allowed us into her life, giving us access to some of her most personal moments while teaching and mentoring us in her kind and supportive way.”
The Bonny Snowdon Academy is Bonny’s new teaching platform. It includes her signature coloured pencil course, hundreds of hours of tutorials, step by step guides and weekly live streams. There is also a Patreon channel – with over 1,000 students – a stop-gap for people to join and get started with their drawing until the next Academy intake is open.
Bonny shows her students how to understand colour theory and the materials available to them as a coloured pencil artist; how to get to grips with the different methods and techniques of drawing, practicing and honing skills, whilst also considering confidence and mindset to get the most out of themselves and their artwork.
Bonny Snowdon Academy Ignite Membership costs £25 per month or £250 per year. It is open to new members every few months for a couple of weeks and then closes again. You can find our more at www.bonnysnowdonacademy.com
