Dan Ekis is an American comic artist and writer best known for creating the series Odyssey, Inc. and Soul of the World on Webtoons.
He frequently interviews other artists and creators on his YouTube Channel and he currently works as a freelance illustrator doing commissions for various clients from his studio in Pittsburgh.
His Kickstarter, Odyssey Inc: The Twin Bengals is an adventure graphic novel and is live now.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/danekis
-How the “party was over” when he graduated college.
-How he used Craigslist to find animation jobs.
-His advice for artists who are first realizing that they have to be the ones in control of their own careers.
-His battle with depression.
-The importance of gaining momentum in the creative pursuit that you love the most.
-How even the masters were once disasters and every great artist has put out a large amount of bad work to get to the good work.
-His take on art school.
-How to build an audience while your art still sucks by educating, entertaining and inspiring.
-Using the words that are going through your audience’s brains.
-How to get past self-doubt.
-Standing on the shoulders of giants (and also realize that at the end of the day, they were just people).
-His Kickstarter campaign for his new graphic novel, Odyssey, Inc: The Twin Bengals and the fortuitous timing of Tiger King on Netflix.
-Doing multiple variations in order to get past art block.
“Ask yourself the question: If you could do one thing all day, everyday, if money and the opinions of other people didn’t matter, and if anything were possible… what would you do with your time?”
“If it feels right, do it.”
“It’s going to take you years to get good at art, and it’s going to take you years to build your audience, so you might as well build them side by side.”
“If you’re in a dark place right now, that doesn’t have to be the end of your story. You don’t have to stay there forever.”
Dan's Kickstarter: Odyssey, Inc: The Twin Bengals
Get Clients Now by C.J. Hayden
The Ultimate Sales Letter by Dan S. Kennedy
Expert Secrets by Russell Brunson
How to Overcome Artist Block (INSTANTLY) - Dan's YouTube Video
Website / Kickstarter / YouTube / Instagram
Mioree : Twitch / Instagram / Twitter
Ashleigh Izienicki aka Miss Upacey is a Colorado born illustrator and tattoo artist who works in both digital and traditional mediums. She graduated from Laguna College of Art and Design and now resides in Califonia. Her work often features dark and macabre themes with a cute and feminine touch.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/351
-Early potential career paths as a paleontologist and an animator.
-Her advice for getting over the fear of posting your art online.
-Her biggest lessons and takeaways from teaching her course, “Artists as Entrepreneurs.”
-Making a five-year plan and going absolutely crazy with it.
-Neil Gaiman’s advice to imagine your goals as a mountain and to continue moving towards it.
-Her advice for pricing original pieces, especially for artists who are just starting to sell their work.
-How she developed her style.
-Her love of the Golden Age of Illustration, Norman Rockwell and Charles Dana Gibson.
-Her advice for getting past the fear of the blank page.
-How she gets past resistances such as imposter syndrome, comparison and being your own worst critic.
-How she schedules and keeps an eye on her time.
-Her to-do lists and calendars.
-Learning how to tattoo from Sara Fabel.
-Running a Kickstarter campaign for her book, “Nightshade.”
“You’re going to be your worst critic and you’re going to hold yourself back more than anybody else is.”
“To sell an original, it only takes one person to pay that price.”
“As great as social media is, for artists it’s also horrible in the fact that you’re constantly comparing yourself to other people.”
“I would like to have hobbies again, since I turned my main hobby into my career.”
“Time management has been the struggle of my lifetime as a freelancer.”
Neil Gaiman - Inspirational Commencement Speech at the University of the Arts 2012
Your Creative Push Episode 301 with Sara Fabel
Nightshade: Artbook of Ashleigh Izienicki
Website / Patreon / Instagram / Twitter
Dan Ekis : Website / YouTube / Instagram
James Gurney is the artist and author best known for his illustrated book series Dinotopia. He specializes in painting realistic images of scenes that can’t be photographed, from dinosaurs to ancient civilizations. He is also a dedicated plein air painter and sketcher, believing that making studies directly from observation fuels his imagination.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/jamesgurney
-How he started as an illustrator and working for National Geographic.
-How the vast world of Dinotopia was created out of a few simple paintings.
-The wide range of fields that young artists can enter.
-His experience (and take on) art school.
-The importance of artistically challenging yourself, trying new things and seeing how other people solve problems differently than you.
-What he learned by throwing himself into the fire by painting backgrounds for the animated film, Fire and Ice.
-His Department of Art shirt and painting in public.
-Drawing the ordinary and how a sketchbook can be a time machine.
-Why he tries to fail as much as possible (but also experiment).
-The process of creating and maintaining his YouTube channel and blog, “Gurney Journey.”
-The experience of seeking out and painting in the most dangerous neighborhood in New York.
-How he gets past “shiny object syndrome.”
-Using constraints by using a limited color palette in his painting as well as using a typewriter for his writing.
“I simply started with these realistic paintings of scenes that didn’t exist, trying to make the impossible look inevitable.”
“I realized that I could learn more by going to the zoo every day and going to the Natural History Museum. So I just sort of enrolled in my own classes.”
“Something that motivates me is to just paint ordinary stuff in my own world, within that fifteen mile radius of where I life, instead of going on this endless faraway tour looking for something exotic.”
“I try to fail as much as possible.”
Dinotopia, A Land Apart from Time by James Gurney
Website / Blog / YouTube / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
Ashleigh Izienicki : Website / Instagram / Twitter
Suzanne Santo is an American singer/songwriter and actress. Before branching out on a solo musical career, she spent a decade as the fiddle-playing frontwoman of HoneyHoney.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/349
-The power of podcasts, especially Joe Rogan and Duncan Trussell.
-Feeling like an imposter at the Grammys.
-How it’s just as important to not write as it is to write.
-Honoring the process when you are getting constant inspiration because it’s not always there.
-Branching off from Honeyhoney to create her first solo album, “Ruby Red.”
-Working with Butch Walker and having complete freedom.
-How she knows what songs are ready to be brought to the table.
-Working with John Spiker on her new album, “Yard Sale.”
-Shedding catholic guilt.
-Where she finds inspiration when it is lacking.
“You truly get back what you put out there and when you put all this love, hard work and sweat into your passion, you have to sit back and let it come back to you.”
“You have to be out in the world to find your inspiration.”
“The departure from Honeyhoney was like leaving the womb.”
“Get it out there. The world needs you. We need to be inspired. We need to inspire each other.”
“If you are called to be creative but you’re too scared to do something about it, you’re doing other people a disservice.”
David Bowie & Mick Jagger - Dancing in the Street
Website / iTunes / Spotify / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
James Gurney : Website / Instagram / Blog