Alatar is a genderfluid digital artist who creates character-driven adult illustrations. Their work includes both fanart and original content, and attempts to explore a wide range of body types, ethnicities, gender identities and sexualities (with perhaps slightly more attention paid to abs). They are also the host of the podcast Blue Magic, where they interview other creatives in the erotic field.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/296
-Hopping universes.
-Feeling like a NPC (Non Player Character) in your own life and taking control of
-How the Miracle Morning was a game-changer.
-“Voltroning” resources or inspirations together.
-Visualization, manifestation and prioritization.
-Watching movies through the lens of your favorite character and asking, What can I learn from him/her?
-Seeing yourself doing the daily hard work as part of your montage (and even adding a soundtrack to it).
-How the “silly” and woo-woo are preferable to the serious.
-Gnosticism and how it relates to creativity.
-What to expect (and warnings) for people who are starting to try something like The Miracle Morning.
-Having “hills to die on” and deciding what is most important to you beforehand so that it is no longer a decision.
-Tips and hacks for actually waking up earlier every day.
“I close my eyes, exhaled and decided that I had hopped universes.”
“The moment you start working on yourself and changing how you operate in the world, the rest of it flows from there.”
“A big way that I interrogate reality is through stories and mythology.”
“Imagine The Matrix, except all of us are Neo.”
“Build the small victories every day.”
Your Creative Push Discord Server
Alatar on Your Creative Push Ep. 232
John Cleese on Creativity in Management
Newgrounds / Instagram / Tumblr / Patreon / Twitter
Troy Plota has been an award-winning Professional Photographer for over 30 years. His work has appeared in top magazines including Vanity Fair, GQ, Rolling Stone and many more. His advertising work has also appeared on dozens of billboards in New York's Times Square, as well as on the Vegas strip. He has photographed dozens of celebrities like Heidi Klum, Usher, Mariah Carey, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and many more.
Troy has always been on the forefront of technology and gave the Ted Talk titled "The Future of Photography." Troy's latest creation is the digital sharing platform Plotaverse, which also features his award winning app, Plotagraph. It was the only App featured on the Apple Store for the release of the iPhone X.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/troyplota
-How he tries to constantly push the limits of technology.
-The importance of having the perspective of an artist while creating software.
-How challenges and contests have grown and matured the Plotaverse community.
-How he helps photographers and visual artists with monetization.
-The significance of motion art.
-How he was able to get 4 million downloads.
-Reaching out to his competition and realizing that they all have very similar stories.
-Why traditional artists might want to consider adding motion to their art.
-Some of the difficulties that he is seeing other photographers having as technology continues to change.
“I don’t think there’s anything more important than helping artists monetize their work.”
“To monetize your passion is freedom.”
Alatar on Your Creative Push Episode 232
Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
Alatar : Newgrounds / Tumblr
Aliza Einhorn is a writer, an astrologer and a tarot reader.
Her first book, The Little Book of Saturn, is a smart, friendly introduction to the astrological Saturn. It is a book for curious readers who know there is more to astrology than their sun signs.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/alizaeinhorn
-How her first book ended up not being a poetry book even though she thought it would.
-Why she stopped writing poems while in her thirties.
-Identity and whether or not we can define ourselves by something we no longer do (or haven’t done for a while).
-A crash course of Tarot and how it can help people with their creative blocks.
-Having a dual-identity, where one-half of you is focused on a day job and making money while the other half is focused on your creative passion and doing what you truly love.
-How astrology is a tool for self-awareness and self-discovery.
-The validation that creative people can get when they are (finally) told that they might be meant to do the thing that they’ve always known that they are supposed to do.
-Why Saturn is so important.
-Working with Tom Hart and the Sequential Artists Workshop.
-How creating art and finding your audience is like internet dating.
-The experience of writing and publishing her first book.
“I remember thinking ‘I’m not going to write anything anymore unless it is directly related to my income, which I want now to be astrology.’”
“It’s not one-size-fits-all. You can create your work and create your life. You just have to do it. You can’t wait for someone else to do it for you.”
“People are afraid. They’re afraid of others seeing their insides.”
“If you don’t expose yourself, people aren’t going to care.”
Youngman Brown's astrology reading
The Little Book of Saturn: Astrological Gifts, Challenges, and Returns by Aliza Einhorn
Tom Hart on Your Creative Push
Astrology and Tarot Readings by Aliza
Website / Facebook / Patreon / Twitter
Danny Gregory is an artist, author, teacher and co-founder of Sketchbook Skool. He taught himself to draw in his mid-thirties after a tragic accident changed his life, bringing with it a new peace and perspective. One that informs his creative habit everyday.
Danny has written nearly a dozen internationally best-selling books on art and creativity including Art Before Breakfast, Everyday Matters, The Creative License, Shut Your Monkey, An Illustrated Life and many more.
Before starting Sketchbook Skool, he spent three decades as one of New York’s leading advertising creative directors and has created award-winning, global campaigns for such clients as Chase, JPMorgan, American Express, IBM, Burger King, Ford and Chevron amongst others.
Danny resides in New York City.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/293
-The importance of your partner understanding your creative needs.
-Creative postpartum depression that often occurs when we are finished with a project.
-Why he left the advertising industry.
-Meeting Koosje Koene and how Sketchbook Skool started.
-The value in seeing how many different artists make art as well as seeing where they make it.
-The role that community plays in developing as an artist.
-The difference in motivation when you are paying for something as opposed to getting it for free.
-Going to clown school.
-Giving yourself constraints or challenges.
-What it means to clear space in order to start new things (or finish old things).
-How he got past imposter syndrome (and his advice for Youngman in getting past his).
“I think that having a partner that understands you and your creative needs is essential to be able to focus on your work.”
“If you want to start something new, you need to clear some space for it to happen.”
“Thinking you know yourself too well can be limiting. Sometimes you’ve got to just jump off the cliff and see what happens.”
“I think it’s really important to have skin in the game. If it’s too easy to walk away from, you will.”
“I always find that if I have that glimmer of an idea, if I have that grain of sand to put in the oyster, I’m on the way. I’m going to get to the end just by having a beginning.”
“There are people out there waiting for your art. Give it to them.”
“Every time you have the impulse to distract yourself, instead try to focus that energy into making something new.”
Sketchbook Skool (Use offer code SBSPUSH to get 10% off!)
Danny Gregory on Your Creative Push Ep. 50
Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Blog
David Talley is an internationally recognized photographer, director, and producer operating out of Portland, OR. His works exhibit the darkest moment before an explosion of light, a story broken, but changed for the better, and the ability to transform the present problem in to a prospering future. David is the founder and creative director of the world's largest photographic collaboration event, Concept Collaboration.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/davidtalleyreplay
-How his personality doesn't lend well with a normal job where he is told what to do.
-How many people are afraid of making money with their creative talents because they love it so much and don't want that love to disappear.
-His "single sentence" and how it applies to his creativity as well as his life in general.
-How if you want bad things to turn around, you have to seek out your "explosion of light."
-How his creativity was nurtured from a very young age.
-An important first experience photographing a sunrise in Hawaii.
-How many potentially creative people are idealistic so they never go out and create that first thing to get the ball rolling.
-How lack of structure as well as lack of deadlines holds many people (including David) back from actually creating work.
-How beginning a 365-day challenge gave him the structure and framework to actually take photographs and strive to get better, which actually began his career.
-How it is impossible not to grow when you do something every single day.
-The moment when he realized that he didn't have an answer for why he takes photographs and the way he found an answer, which ultimately led to his single sentence.
-One of his worst moments, when all of his camera gear was stolen, and how he was able to look at the situation from above to realize that in six months, everything would be much better.
-The power that comes from being able to step outside of situations and attempting to determine exactly what is going on and how your single sentence fits into it.
-How sharing your single sentence with people that you care about allows them to hold you accountable for the things that you believe in.
-How more than art, he wants to be able to help people.
-How he balances his time, working hard and then playing hard, along with the concept of sabbath.
-The importance of having some "zest" to your life.
-The Pareto principle and how it applies to him and other artists.
-His greatest inspirations: God, J.J. Abrams and Gregory Crewdson.
-The origins of Concept Collaboration and how it helped many artists and photographers to work together and share resources.
-His ebook "The Single Sentence" and how it breaks down the process of developing your own single sentence and helped many people find vision and focus in their own creativity.
"I don't know if it's like this for other creative artists, but I have a problem with authority and I don't want to be told what to do."
"I was afraid of making money with my creative talents for a really long time."
"At the end of the day, if you're not failing in your art and learning, you're not growing."
"The sentence itself is the guidepost for everything I do and everything I create in terms of art and in terms of life."
"I'm just snapping photos and framing these images and I'm just dying inside. Like this is the best thing ever. I love this so much."
"I think the biggest thing that holds creative people back is a lack of structure and lack of a deadline."
"The first part was take a photo every single day for a year and the second part was try to get better every single day. With that, I found my calling as a photographer."
"As creatives, we love the idea of things, and we hate the idea of hard work. We need to combine the two into one so that we can get stuff done."
"If you want to be something and if you want to say that you're something, then go do something."
"The art that I create is a direct extension of the strongest parts of who I am."
"Who I am at my core is what feeds into my creativity, what feeds into my art, and what ultimately becomes what I produce and what people see of me."
"Go start today. Don't wait until tomorrow because you won't do it. Start today."
"If you want to take the next step in being who you want to be as an artist or a creative person, go take the first step today. Right now."
"Do your art every day for the next 30 days and it will destroy you in the best way. It will completely awaken who you are going to be."
"'Someday' is a very dangerous word."
"The Single Sentence" by David Talley (David's ebook!)
Gregory Crewdson (Wikipedia)
"The Gap" by Ira Glass
Website / Facebook / Instagram
Danny Gregory : Website / Sketchbook Skool
Carson Ellis is the author and illustrator of the bestselling picture books Home and Du Iz Tak? (a Caldecott Honor book and the recipient of an E.B. White Read Aloud Award). She has illustrated a number of books for kids including bestsellers The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, The Composer Is Dead by Lemony Snicket, and The Wildwood Chronicles by Colin Meloy (who happens to be her husband).
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/carsonellis
-Going to school for painting, even though she had a desire to become an illustrator.
-Doing album art for The Decemberists.
-Working in bars while doing her art on the side and why she finally needed to leave.
-Her stance on working for free or working for “exposure.”
-Working with her husband, Colin Meloy.
-What it is like to live on a farm and being surrounded by animals.
-The importance of having your own creative space.
-Battling procrastination.
-How to know when to take a break from a creative project that is giving you problems (and how to know when to come back).
-Creating a new language for her book Du Iz Tak? and some of the other challenges that that book presented to her.
-How she enjoys the laborious process of drawing by hand.
-Getting to her childhood dream in a roundabout way.
-How artists should always be pushing themselves and taking on projects that make them feel uncomfortable.
“It was important for me to do all that art for free because it made me work. It gave me stuff to do and made me feel like I was part of the art scene.”
“I got into this sort of spiral of not knowing how to solve certain problems in the book so I just didn’t think about it for a month and then came back and had a better sense of how to do it.”
“I think that part of the practice is getting through the parts that aren’t inspiring you.”
“In every project I feel like there’s a really inspired part where I’m in a mystical art-making place, and then there’s a boring part where I have to paint blades of grass all day.”
“If you love to do something creatively, make it your practice.”
Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Tumblr
Shayne Taylor is an illustrator, designer and maker originally from Detroit, but now making her home in Chicago, Illinois.
She attended The College for Creative Studies in Detroit and worked a variety of jobs in illustration, design and restoration before becoming a full-time freelance illustrator and designer.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/shaynetaylor
-The game-changing realization that she could actually make a living from her creativity.
-How things changed when she took Illustration at The College for Creative Studies in Detroit.
-Her decision to move to Chicago and her early experiences there.
-Doing craft shows and DIY trunk shows and how they can help you to make not just sales but connections.
-Why we struggle to call ourselves artists and instead define ourselves by what we do to make money.
-How to handle our parents not understanding what we do creatively.
-Restoring vintage circus posters.
-Unpredictability and how it plays a role in her art as well as the projects that she takes on.
-How she handles self-doubt and expectations of others.
-Finding ways to make yourself uncomfortable, because that is where the growth comes from (and you always feel better after).
-How she started using wood as a canvas.
-A quote from Ed Catmull that inspired her to quit and go full-time freelance: “Always take a chance on better, even if it seems frightening.”
“The idea of drawing and telling my story without having to talk was the best thing in the world.”
“When you put yourself into a new atmosphere, you become different.”
“If someone doesn’t like it, it’s not the end of the world. It’s just one person and you’re never going to please everybody.”
“It’s interesting to try to explain what you to do people who have absolutely no clue what you do. It feels like you’re making something up.”
“The unpredictability is a huge part of being creative.”
“You learn so much when you make yourself do things that you don’t necessarily like doing.”
Youngman on The Kick in the Creatives Podcast
Website / Etsy / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
Carson Ellis : Website / Instagram / Facebook
Jan Urschel is a freelance concept designer and illustrator working in the entertainment industry, designing for feature films and video games. Clients include: Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros, Lucasfilm, Marvel, EA, Sony, Ubisoft, LucasArts, Cloud Imperium Games, Psyop etc.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/janurschel
-His decision to go to school for Japanese studies and what that did for his art.
-Living and working in Singapore as a graphic designer.
-His inspiration to become a concept designer and the thought process behind making the switch.
-How he started and stopped his art many times over many years.
-How he got his first job at LucasArts and what it was like to work there.
-The struggle of either not being allowed to show the work that he did on a project, or not wanting to show it because it has been so long.
-The importance of doing personal work as a freelancer and how he attempts to find the balance of personal work and client work.
-How he is in his most productive and effective state when he is employing painful self-discipline.
-His “Project T” and the importance of pursuing your own personal projects for the simple purpose of self-pleasure.
“As a freelancer, you need some material to show off what you can do.”
“In order to put yourself out there in a way that is true to yourself, you really need to put out personal work. And a lot of it.”
“You have to follow your own path and listen to your creative ideas.”
“Live your life and have a bit of fun. People are too focused on making money or becoming a superstar.”
“Experience as much as you can and live a full life. That will help you to become a better creative in the end.”
Website / Instagram / Twitter / Behance
Shayne Taylor : Website / Instagram
Amber Rae is an author, artist, and speaker whose work invites you to live your truth, befriend your emotions, and express your gifts.
Her writing blends raw, personal storytelling with actionable aha! moments and has reached more than 5 million people in 195 countries. Her public art has spread to more than 20 countries, and she's spoken to and collaborated with brands like Kate Spade, Apple, Amazon, and Unilever.
Her book, Choose Wonder Over Worry: Move Beyond Fear and Doubt to Unlock Your Full Potential is your official invitation to face your fears, wake up to your truth, and get to the source of what’s holding you back.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/amberrae
-Her journey of self-discovery.
-Always pushing herself to be honest and vulnerable in her book instead of being “safe.”
-Choosing to focus on the people who love your work rather than the people who might not understand it.
-Being told from a mentor that her story “didn’t matter” and how it affected her mindset and her output.
-The difference between “toxic” worry and “useful” worry.
-Using journaling to talk to your worries and other resistances.
-How and when perfectionism can actually be a good thing.
-How we stop ourselves from progressing or self-sabotage with upper limiting.
-How we are often afraid to lose our suffering because we are afraid to lose our excuses.
-Her suitcase analogy for people who say that they don’t have enough time.
-How she felt while writing the book and how she feels now that the book is finished.
“Am I going to write the safe book or am I going to write the true book?”
“In order to be raw and vulnerable, that requires deep and profound honesty with yourself.”
“You can think of worry as both an inner child throwing a tantrum as well as a parent trying to protect us at the same time.”
“What are the excuses that you’re telling yourself and how do you face them?”
“There is something inside of you dying to be born and you know it. You feel it.”
“What is that thing that is dying to come through you and how will you spend five minutes with it today?”
Gay Hendricks: The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level
Overcome Your Upper Limits (Article by Gay Hendricks)
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Website / Book / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
Jan Urschel : Website / Instagram
Iris Compiet is an artist and Illustrator living and working in the Netherlands. She worked as a graphic designer for 16 years before making the decision to become a full-time freelance artist and illustrator.
She draws inspiration from European folklore, mythology, fairytales, ghost stories and anything from tombstones, Victorian photography to popular movies and music. She explores the depths of darkness to find the light.
Iris used Kickstarter to successfully fund her book, Fairies of the Faultlines, a collection of drawings that she started in May and June of 2016 when she participated in the #mermay and #junefae challenges on Instagram.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/iris
-Her experience of going to school in the Netherlands and working as a graphic designer for 16 years.
-How the Kickstarter for her book, Faeries of the Faultlines torpedoed her to become a full-time artist and illustrator.
-How and why she decided to go full-time as an illustrator.
-Dealing with imposter syndrome and the fact that we all have it and should talk about it more.
-Defining “fame.”
-How she wanted her faerie art to have more grit.
-How she handled her battle with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
-Doing the #mermay and #junefae challenges.
-How she grew her Instagram followers from 1,000 to 50,000.
-Treating her sketchbook like a playground and always saving her old ones so that she can look back and get new ideas.
-Sharing your rough drafts, sketches and mistakes.
-Finding time throughout your day that you are normally wasting in order to create your art.
-Continuing to sculpt and how it has helped her see things in a new way.
-The triumph of her Kickstarter for Faeries of the Faultlines and some of the pitfalls that she encountered along the way.
“People always think that you need to be successful before a certain age, and I think that is a load of BS.”
“It’s very important to talk about imposter syndrome and acknowledge that it is there. It’s not a problem that it’s there. Just know how to deal with it. We all have it.”
“It sucks that you second guess everything you do. But that’s just your mind telling you things that aren’t true.”
“All of these influences and inspirations I had as a child are finally finding their way into this world. I’m painting faeries now!”
“My Instagram exploded, just by daily posting.”
“I don’t believe there are failures. I believe that there are tries. Your ‘failure’ might be a trial for a new piece or the first version of something else.”
“I took away the expectations that I thought people were having, and I just had fun.”
“I call my sketchbook my playground. I can do anything I want. There’s no restrictions, there’s no laws. It’s just me, the paper, my pencil and an eraser. I just have fun.”
“Art is life. It’s like breathing and eating. I need it.”
Faeries of the Faultlines Kickstarter
Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Tumlbr
Amber Rae : Website / Instagram
In this episode, Youngman explains why he decided not to do the #Cramuary challenge. Yes, the very challenge that he created.
Was it fear? Self-sabotage? Laziness? Burnout? Bitcoin, even?
He's not sure, and he's been too ashamed to talk about it, but by the end of the episode he gets a much better understanding of why, even after two years of constantly thinking and talking about it, Resistance can still hit you with fists of fury.
And that's nothing to be ashamed of.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/287
"I was thinking about doing all of that work and putting in all that time, and I was just dreading it."
"It's not a big deal if you push off your big project. You shouldn't feel shame about realizing that it's not the right time or you're not in the right mindset or place in your life to be able to do something that you care very deeply about. You can always do it later, you can always do it better. As long as you do it."
"I don't know why I felt for so long that I should be invulnerable to creative blocks and burnout."
"I promise to you that I will open up my heart and soul to you and share all of the creative blocks that I am going through myself."
"It's okay to do other projects. It's okay to take breaks. And it's okay to say 'no' to something that you said 'yes' to earlier."
Tom Hart is a cartoonist and the Executive Director of The Sequential Artists Workshop, a school and arts organization in Gainesville, Florida.
He is also the author of the New York Times #1 Bestseller, Rosalie Lightning, a book about the loss of his daughter. Rosalie Lightning has been translated into French, Italian, Portuguese and Chinese, and was featured on many best of 2016 lists, and nominated for two Eisner Awards.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/tomhart
-His early love of Peanuts and the exuberance, confusion and anger that Charles Shultz was able to convey through his characters.
-His artistic educational journey.
-How Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics changed the way he thought about approaching comics.
-How he was able to continue working on comics through his initial artistic shortcomings.
-Following your instincts.
-His own push towards creating comic strips.
-Dealing with adversity, setbacks and failures in an extremely difficult and frustrating business.
-His book How to Say Everything and how it remained 90% finished for nearly a decade.
-How he got past the roadblock of wanting to say everything by realizing that you have to start by saying something.
-Getting used to putting things behind you and moving forward.
-How SAW started and what its students accomplish.
-Tricking your inner critic into thinking that what you’re doing really isn’t that important.
“In my first year of art school I think I made two pages of comics. I just didn’t get it.”
“You’re never going to say everything. So just say something. Say the next thing.”
“We’ve exalted art in some ways, but it can be simply something that you do.”
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud
Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
Amy Dresner is a former professional stand-up comic, having appeared at The Comedy Store, The Laugh Factory, and The Improv. Since 2012, she has been a contributing editor of the online addiction and recovery magazine TheFix.com. She’s also written for the Good Men Project, The Frisky, Refinery 29, and has been a regular contributor to Addiction.com and PsychologyToday.com, where she has her own addiction blog entitled “Coming Clean.” My Fair Junkie is her debut book.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/amydresner
-How she got into the position to write her first book.
-The misconception of creative people that you need drama, tragedy or addiction to have a significant life or art.
-Finding inspiration by simply being outside of your comfort zone.
-The connection between addiction and creativity and seeking a connection to something outside of yourself or something greater.
-How she was able to be so open, honest and vulnerable in writing My Fair Junkie.
-If you had the nerve to live what you lived, you should have the nerve to write about it.
-Dealing with the resistance of not wanting to put herself in the headspace of active addiction.
-How it is never too late to start something or to change (and how you’ll never feel ready).
-How you do anything is how you do everything.
-Allowing yourself to have “shitty first drafts.”
-How she writes for herself and why she never reads the comments on her articles.
-Putting yourself out there and owning all of your mistakes, flaws and humanness.
“I’d finally had a real narrative arc where I had a transformation and a story to tell. I landed in a different place and I had something to say.”
“What was comfortable for me was the chaos. What’s uncomfortable is any kind of normalcy and things going well.”
“As a writer, I know that the stuff that you don’t want to put down on the page is exactly the stuff that you need to put down on the page.”
“Ironically, the more specific it is, the more universal it is.”
“You get ready by doing it. If you’re waiting to feel ready, you will wait forever.”
“I feel weirdly bullet-proof. A big way that I deal with my own shame is to own it. I put it out there. Because then what is anyone going to say?”
“There is a freedom in owning it. Because nobody has anything on you. There’s no secret.”
“It’s always scary when it’s new. The more you do it, the less scary and hard it becomes.”
“I faked that I didn’t care for a long time. Until I didn’t care.”
“Fuck your feelings and take your action. Take consistent action every day.”
Too Sober to Be Creative (The Fix)
My Fair Junkie: A Memoir of Getting Dirty and Staying Clean by Amy Dresner
Website / The Fix / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
Tom Hart : Website
Kan Muftic is a London-based Animation Director and Concept Artist, who has worked on projects like Annihilation, Godzilla and Guardians of the Galaxy. He is also the animation director for the Netflix and Channel 4 show, Kiss Me First.
Kan's first book, Figure Drawing for Concept Artists is a comprehensive guide for learning figure drawing techniques to aid every concept artist's skill set.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/kanmuftic
-His early desire to be a zoologist and his decision to become an artist instead.
-Discovering concept art and how he knew he had to pursue it as a new career and passion.
-The terrifying decision to leave the stability of his current work in order to learn a new way of approaching art.
-How your interest is the thing that will lead you to success because it will ensure your motivation to keep learning and working hard.
-Having to push past the fact that actors and writers are given directorial roles without question, while traditional artists are doubted.
-How he approached the idea of being the leader of a creative team for Kiss Me First.
-Dealing with moments of extreme self-doubt.
-His practice of mindfulness and how it helped to get him through his rigorous 2-year project.
-Neuroplasticity.
-How he was also able to complete a book during the busiest two years of his life.
-Realizing the value of being able to communicate through drawing.
-Speaking with Ridley Scott.
-His approach to the uncanny valley.
-The experience of working with Netflix and what surprised him the most about the company.
“It was just a thing that I had to do and it felt completely right. I’ve only had that with concept art and when I met my wife.”
“I realized eventually that the only thing that matters is to do what you really really really want to do and that life takes care of the rest somehow.”
“Listen to that quiet, deep guttural voice inside of you.”
“I had levels of self-doubt that I didn’t even know I had.”
“The ability to communicate through drawing is absolutely invaluable.”
Figure Drawing for Concept Artists by Kan Muftic
Website / Facebook / Instagram
Amy Dresner : Website / Facebook
Cindy Hohman is the creator of The Art Marketing Project, which helps independent artists by teaching marketing and promotion skills so you can do what you love and make a living with your art. Her goal is to make art and creativity a viable, sustainable, and profitable career path.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/cindyhohman
-Her background working at the Art Students League of Denver and the Denver Art Museum.
-How and why she started the Art Marketing Project.
-Why it is so important to develop a marketing plan and not just do what everybody else is doing.
-The importance of keeping track of your numbers and analytics.
-How to know when to quit your attempt at a particular social media tactic.
-Building a brand for yourself that you choose, and then finding your ideal buyers.
-Whether or not you should create a new identity if you plan on doing a different type of creative work.
-How to push past the icky feeling that comes with marketing and self-promotion.
-Being a hedgehog.
-Having a strong website and also making sure you make it clear that your work is for sale.
-Not being afraid to make real-world connections.
-Disney’s rule for selling art and how it is never too early to start selling your art.
-More information about her new course.
“Without a marketing plan, you can easily get caught in the shiny object syndrome.”
“Marketing is hard, but you should enjoy a good part of what you’re doing with it.”
“Your ideal buyer is for you to choose, not for your past buyers to tell you.”
“Don’t try to be acceptable and pleasant to everybody. What you do should hit right to the core of who it’s meant for.”
“You don’t even have to have your website up and completely functional and perfectly done to sell your work.”
“Sharing your work is great. Being clear that it is for sale is even better.”
Art Marketing Project goodies for YCP listeners
Website / Facebook / Instagram / LinkedIn / Pinterest
Kan Muftic : Website / Facebook
Heidi Gustad is a knit & crochet designer, Midwesterner, & one-time Librarian who is obsessed with colorful knitting, crochet & yarn crafts.
She is also the creator of Hands Occupied, which features dozens of free knitting & crochet patterns, over 250 step-by-step How-to posts, and 100+ inspiration posts to help you dream up your own DIYs.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/heidigustad
-How she got into knitting as a child as a way to battle anxiety and insomnia.
-How she pushed her knitting to the side because of her talent (and responsibility) with the oboe.
-Getting involved with blogging.
-Her realization that she could have been monetizing her side hustle for years.
-How much easier it is for younger people to learn things.
-Why she finally made the decision to quit her job as a librarian and pursue her creativity full-time.
-Dealing with the question of Am I defined by what I do for a living?
-The importance of finding your own happiness so that you can help others.
-Balancing a knitting and crocheting world in which some people have a lot of money to spend while others do not.
-How she achieves flow state.
-Being able to get to know yourself.
“I was Knit-Flixing back before that had a name.”
“Creativity has always been a way that I’ve handled my anxious behavior and anxiety within myself.”
“It’s so funny to me now that this is my full-time job that I just sat there missing all these opportunities to monetize my side hustle.”
“I just had this gut knowledge that I needed to come back to creativity as the foundation for my life.”
“You can sit there forever and not pull the trigger on doing your creative work, whether its as a side hustle, or part-time, or full-time or sometimes.”
Youngman Brown on The Blue Magic Podcast
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Alex Strohl is a Madrid-born, French adventure photographer whose work is characterized by his extraordinary existence. Instead of creating contrived scenes, Strohl creates authentic moments and captures them as they unfold before him— continually blurring the lines between work and life.
Strohl’s photography has been featured in prestigious publications such as Forbes, Vanity Fair, and Gentleman’s Journal and his client list includes dozens of household names. He is based in Whitefish, Montana—but spends the vast majority of his time on the road with his partner Andrea Dabene; they often journey to the most remote reaches of the world.
His new course, The Adventure Photography Workshop offers an in-depth look into his mindset, methodology, and strategy, not just as a photographer, but as a creative thinker.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/281
-His recent traveling, including his recent trips to the Pyrenees and Iceland.
-How he plans his trips and his shoots.
-The reason he created the Adventure Photography Workshop.
-Training yourself to enjoy doing the difficult work, and some of the tips he has for getting yourself in that mindset, like taking cold showers.
-Finding motivation in previous successes.
-Some of the things that he didn’t expect about creating a course.
-Deconstructing his methods and what that did for his mindset and strategy as a photographer.
-How investing in knowledge up front can save you time later.
-Splitting up large projects into more manageable pieces.
-Dealing with uncertainty as a creative person and developing certainty by creating a system for yourself.
“When you’re a freelancer, you’re the asset. You’re the business.”
“It’s all about drawing energy from our high moments.”
“You can’t be someone else. People are going to see right through that.”
“The value is in the implementation, not the idea.”
The Adventure Photography Workshop (Use Coupon Code CREATIVEPUSH at checkout to get $100 off (Limited to 25 orders))
Alex Strohl on Your Creative Push Episode 180
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
Get Out of a Creative Rut - Woody Allen's Shower Hack to Master Creativity
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Heidi Gustad : Website / Instagram
Dougie Hoppes is a Dark Fantasy Artist living in Hillsborough, NC. During the daytime, he writes software for a neuroscience company, and at night and on weekends, he works on his art business and spends time with my family.
He is also the creator of the ShadowMyths Cards, designed to inspire idea generation, and the upcoming Shadow Myth's book, Selik's Road.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/dougie
-How he got a later start in his art than most.
-His wife’s wise advice to paint what he truly loved instead of what he thought he was supposed to paint.
-Going to his first Comic-Con at the age of 47 and the creative shift that it gave him.
-How he destroys 90% of his work, but documents it all.
-A glimpse into the way in which he has evolved as an artist (and continues to evolve).
-Getting past the tiredness.
-Taking calculated risks.
-His style of finding the images and the story after he makes marks.
-His upcoming Kickstarter for Selik's Road.
-How he came up with the idea for his Shadow Myths book.
“In the beginning, I did stuff that I thought people were going to buy.”
“If you’re going to improve, you’ve got to take risks. Nobody ever improved by just sitting there.”
Terry Crews on The Tim Ferriss Podcast
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Jennie Nash is a book coach, a writer, and the founder of Author Accelerator, a strategic book coaching service that offers the sustained editorial support writers need to complete their projects and make a powerful impact on their target audience.
For eight years, writers serious about reaching readers have trusted Jennie to coach their projects from inspiration to publication, landing top New York agents and book deals with houses such as Scribner, Simon & Schuster, and Hachette.
Jennie is the author of four novels, three memoirs, and one self-help book for writers. She has taught for 12 years in the UCLA Extension Writer’s Program, delivered three courses for CreativeLive, and spoken at writing conferences all over the country. Her guest posts have appeared on popular writing sites including The Write Life, Writers Helping Writers, and The Book Designer.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/jennienash
-The inspiration that her father gave her as a hard-working writer.
-Her lifelong pursuit of trying to prove the power of story.
-How she developed as a writer after her 4th grade debut.
-The importance of grabbing onto whatever creative thing is calling out to you.
-How she became a book coach and what she does to help her clients.
-Wrestling with her identity.
-How the creative parts of our lives are mostly spent in solitude, spending time with our own minds.
-How anxiety, doubt and stress are emotional resistances that all writers and creative people will deal with their entire lives.
-The importance of knowing why you want to do something creative like writing a book so that you can get through all of the resistances that you encounter along your journey.
-How to know when it is time to walk away from a project, temporarily or permanently.
-More information about Author Accelerator.
“If you’re writing aimlessly, it’s easy to not end up anywhere.”
“A book is an incredibly linear thing. But a book is not written in a linear fashion and a lot of writers get into trouble when they think that it is.”
“Even the most successful writers are having the same struggles as you. It doesn’t end.”
“Project: easy. Editorial solution: easy. It’s the emotion that’s hard.”
“Why do you care about this particular story. Why? What about it is calling you and moving you?”
“Writing is hard for so many reasons. But it shouldn’t be painful.”
Blueprint for a Book (Author Accelerator)
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
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Dougie Hoppes : Website
Jeff Leisawitz is an award-winning musician/producer, a critically acclaimed author and internationally distributed filmmaker who has devoted his life to creativity. He burns with a mission -- to inspire writers, artists, musicians, filmmakers, entrepreneurs (and everyone else) to amp up their creativity, heal their hearts and shine in the world.
Not F*ing Around: The No Bullsh*t Guide for Getting Your Creative Dreams Off the Ground is Jeff's first book.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/jeffl
-His early interest in music, photography, and writing.
-The importance of focus when you have many creative impulses.
-NLP and how it can aid creative people.
-How creativity is a way for us to be seen, expressed and healed.
-How to get past your inner critic.
-Seeing your art as ephemeral and being willing to destroy it.
-How the movie, Patterson inspired him to take up the daily practice of writing a poem.
-The notion of building up resiliency to rejection.
-The lessons that he learned from improve comedy such as “Yes, and….”
-His advice for people to shift from the fucking around mindset to the not fucking around mindset.
“If you don’t focus on something, you’re never going to get very far in anything.”
“Creativity is a way for us to be seen, expressed and healed in our lives.”
“The inner critic is the super villain of the creative self.”
“If you’re going to step out into the world as any kind of artist, you will be rejected most of the time. And that’s okay. The trick is to remember that you are not your creation.”
What I learned from 100 days of rejection | Jia Jiang's TED Talk
Website / Book / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
Jennie Nash : Website / Author Accelerator
Matt Madden is a cartoonist and teacher best known for his book 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style (Penguin), a comics adaptation of Raymond Queneau’s Exercises in Style. In addition to his personal work he has written two textbooks with his wife, Jessica Abel, Drawing Words & Writing Pictures and Mastering Comics, (First Second).
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/matmadden
-How he got a later start with art and cartoons.
-How he discovered Exercises in Style by Raymond Queneau and he instantly knew he wanted to do something similar with cartoons.
-Oubapo.
-How giving yourself rules or constraints can help you to get past the fear of the blank page.
-How he has come to terms with certain limitations of his own creative process and pace.
-Some actionable advice for anyone wanting to implement some limitations or constraints in their own work.
-His advice for people who might feel as if they got into their creative passion too late and are “behind pace.”
“I rarely have that terror of the blank page.”
“It’s a very slow moving thing and a long time before I get that gratification of finishing a project.”
“You have to be careful what you draw in those panels because you are condemning your characters to relive that scenario eternally.”
99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style by Matt Madden
J.S. Bach - Crab Canon on a Mobius Strip
Jessica Abel on Your Creative Push Episode 179
Website / Facebook / Tumblr / Twitter / Blog
Jeff Leisawitz : Website
Pascal Campion is a prolific French-American artist, illustrator, concept designer, character designer and animator whose clients include: Dreamworks Animation, Paramount Pictures, Disney Feature, Disney Toons, Cartoon Network, Hulu, and PBS.
Passionately inspired by his wife and kids, he is best known to his tens of thousands of fans and followers for “Sketch of the Day”, a ritual of drawing a new image first thing in the morning from his home studio in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/pascal2
-How he started his "Sketch of the Day" project.
-His advice to anyone struggling to do the work every day, to take it one step at a time.
-How if you are impatient with your art, it is something that you can work on with your daily practice.
-The importance of finishing a drawing, because your brain starts to recognize the beginning, middle, and end of creating a piece of art, and if you don't finish the piece, you don't recognize those landmarks.
-How as you create art and get better, your goals change as you continue to learn more and more.
-How many of his less-favorite pieces end up being more popular than the ones he loves the most.
-How you can compare yourself to other talented artists, but they might be comparing themselves to you as well.
-His advice for people who might be afraid to draw or paint everyday scenes.
-A story about the time he watched a duck for 20 minutes.
-How when you are younger you want to be someone else, but as you get older you grow to accept who you are.
-How hard it is when you are young (or even older) and you are told to “be yourself,” when you don’t know exactly who you are.
-The beauty of being able to recognize that you are changing as an artist and a human being.
-Being able to let go of things you are good at for the sake of progressing, especially if those things found success.
-What it is like for him to get into the “zone,” and how it is like deep-sea diving.
-When he gets into a flow state, how it feels as if he is a conduit for something else, and how he is just there to help it along.
-The importance of staying physically fit and the relationship that it can have with your art and creativity.
"I have a hard time doing an image without telling a story."
"After a few minutes, I have this nervous energy where I just want to get to the end really quickly."
"Patience and the amount of time that you can sit down and draw is something that you can work on. It's like running. It's like a muscle. The more you exercise it, the better you get at it."
"If you don't finish a drawing, you don't get those landmarks in your head."
"If you actually put yourself through the paces of finishing a drawing, your brain is going to create a grid: This is the beginning, this is the middle, and this is the end. You'll have an idea of the trip that you're going to be taken on."
"Always finish your drawing. The more you finish, the more you understand the whole process and the easier it is to get it done. If you keep starting and not finishing your drawings, you will never get the map in your head of the amount of work it takes to get a drawing done."
"I get incredible pleasure from creating images. Even if they are bad, the actual process of it is fun to me."
"As long as you enjoy it, it's going to show in the drawing."
"When I turned 30, things got a whole lot easier in my life because I wasn't trying to become something else anymore."
“The more you keep saying you’re going to do something when you have time, the less likely you are to do it.”
“There’s no better time than NOW to do what you want to do.”
“The ME of ten years ago would not do the same drawings as me now, even if we were at the same technical level.
“My best days of drawing are often when I’ve done a lot of physical exercise.”
Website / Shop / Facebook / Instagram / Tumblr / Twitter
Matt Madden : Website / Facebook
Amber Kane is an educator, textile designer, entrepreneur, and stellar day dreamer. She received her Art Education degree from Messiah College, and earned her masters in Creativity Studies from Union Institute and University.
She taught high school Art for 8 years in the public school system, while running her textile design business on the side. While teaching she learned that our schools are teaching creativity and dreams right out of our students, while developing an obsession for empty standards.
In 2015, she resigned from her public school position. She now teaches online AP Art and Art History courses for PA Homeschoolers, works part time at the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, and creates one-0f-a-kind textiles.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/amberkane
-Her first years working as a teacher, and the pushback that she was getting from the school.
-Her decision to quit her teaching job and move into an abandoned home.
-The early process of getting settled in the new situation that she had “flung herself into.”
-Her realization that she needed a safe space to process the last eight years of her life.
-How her textile design business started.
-The power in being a teacher and a working artist.
-How she is still surprised that she was able to convince her husband to move into their “Freedom House.”
-How she wrote herself termination letters in order to reassure herself that she couldn’t be fired for her ideas.
-How she reestablished her reasons for being an art teacher at the beginning of each school year.
-The power in telling other people your plans, even before you are fully convinced that you are capable of executing those plans.
-How she created The Unstandardized Standard.
“I think it’s actually been within the last six months that I started to feel comfortable using my voice again.”
“I realized that I could not get my daily actions to line up with my ‘Why’ anymore and that was a clear signal that I needed to get out of there.”
“If it feels really hard but you still want it, then that needs to be the thing that you put all of your focus and energy into getting.”
Website / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter
Paul Adshead is a Hat Wearer, Beard Owner, Crazy Golf Enthusiast, and Peanut Butter Fan. On the rare occasions he's not
doing photography, he loves being outdoors, blind drawing, eating carrot cake and people watching.
Paul also uses old, out of date film in even older antique cameras to attempt to capture the past as he attends and photographs World War, Victorian and American Civil War events.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/pauladshead
-How he never studied photography or take creative courses academically
-How he has made his transitions slowly.
-How his work is dark and cinematic, and how most clients don’t want that.
-The different types of “darkness” in his work.
-The thought and planning that goes into his shoots.
-How he likes to leave things to people’s imaginations.
-The power of brevity.
-His love for history and the way that he tries to recreate it in his art.
-Using antique cameras and what that does for his process and mindset.
-How he uses his Instagram descriptions to help to add value to his pieces and to give the viewer additional information.
-The relationship that he has with his own Resistances.
-Having multiple projects going at once.
-Using Parkison’s Law to his advantage.
“I personally never like to compromise my style.”
“For me, people’s imaginations is better than any creative out there.”
“I just find the past more interesting than the present.”
“The second you set a date, everything falls into line and the job gets done.”
“The more you do anything, the more chance it will have a positive effect on your life.”
The Luck Factor: The Scientific Study of the Lucky Mind by Richard Wiseman
Amber Kane : Website / Instagram
Todd Henry teaches leaders and organizations how to establish practices that lead to everyday brilliance. He is the author of four books (The Accidental Creative, Die Empty, Louder Than Words, and Herding Tigers) which have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and he speaks and consults across dozens of industries on creativity, leadership, and passion for work.
Todd is also the host of The Accidental Creative Podcast, which has delivered weekly tips and ideas for staying prolific, brilliant, and healthy since 2005.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/toddhenry
-How the pressure to be creative all day at our jobs can wear and tear at us.
-His discovery in The Accidental Creative that successful people all share many of the same habits and qualities.
-His FRESH method for finding and solving your problems quickly, and managing your relationships, energy, stimuli, and hours.
-The importance of saying “no” to things that you know will drain your energy from the more important things that you intend to create.
-The power of secret work and private victories.
-His advice for people who are starting to consider turning their side hustle into their “main” hustle.
-His new book, Herding Tigers.
“We’re not wired to produce creatively like machines.”
“Which of these good things in my life needs to go away so that something better can be born?”
“What do I need to prune from my life so that I have the energy I need to be able to focus on the more important stuff that I’m tasked with?”
“Cover bands don’t change the world. You have to find your own unique voice if you want to thrive.”
Herding Tigers: Be the Leader That Creative People Need by Todd Henry
The Accidental Creative Podcast
Website / Books / Facebook / Twitter / Podcast
Paul Adshead : Website / Instagram