Originally broadcast May 3, 2019.

Jerzy’s begun a new comics project, and it’s been a while since we’ve had an art demo on the LIA Cast, so this week join Jerzy and Rob for a demonstration and discussion on designing sound elements in your comics using Clip Studio Paint.

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Ready for another day of work, yet not feeling it. So many valid reasons to be in that situation… yet also having due dates and commitments to meet.

Sometimes the work is rewarding and the outcomes too, people liking what you do, paying you for it, it’s all awesome.

Yet still…sitting there, ready to write, draw, code…and Just. Not. Moving. Or distracted.

Sometimes we find it works if we make a game of it. Some kind of reward or consequence waiting for us at the end of the workday. A little challenge we give ourselves.

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Working on the thumbnails for your next comic and discovered you’ve sketched dozens of pages of talking heads? We cartoonists can put the reader’s eye wherever we can imagine, so why don’t we? But how do you know where to put the reader’s eye? In today’s Lean Into Art Mini-Workshop Rob and Jerzy are going to help you find more visual interest on your pages and make more compelling comics.

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Posting socially is something most independent creators need to work with. I've often been the show up when I've made something, share it, then mostly hang back and like other folks stuff approach.

But I know that I can do better, reach folks who I'm here to help. It takes more than that occasional post and that's what I'm hoping to dig into with Jerzy Drozd today. I hope by the end of the show we'll have some new questions to explore and ideas to try!

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When you sit down to write a blog post is that a comfortable creative activity? Are there times when it feels like the words are stuck or just not sure how to say what you’re really trying to say?

Recently Rob finished a 100 days in a row blogging challenge. That project and other writing he's done in recent years for team collaboration, manifestos, pitches for funding, he's noticed a few things he's been practicing that are helpful he'd like to share.

Here in this mini-workshop, we'll share some of these practices to write quickly with constraints, prompts, and instinct.

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We’ve all been there--you start out with the promise of a new day, a reasonably curated to-do list, and a commitment to make your art. And suddenly you look at the clock and it’s the end of the day and all you have to show for it is seven or eight little piles of unfinished good intentions. This happens to all of us.

Whatever your skill level, it’s super easy to get lost in the various tasks that go into making art. And for good reason--not only is art a series of complex tasks, but we’re often performing the tasks in chunks of time either stolen from other commitments, or in the spaces between emotionally and physically expensive commitments.

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Frustrated that you can’t find a way to bring the big feelings you get from others’ art into your own? Maybe you just need to train your analytic eye to level up your inferencing skills. Being able to look for and identify the ideas behind the art can lend you insights to help you get back on track and feel motivated to create again.

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Clarity competes with other concerns when writing and illustrating - what’s a useful approach to get enough information and emotion into the page? When should you be going for clarity vs inspiring awe?

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Are you in meetings in person or on screen where you’re taking notes in front of folks? When we're listening to learn from a conversation even one other person or to work in a group we use a similar style of note-taking for both situations. It’s about understanding what we're hearing and can reflect back to the people in the room. Honor the obvious and also discovering the subtle ideas that can get overlooked.

On today’s show, we're sharing listening and note-taking tips that can help you facilitate clear conversations.

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Every once in a while we feel like we're in over our heads, whether it’s due to the number of tasks we've committed to, ambiguity of the tasks, or just feeling a bigger-than-usual sense of friction between the tasks and us. When this happens it helps to check in with a friend, so Jerzy talks with Rob today to see where they both land when talking about feeling overwhelmed.

Connect with Jerzy and Rob