The Craft: Exploring the Creative Process

In this episode of The Craft, Carter and Colby elaborate on their recent conversation with painter, photographer, and mixed-media artist Warwick Saint. They share their favorite moments and lessons from the interview

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Chapters:

0:00 Introduction 

4:33 Cardboard boxes and creativity 

7:39 The artistic edge

10:03 Reinvention and renewal 

18:50 Point of view  

31:58 Categories and juxtaposition 

34:42 Routine and telos

37:30 Conclusion

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Links:

Listen to the full interview with Warwick Saint

Colgate Lasagna

Learn more about Saint's work

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Support The Craft:

Subscribe to Dwelling (Weekly writing from Carter)

Send feedback or ideas to [email protected]

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Cover art by Elizabeth Newell. Learn more about her work at elizabethnewell.work or on Instagram @elizabethisadesigner.

In this episode of The Craft, Carter and Colby sit down with Warwick Saint. He is a prolific and award-winning artist who has photographed some of the most iconic actors/actresses, athletes, musicians, and brands, such as Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Zendaya, Miley Cyrus, Lebron James, John Legend, DJ Khaled, Beyoncé, Daniel Craig, Jamie Foxx, Nike, Puma, and many others. 

However, in 2018, Saint began a new chapter of his career. He started transforming his photography through painting, producing entirely new works of mixed-media art. In this interview, Carter and Colby talk with Saint about his creative evolution, focusing on the deep veins of continuity between mediums and processes. Saint also shares about his current routine, philosophy of art, and approach to overcoming creative fatigue.  

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Chapters: 

0:00 Trailer

0:38 Introduction 

4:23 Saint’s new chapter

10:16 Comparing mediums

15:33 Painting as tactile presence 

18:47 Layers and creative process 

23:40 Capturing emotion 

27:45 Revision process

33:06 Routine and embodied creativity 

41:46 Approaching a career in art

47:10 Navigating commissioned work

52:16 Creative fatigue and bravery 

1:00:22 Recent inspiration and receptivity 

1:05:37 Conclusion 

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Links:

See Saint's work at WarwickSaint.com

Follow Saint on Instagram @warwicksaint

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Support The Craft:

Subscribe to Dwelling (Weekly writing from Carter)

Send feedback or ideas to [email protected]

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Cover art by Elizabeth Newell. Learn more about her work at elizabethnewell.work or on Instagram @elizabethisadesigner.

What can we learn from James Baldwin about the creative process? 

In this episode of The Craft, Carter and Colby discuss Baldwin's essay “The Creative Process," exploring how art is connected to self-knowledge and truth. Additionally, they explore the tumultuous yet crucial relationship between the artist and society. 

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Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

2:04 Overview

3:33 Individual and Society

7:20 Being "alone"

11:59 Art and the Big Questions

15:12 Artist's Journey

20:13 The Artist and Society

21:46 Takeaways

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Links:

Read The Creative Process by James Baldwin

Listen to 16 | The Artist's Journey and the Hero's Journey

Read The Artist's Journey by Steven Pressfield

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Support The Craft:

Subscribe to Dwelling (Weekly writing from Carter)

Send feedback or ideas to [email protected]

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Cover art by Elizabeth Newell. Learn more about her work at elizabethnewell.work or on Instagram @elizabethisadesigner.

Should you stop making the EP, stop writing the novel, or stop building the YouTube channel? Or, do you need to commit to going through the Dip and reaching the summit on the other side?

In this episode of The Craft, Carter and Colby discuss this often fraught question. They apply two heuristic mental models that can help inform our decision to quit: Seth Godin’s book The Dip and Shreyas Doshi's LNO Framework. The resultant conversation explores key metrics and questions that can prepare us to launch, endure, and even quit a project. 

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Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

1:43 The Dip overview

10:59 Being in the Dip

14:00 LNO schema 

19:18 Hierarchy of values 

27:58 Key metrics and questions 

32:20 Case study: Songmaps 

34:55 Conclusion 

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Links:

Read The Dip by Seth Godin

LNO Framework

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Support The Craft:

Subscribe to Dwelling (Weekly writing from Carter)

Send feedback or ideas to [email protected]

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Cover art by Elizabeth Newell. Learn more about her work at elizabethnewell.work or on Instagram @elizabethisadesigner.

Why spend $25 on a pencil sharpener when a $.99 one will get the job done? Why spend $300 on a raincoat when you could spend $25?

In this episode of The Craft, Carter and Colby explore the craft of beautiful products. What makes a product special or beautiful? Why are we drawn to certain products, even when they cost more money? Their conversation digs into these questions and explores the relationships we build with the products we love. Carter and Colby share some of their favorites, both physical and digital, and try to articulate how these products curate our experiences and cultivate personal values.

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Chapters:

0:00 Introduction (Aesthetics, Utility, and Identity)

8:32 LAMY Safari Fountain Pen

12:35 Blackwing Sharpener

19:00 Scrivener

27:00 Colby’s Big 4 

28:25 Proton 

35:22 Arc and Simplicity 

42:13 Taste and Expertise 

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Links:

• The LAMY Safari fountain pen
• Blackwing One-Step Long Point Sharpener
• Scrivener
• Proton
• Notion
• Arc
• Copilot.money
• The first 20 hours | TEDx by Josh Kaufman

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Support The Craft:

Subscribe to Dwelling (Weekly writing from Carter)

Send feedback or ideas to [email protected]

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Cover art by Elizabeth Newell. Learn more about her work at elizabethnewell.work or on Instagram @elizabethisadesigner.

In this episode of The Craft, Carter and Colby sit down with Will Mason to talk about his creative process as a songwriter. They discuss his upcoming EP, Freedom, and break down two tracks from the project. The conversation covers topics ranging from crafting lyrics to finding your voice to facing creative roadblocks. Listen to Freedom here.

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Chapters:

0:00 Introduction 

3:13 Interview begins 

4:50 Background as an artist

8:40 Development as a singer

10:42 Finding your voice 

12:20 Musical development 

15:34 First song and breakthrough 

17:50 Songwriting process 

22:26 Lyrics 

32:32 Dragonflies (song breakdown) 

50:41 Freedom (song breakdown)

1:03:00 Conclusion

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Links:

Listen to Will's EP Freedom (released on August 18, 2023)

Listen and follow Will on Spotify

Listen and follow Will on Apple Music

Follow Will on Instagram @_will_mason

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Support The Craft:

Subscribe to Dwelling (Weekly writing from Carter)

Send feedback or ideas to [email protected]

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Cover art by Elizabeth Newell. Learn more about her work at elizabethnewell.work or on Instagram @elizabethisadesigner.

Can you grow your audience without “selling out”? 

In this episode of The Craft, Carter and Colby discuss creative growth, outlining its healthy and malignant forms. They begin the conversation by defining growth and then identify two specific problems: 1) sleazy growth 2) personal vulnerability. They explore principles for healthy growth and discuss ways that creatives can mitigate the fear of increased publicity. They conclude by discussing marketing models that can help direct your efforts toward creating meaningful engagement with an ideal audience.

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Chapters:

0:00 Introduction 

1:34 Defining growth 

4:23 Two problems of growth 

7:37 Marketing funnel 

10:41 1st principle: Put growth in its place

13:47 2nd principle: Prioritize the product

23:40 Metrics for growth 

27:30 Growing in good faith 

33:00 The vulnerability of growth

37:13 Marketing models for growth

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Links:

The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman

Chapter 2 of The Personal MBA: Marketing

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Support The Craft:

Subscribe to Dwelling (Weekly writing from Carter)

Send feedback or ideas to [email protected]

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Cover art by Elizabeth Newell. Learn more about her work at elizabethnewell.work or on Instagram @elizabethisadesigner.

Should you create a Substack publication? And why did Carter start one? 

In this episode of The Craft, Carter and Colby discuss “Dwelling: Exploring the non-identical in life and art,” Carter’s new publication. They explore the origins of the project and the future of publishing in general. In addition to discussing Dwelling, their conversation expands to the power of newsletters as creative mediums. They end the conversation by sketching how (and why) to launch your own Substack publication.  

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Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

1:30 Why start a Substack? 

5:07 What is the non-identical? 

9:10 Seven Lamps of Prose

12:31 New creative economy on Substack 

15:09 Writing process

16:45 Carter's inspirations on Substack

19:42 Tactics

22:33 Newsletters and the O.R.B. marketing model  

32:16 The challenge of growth 

33:52 How do you start a Substack?  

38:37 Should you start a Substack? 

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Links:

Subscribe to Carter’s Substack Dwelling at carterdavisjohnson.substack.com

The Night Does Not End by Aaron Gwyn

The Contender by David Coggins

The WM Brown Weekly

The Lost Object by Joe Neary

Over the Field by Hadden Turner

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Support The Craft:

Subscribe to Dwelling (Carter's Newsletter)

Send feedback or ideas to [email protected]

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Cover art by Elizabeth Newell. Learn more about her work at elizabethnewell.work or on Instagram @elizabethisadesigner.

“You need a strategy.” We hear this mantra from all disciplines, but what does it mean? 

In this episode of The Craft, Carter and Colby work to define strategy and understand how strategic thinking manifests in creative pursuits. The discussion explores the difficulty of diagnosing the root problem and imposing proximate objectives. They conclude by noting how artistic taste is crucial in developing good strategy. 

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction to Rumelt's Good Strategy Bad Strategy

6:30 Strategy and values

10:45 Honest evaluation and the creative process

15:16 Contrasting strategy in business and creative pursuits  

22:38 What’s missing in creative practices

27:48 Imposed coordinated action 

29:45 Developing proximate objectives

35:04 Diagnosing the “true” problem

38:07 Artistic taste as a tool for diagnosis 

Links:

Richard Rumelt's Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters

Send feedback or topic ideas to [email protected].

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Cover art was designed by Elizabeth Newell. Learn more about her work at elizabethnewelldesign.com or on Instagram @elizabethisadesigner.

In this episode of The Craft, Colby and Carter sit down with Tyler Johnson. Tyler is a filmmaker and creator from Roanoke, Virginia who is currently working out of Nashville, Tennesee. He is the co-founder of KING ZEHN Entertainment. Focusing primarily on real-time comedy sketches, King Zehn has established a large presence in the realm of short-form, creative content. They currently have over 174 million views on YouTube and 900k followers on TikTok. 

Their conversation explores Tyler’s creative process and revision strategy. They also discuss the business aspects of King Zehn, exploring the differences between platforms and monetization avenues. 

Chapters:

0:00 - Introduction 

3:00 - Generating new ideas

5:20 - Dealing with creative constraints 

7:44 - Finding his craft

8:49 - Framing and shot design 

10:10 - Editing process and revision 

12:00 - Developing a YouTube presence

14:13 - Understanding audiences across platforms 

18:00 - Developing King Zehn into a viable business 

20:56 - Exploring the future of King Zehn

25:19 - Appreciating creative influences 

26:27 - Explaining the usual workday

30:38 - Thinking through algorithms 

34:14 - Considering the “subscriber” model 

35:13 - Developing products 

36:40 - Sustaining as a creative

41:17 - Working through creative burnout 

43:15 - Knowing how to get started 

45:44 - Supporting their work 

King Zehn 

Youtube

Instagram

TikTok

Send feedback or topic ideas to [email protected].

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Cover art was designed by Elizabeth Newell. Learn more about her work at elizabethnewelldesign.com or on Instagram @elizabethisadesigner.