Your Creative Push

Jacob Dhein is a painter from San Francisco whose paintings capture the modern world with the nostalgic nature of the past. He works across multiple disciplines including figurative, landscape, and plein air painting, and his talent is founded in his desire to teach others as he also continues to learn himself.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/jacobdhein

-How he got started as an artist growing up.

-How he is always striving to grow and become a better artist.

-The difference between workshops and undergraduate art programs, and how it might surprise you how much you can learn in well-run workshops.

-If you are at an intermediate level, to maybe start thinking about teaching at a beginner level.

-How the type of painting he does simply depends on his mood.

-The challenges that come from plein air painting.

-The various ways that he has held himself back at different points in his life.

-His advice for dealing with critics or negative comments.

-His best and worst creative moments.

-How there's never a moment where you can't go back into an old painting and fix things.

-How he loves the freedom that art brings to his life and he could never do a 9-5 job.

-Li Hu, one of his biggest inspirations.

"If you get into certain workshops, you can learn in a week what some people learn in a year."

"The first thing that really held me back was myself."

"It's just something that all artists have to deal with is the critic side of their artwork."

"Just keep going forward. Just keep painting."

"As long as the paintings are in my studio, I don't know if they are ever completed until they get shipped out. They're usually at 98% finished."

"I just wake up and walk right over to the studio. My studio is right across from my bed so it's not very far."

Artist Li Hu

Antonio Mancini: Nineteenth-century Italian Master

Website / Facebook / Instagram

Noah is a songwriter and member of the band, The Horse-Eyed Men with his brother, Dylan. They play original disgruntled Americana and country music. Raised by musical humans in a former candy store outside of Providence R.I., their music mixes spaghetti-western themes with cabaret, ragtime, and post-partum punk. Grave Country, their latest record, was recorded in Copenhagen on a grant from the Danish Arts Council in the summer of 2013.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/107

-How sometimes the ideas you come up with won't make sense until a much later time.

-To take the pressure off of yourself -- what you create does not have to be a masterpiece.

-Just like your dreams are created, it is okay to use pieces of yourself and your daily life in your art.

-The importance of having fun while creating.

-Terence McKenna and the idea that nobody knows the answers.

-Thinking about the possibilities of the things that didn't happen to you.

-To not worry about originality, because you are so unique that you are the only person that could make the thing that you are going to make in the way that you are going to make it.

-An exercise that he does as a songwriter in which he writes new lyrics to an existing song, then changes the melody.

-How you have to go easy on yourself when it comes to creativity.

"You use the material of the world to reflect on it."

"For a creative process to really be meaningful there has to be an element of searching in it. You actually can't have all the answers."

"We're all these really unique constellations. There's no way that it won't be original, whatever it is that you make. You're the only one who would do something like this. There's no other creature that would make it in just the way that you would."

"You have to be so gentle with yourself with creativity. There's no rule book which determines whether a drawing is legitimate for the reason it was made."

"Start small and start steady. The Muse is fickle and she has a lot of lovers."

Terence McKenna - "Nobody Is Smarter Than You Are" (YouTube)

Your Creative Push Episode 77: You're IMPOSSIBLY RARE. So DO SOMETHING! (Alex Hofeldt Part 2)

Bandcamp / Facebook

Noah is a songwriter and member of the band, The Horse-Eyed Men with his brother, Dylan. They play original disgruntled Americana and country music. Raised by musical humans in a former candy store outside of Providence R.I., their music mixes spaghetti-western themes with cabaret, ragtime, and post-partum punk. Grave Country, their latest record, was recorded in Copenhagen on a grant from the Danish Arts Council in the summer of 2013.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/noah

-How The Horse-Eyed Men came to be.

-The creative relationship he shares with his brother, Dylan.

-The role that humor and storytelling plays in his songs.

-How humor can often unlock things in people that you wouldn't normally be able to tap into.

-The role that travel plays in his life.

-A strategy that he uses to help him to "shake up" his orientation and to see the world in different ways.

-Another trick that he uses to find new ways to explain the same thing.

-How all writing is is "ass in chair."

-How creating a large piece of work should be taken piece by piece.

-How you can look back at the things you create and remember what mood you were in when you made it or what the weather was like on that day.

"For me, humor is a quick way to the heart."

"Storytelling is an important element of my songs. I'm always looking where something begins, where it goes to, and where it ends."

"You can really tell as a performer when you surprise someone and they are surprised by their own laughter."

"Traveling can be a really good thing to open up different paths of thinking and different parts of yourself."

"We're just a weird combination of organic molecules and experiences and memories and the thing doesn't last too long. And it's mysterious. We don't know where it comes from and we don't know where it's going."

"It's so easy to get tunnel vision and rely on a pattern that we had yesterday or the day before or the week before and not open up."

"I think that with creativity, it's a kind of muscle. It's a practice. There are concrete small things you can do on a daily basis to open up that capacity within you."

"Inspiration is like a candle that burns quickly."

"All writing is is ass in chair."

Terence McKenna - "Nobody Is Smarter Than You Are" (YouTube)

Your Creative Push Episode 77: You're IMPOSSIBLY RARE. So DO SOMETHING! (Alex Hofeldt Part 2)

Bandcamp / Facebook

Randy is a talented artist who has been working as a freelancer for the past several years in the animation, gaming, and publishing industries. He has a passion for storytelling and his talents include character design, illustration, visual development, storyboarding, and more. He has worked for Dreamworks Animation Television, Axis Animation, Flauth Productions, Edge of Reality, and Pocket gems, just to name a few.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/randybishop

-How he got to the point he is at today in his career.

-The pros and cons of working as a freelancer.

-How he is constantly trying to learn and devoting his free time to practicing and getting better.

-His advice for putting in the time to doing the work when you are feeling burnt out.

-How sometimes you have to work your way through a rut.

-One of the hardest things for him is working on a project that doesn't pique his interests, like drawing comics or a story that doesn't excite him.

-The struggle of working at home and balancing the work/home life and his advice for achieving that balance.

-The importance of getting and staying in the zone.

-One of his hardest times when he committed to too many projects and how to learn the appropriate amount of work to take on.

-How it is hard for some people to understand the importance of being in the zone.

-How you are twice as productive when you are in the zone.

-How he works best if he has a really big chunk of time to do work where he knows he won't be interrupted.

-If he wakes up early, those first hours are the most productive.

-The reason he initially became interested in art and creativity is the emotionality that it can bring to people, especially with effective storytelling.

-How art and creativity make people feel things, unlike many other jobs.

-The X-Men drawings that he is doing for fun.

-How his personal work also has some business strategy behind it, as it usually leads to commissioned work.

-One of his favorite recent commissioned works and why he loved it so much.

"Working freelance is great and awful at the same time."

"A hard thing for a lot of creatives out there is that you love to create but only when it's convenient or when you have time but the hard part is finding a real passion for it and deciding that it is something that you want to devote most of your time to it.

"What helps me is immersing myself in other people's creativity. That helps motivate me."

"For me, reading fiction and watching cartoons is legitimate research."

"If you sit and work for long enough, you can get your rhythm back. It's just a matter of determination and patience."

"Sometimes you get into this place where it seems like you can do no wrong and everything you put down is just gold."

"Your mindset and the way that you feel affects the way that you work. Like, big time."

"The whole reason behind art is to make people feel things."

"Art is the epitome of productivity. Because you're doing things that hopefully will make a difference to someone somehow."

"If you can devote the time to sit and just work at art, the payoff is huge."

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Michael C Hsiung is characterized by: large mustache (one of the few remaining facially hairy Asians surviving today) with all of the species capable of reaching one ton or more in weight; herbivorous diet; and a thin yellow protective skin, 1.5-5 cm thick, formed from layers of collagen positioned in a lattice structure; and a relatively small brain for a mammal of his size (400-600g). . Michael is prized for its mustache, sometimes his art. Not a true mustache, it is made of thickly matted hair that grows from the skull without skeletal support. Michael has acute hearing and sense of smell, but poor eyesight over any distance. Michael C. Hsiung will probably live to be about 50 years old or more.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/104

-The inspiration behind his image of a man observing two deer hugging.

-How he developed his style on his own and how he was somewhat self-conscious as he began to hone in on his own style.

-The guidance that his sister gave to him on his artistic path, while still letting him figure things out on his own.

-The concept of self-doubt and the complications of doing art full-time.

-The importance of putting yourself in a good mindset if you are feeling too much pressure to create.

-How a lull in his professional life led to him starting taking drawing seriously.

-The mermen and having the courage to dive back into the things that he was interested in as a kid.

-The daily battle he has with Resistance as a freelancer.

-The balance of trying to stay ahead of the curve, but also not worrying too much about the future.

-One of his favorite creative moments when he got to design ads for an umbrella.

-How he schedules his work time based on his wife's work schedule.

-What art and creativity brings to his life.

-How his sister is still his greatest inspiration.

"There'd be periods of time where I was just so conscious of what I was doing and the process that it would be hard to make stuff."

"I'll try to recreate an environment where I enjoyed drawing when I first started."

"Just start out with a stupid idea and let it blossom."

"If you're bored, just draw something."

"It's nice to try to keep some kind of schedule because if it's too flexible, you probably don't get a lot of work done."

"Vagrant Viking: My life and adventures" by Peter Freuchen

Website / Store / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Tumblr

Edward Westerhuis is a multidisciplinary artist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. His work moves between visual art, video, and performance--often collaborating with other artists and working within the community. He creates imaginative worlds that play with an epic sense of scale, forming allegories that reflect the places he lives. Whether he's making sci-fi cardboard puppet shows, or music videos with giant dancing cats, Edward uses humour to create the unexpected and to carve out space for new perspectives. Edward has presented his work across Canada, from coast to coast, including the Yukon Arts Centre, the Banff Centre, and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/doublecat

-How he got started down the creative path that got him to the point he is at now.

-How he came up with the idea for his "Double Cat" video.

-The deeper meaning behind the "Double Cat" video.

-His Tedx talk and the differences that performance art brings to the creation process.

-The hilarious story of one of his first creative moments.

-The creative lull that came into his life when he moved back home from school and how he got past it.

-The power that comes with mapping your creativity out to find out what works for you.

-Moving around, taking a walk, or doing some "lighter" creative work in order to clear your head when you need it.

-The idea of taking the pressure off of yourself by not worrying about the final product.

-One of his lowest moments, when he attended a film festival while in a creative drought and feeling like an imposter.

-The way he got out of his drought by working as Sook-Yin Lee's Director's Assistant.

-How Sook-Yin Lee was a role model for him and gave him the courage to be able to move between disciplines and art forms.

-How he likes when art can bring people together to form new types of interaction around the artwork.

-What art and creativity bring to his life.

"Over time, I've been able to recognize my own process and see how you develop an idea from a glimpse of an image to a fully thought-out project."

"It was this slow-burning idea that was just creeping over time."

"When I work on a desk, I can't have anything on my desk except for what I'm working on that very moment because I get way too distracted."

"You're always trying to remove the anxiety from your process. You don't want to be anxious while working because then you just get suffocated."

"When I'm making art now, I really think about my audience. I think about creating opportunities that exist outside the artwork itself."

"I really love the opportunities for the face-to-face social interaction that can happen around artwork."

"One of the reasons why I love collaborating so much is because I can see people on a much deeper level. We are able to build a communication that is very specific to an art piece but also has reverberations beyond that on a human-to-human level."

"Don't make it so big. Make it small and make it an opportunity to learn about who you are."

"Find ways to shut out the anxiety of being overwhelmed by that end goal."

"Allow yourself to explore and embrace not knowing where you're going."

Double Cat Video

Edward's Tedx Talk

Ramshackle Theatre

"The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life" by Twyla Tharp

"Letters to a Young Poet" by Rainer Maria Rilke

"Your Elusive Creative Genius" – Elizabeth Gilbert's TED Talk

Your Creative Push Episode 082: Interview with Li Chen of Extra Ordinary Comics

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Snapchat

Mitch Bowler is the founder of Pencil Kings, an online professional art teaching institution that provides top-flight instruction at an affordable price to those who are unable to attend traditional art schools. Formerly a 3D technical artist with work experience on top film and game projects, his focus is now on building and growing the Pencil Kings brand to provide art training and support to enrolled artists.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/mitch

-A bit about his creative history and what led him to create Pencil Kings.

-More details about Pencil Kings and what it offers to his members.

-How one of his biggest messages is to DO SOMETHING instead of continually just absorbing information.

-How the Internet has brought us a wealth of knowledge and teaches us how to do things, but the important thing is to actually do something with that knowledge.

-The power in setting a goal of making a new habit for 30 days.

-One of the most profound things he has learned through the Pencil Kings podcast -- finding a space where your competition isn't and dominating that space.

-When he finds it difficult creating, simply remembering what enticed him to draw and create in the first place -- what was fun.

-The power of outsourcing.

-How mind maps can help you to organize a large amount of information or ideas.

-Finding the things that are pain points for yourself, and being able to hand them off to someone else.

-The importance of looking at "outsourcing" as building a team.

-The ebbs and flows of balancing his own creative projects with the Pencil Kings project.

-How art and creativity (and Pencil Kings specifically) is like a puzzle box that he is constantly trying to figure out.

-How if you hear a recommendation two or three times, it is a signal that you must look into that.

"I wanted to create a resource where people could connect with professionals and distill the knowledge and also bring people together so they could support each other."

"It's scary to post your work and have haters."

"You can listen to a podcast, but when you go and do something, that's when the magic happens."

"It's hard to get the ball rolling in the beginning, but if you start to look at where the competition isn't, it's not as difficult."

"I think this is the key: No expectations."

"It's like this balance of having fun and building skills. But you should weight it more on the fun."

"Where I see so many people get outsourcing wrong is that they hand it off and expect it to work on the first go."

"Sometimes if you are unsure of your direction, life will give you signs."

Pencil Kings

"The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho

Website / Podcast / iTunes / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter

Joanna Sternberg is a singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist living in New York City. She primarily plays the double bass, but also plays electric bass, guitar, and piano. Joanna sings and writes songs, and regularly performs her original music. She plays folk, country, blues, rock, ragtime, classical, gospel, funk, rhythm and blues, klezmer, and jazz (ranging from the style of the 1920's to the present day.) Joanna is also currently in a band called "Fraydele" as well as a talented visual artist.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/joanna

-How and why she chooses to write, sing, and play so many different styles of music.

-That the inspiration for the songs usually comes from personal experiences that she needs to get out into the world.

-Her band "Fraydele" that plays music that her grandmother, Fraydele Oysher, sang in the Yiddish Theater.

-How it is sometimes necessary to take a break and "fill the tank."

-How drawing and visual art is less draining and taxing on her than songwriting.

-How she has only been singing for two years (which is one of the most shocking things that Youngman Brown has learned on the show).

-When she first started to sing, how she sang in a lower voice because she thought it would be harder for people to make fun of.

-Her advice for everyone to get singing lessons to have someone help them find their voice.

-The importance of being able to have someone to help you with honest feedback, but who will also be supportive.

-Her struggles with self-image.

-How performing the songs aren't nerve-wracking to her, and how she is grateful that she doesn't write complicated lyrics.

-Even though her songs have a very specific meaning to her, how music and art are a way for people to communicate universal truths to one another.

-How she uses calendars to help her balance her time.

-Joanna's upcoming residency at Sunny's Bar on June 2, June 9, and June 16, 2016.

-Her biggest inspirations, Roz Chast and Randy Newman.

"Not to be cheesy, but I just really feel the music I play. So it didn't really take that much learning as opposed to just doing it and having fun."

"It usually is just something in my life I need to get out."

"It was definitely something I always wanted to do but I just never thought I could."

"Find people you trust who could help you. Because it's hard to do it all alone."

"Sometimes I'm proud that I can take stuff in my life that's negative and write a song about it."

Dr. Katz Professional Therapist (YouTube)

Website / Soundcloud / Bandcamp / Facebook / Art / Art Facebook

Nathan Carson aka "Streetarthustle" is a talented artist who has taken fate into his own hands by being creative on his own terms, vowing to fulfill all of his creative desires and never do anything he doesn't want to again. He is documenting this journey for all to see via his Periscope account, allowing other people to be inspired as well as learn from his mistakes.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/100

-A story about what happened directly after the last time he was on the show, back in Episode 54.

-His two new assistants and what they have done for his life.

-How a mushroom trip helped him to get the courage to hire an assistant.

-How he has had to make some tough decisions about blocking certain followers on Periscope.

-How using e-mail has become a slow way of communicating, whereas Periscope is instant.

-How Facebook is a monolithic code structure that they can't build on top of.

-His thoughts on how Periscope is like the eyes of an infant artificial intelligence.

-What it is like to be a part of a "Periscope family" that is connected by the Internet, all while circumnavigating the actual physical world.

-His advice to anyone who might be nervous to start a Periscope channel.

-How Periscope is almost like performance art, and how the people that are commissioning him to paint get to help choose colors and thus pushing him and his art.

-His new Patreon page and how it will be utilized.

-How important podcasts have been in his life.

"What you don't realize is that when you want to be an artist, you immediately become the janitor, secretary, payroll, shipping, receiving. Everything."

"I went on a mushroom trip and found the courage to hire one of the assistants that I had been interviewing all week."

"The message of my show has become, The universe wants you to be alive. So you just choose happiness."

"My broader theory is that this is the eyes of an infant artificial intelligence. I think it is literally that important."

"The thing that you constantly need to realign yourself with if you're going to make it as an artist is that it has to be about love."

"The path of least resistance for you as an artist will always be the path of greatest joy."

"Do exactly what you love no matter how stupid that feels."

"I'm just gonna do what I love and trust that the Universe will sustain me."

"Follow your love. Follow your love. Follow your love."

Your Creative Push Episode 54 with Nathan Carson

Streetarthustle / Periscope / Instagram / Patreon

Just an episode for me to tell you:

1) How much I love you and this podcast.

2) Changes to the schedule of the show.

3) A request to support the show's new Patreon page.

4) How much I love you and this podcast again :)

Support the Patreon here!