Your Creative Push

Martin is an English artist with an African heart. Born into a family of zoologists in 1982, he grew up amidst forest and savannah creatures of central and eastern Africa. He has held successful solo exhibitions in Africa, Europe, and the United States and has exhibited with the Society of Wildlife Artists and at the David Shepherd Foundation's Wildlife Artist of the Year event. A driving force for Martin's work is his commitment to conservation efforts for endangered wildlife, and through his art he continues to support the work of selected wildlife charities.

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

-His upbringing in Africa, how his parents were young zoologists, and what that meant for his life.

-Why he draws detailed portraits of the animals on very clear white backgrounds, so that it doesn't detract from the animal.

-How he became obsessed with detail but tried to hone that throughout his career.

-How he likes to play around with composition, and push the boundaries with negative space, as it helps to engage the viewer.

-His ability to not just draw animals, but to draw animals in a moment in time, and how long that took him to figure out.

-How he was most creative when he was younger because he just dove into it without thinking.

-His advice for people who might be discouraged by their gap in skill in comparison to his.

-The importance of doing art because you enjoy it, and not comparing yourself to other people or worrying about what other people think.

-How to deal with fear.

-How mistakes are good and help you to evolve.

-His charity work for wildlife conservation.

"It wasn't until much later on in life that I realized just how privileged I was to spend time amongst those animals."

"They are the stars of the show. It's the animals. It's not me. My first passion was wildlife, and then I discovered I could draw them."

"I like to push the boundaries with negative space. That helps to engage the viewer more."

"If you try to use the negative space in a creative way, it invites people to engage with it more and be a part of creating that environment in which it is sitting."

"It's all about the hours that you put in. You do improve even if you're not seeing it real time."

"I always start at the eye. It's the window to the soul. It's where all the emotion is conveyed."

"It's not just for me, the art. It's for everyone."

"You put the time in, and you will improve."

"Don't compare yourself to people. If you enjoy drawing, you just just be drawing and not be worrying too much about what other people are thinking.

"There's nothing really to be scared of. You love doing it, so just do it."

"You sleep better at night if you've done something a little bit creative during the day.

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You might know Kent Gustavson as an award-winning author, for his biography on musician Doc Watson called Blind But Now I See. Or you might know him as a musician and producer, with 14 critically acclaimed albums. Or if you are a student at Stony Brook University in New York, you might know him as a teacher. Or maybe you know him as a public speaker and perhaps you have already been inspired by him from his Ted Talk, "We Are Alive."

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

-How in college he did a lot of soul searching to "find himself," but a near-fatal car wreck with his father made it clear to him that he should do what he loves doing.

-How he loves how art teachers see the world.

-How the idea that "there are no mistakes" really changed the way he thought about things.

-Jazz musicians and their ability to turn a mistake into a feature of the music.

-How anticipating mistakes make them easier to deal with and much easier to learn from.

-Training your ability to "turn creativity on" and finding the method that helps you to not spend.

-The importance of focusing on your own health, as well as taking days off (just like athletes need to do).

-How his creative upbringing led him to want to coach authors.

-How the block for many creative people is the idea of making the "next best thing," and concentrating too much on making it be perfect.

-The idea of "puke and polish" -- how sometimes you just need to just get it out there, and then worry about polishing it later.

-The different advice that he gives to different types of authors.

-The importance of understanding your audience and when they read and why.

-The value of using an avatar.

-How it is not easy for some people to simply use an egg timer every morning to work on their craft, since they get longer-lasting bursts of creativity.

-His advice for people who have many different creative ideas but haven't started on any.

"Take the mistake and turn it into something beautiful -- a feature."

"You can't live on top of Everest. You climb up the mountain. You hang up there for minutes. And then you come back down. Perfection is hitting the top of Everest, but you can't live in perfection."

"Who exactly is this for?"

"It's easy for the reader to see the author, but your goal as an author is to see the reader."

"You can have either happiness or fulfillment or both."

"If your life's in the doldrums, kick it in the pants. Start painting. Start playing some music. Learn the guitar. Spend more time with your kids. Take a trip."

"Blind But Now I See: The Biography of Music Legend Doc Watson" by Kent Gustavson

"We Are Alive" (Kent's Ted Talk)

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Blooming Twig

Nick Gentry is an artist from London who paints on recycled and obsolete technological materials such as floppy discs, 35mm film negatives, VHS cassettes, and X-ray prints. In doing so, he creates a conversation between digital and analog processes.

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

-What the canvas of technological materials says to the viewer.

-How he finds charm in the materials that have already had a life.

-Where he actually obtains the floppy discs and VHS tapes to use for his art.

-How he uses ambiguity and pulling many different pieces together in order for the viewer to make their own interpretations about the art and what it means to them.

-The first time he made this type of art as an experiment, and how he left his work in the street to be picked up for free.

-His predictions for the future of technology and his hope that we don't get lost.

-How he tries to suspend his judgment while making art, so that if a piece isn't going particularly well, he can abandon it and move on.

-How we should learn from children and how they enjoy drawing and painting without thinking about if something is right or wrong.

-His advice for people who might be scared to share their work.

-The importance of being attached to your art while you are working on it, but then detaching yourself from it as soon as it leaves your studio (and that is where the daily practice comes in, because you can immediately move on to the next thing).

-His advice for people who have a difficult time moving onto the next thing.

-How being able to move on to the next thing also allows you to not linger on failures.

-How he draws inspiration from everything around him, especially nature.

"It tends to be a slow burn with these ideas."

"It's really hard to have a perspective in the moment because we are surrounded by so much that is stimulating us all the time. It's only with time that we can actually reflect upon what happened and what it means."

"With art, and my work especially, I'm not tying to provide any answers or predictions. I'm just trying to ask better questions than I was before."

"Whenever you follow your passion, you just have the intuition to work when you need to work, and you find the time of day when you're optimal and you work at those times."

"I see things as more of a sequence rather than endpoints, so if that painting didn't work out then that is not a problem to me, because that is just a step on a long road."

"I think it's just a case of going ahead with it and doing it and not pondering it for too long. Just seeing where it takes you."

"For me, it's all about moving forward on to the next thing."

"Art has to be a personal exploration."

Nick at the C24 Gallery

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Diana Gabaldon is the author of the award-winning, #1 NYT-bestselling OUTLANDER novels. Diana has written eight books in the series, with more than twenty-six million copies in print worldwide. The series is published in 26 countries and 23 languages, and includes a nonfiction (well, relatively) companion volume, THE OUTLANDISH COMPANION, which provides details on the settings, background, characters, research, and writing of the first novels in the series. Gabaldon has also written several books in a sub-series featuring Lord John Grey (a major minor character from the main series): LORD JOHN AND THE PRIVATE MATTER, LORD JOHN AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLADE, LORD JOHN AND THE HAND OF DEVILS, and LORD JOHN AND THE SCOTTISH PRISONER.

Returning to her comic-book roots, she has also written a graphic novel titled THE EXILE (set within the OUTLANDER universe and featuring the main characters from OUTLANDER), but told from the viewpoint of Jamie Fraser and his godfather, Murtagh.

Diana’s current writing projects include the ninth major novel in the OUTLANDER series, as yet untitled, and a second volume of THE OUTLANDISH COMPANION. She is also serving as a Co-Producer and advisor for the Outlander TV series produced by the Starz network and Tall Ship Productions, which is based on her novels.

-The story behind "Outlander."

-How she had known that she wanted to be a novelist since she was eight.

-How she was comfortable writing because of writing scholarly articles, grant proposals, and scientific papers, but needed to learn the details of how to write a novel.

-How Outlander was really a practice novel for her.

-How a Dr. Who re-run inspired the thought of a man in a kilt, and that is where she began Outlander.

-How starting to write immediately was important to her, so that she wouldn't get caught up in doing endless research.

-How characters come under three classifications: mushrooms, onions, and hard nuts.

-The most important question to answer is what does your character want? Because this is what shapes the story (what is stopping them from getting what they want?)

-How the only cure for "cold days" or writer's block is to just write anyway.

-How she uses a "kernel" (a line of dialogue, a concrete object, an emotional ambiance, or anything else concrete) and she writes around that kernel to start telling the story or the scene.

"I just wanted to write a book in order to learn how."

"I said to myself, "I'm going to write a novel for practice. I'm not going to show it to anyone. I'm not telling anyone what I'm doing. It's just for me to learn how."

"The important thing is to pick a point and get started. It doesn't really matter where you start."

"I fought with her for several pages, trying to beat her into shape and make her talk like an 18th century woman but she wasn't having any of this. She kept making smart-ass modern remarks and she also took over and started telling the story herself."

"You need to know who your character is."

"I don't plan books ahead of time. I don't work with an outline. I don't work in a straight line. I work in little pieces where I can see things happening."

"The secret to success in writing is to understand how your own brain works and work with it rather than against it."

"You just need to get words on paper and eventually the words will become alive again and start flowing for you."

"You cannot write anything any way but one word at a time."

"Don't let yourself be stopped by lack of time."

Website / Facebook / Outlander

Marc is an artist whose work is inspired in both form and style by western and eastern influences. He was born in Hong Kong, but has also lived in Sydney and London. He merges traditional Chinese inks with European watercolour and pen techniques in a contemporary style. He is self-taught, and utilizes many different techniques and subject matters to expand his work. Marc also runs the blog www.redinkstone.com – a website dedicated to helping aspiring artists achieve successful and sustainable careers in the art world.

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

-How his art career was jump started when his friend posted one of his pieces on Reddit and the thread went viral.

-How he utilized that "break" to make another post on Reddit, showcasing pieces of art he did throughout his childhood and life, and how that post went even more viral.

-How he worked in financial risk at that time, and art was a hobby for him until that point.

-The tough times that he was going through at the moment, with his mother being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

-How he calculated whether or not he could quit his job before he jumped into being a full-time artist.

-What it has been like in his first year as a full-time artist.

-His advice to people with full-time jobs who want to still do their creative passion: dedicate some time every day, and you will see improvement and results.

-The importance of developing a style with which you can differentiate yourself from other artists.

-There are always valuable lessons to be learned in trying something new.

-How art school has many things that it can teach you, but in today's world you can find out how to draw or paint in any style for free on the internet (or do anything creative, really).

-About why he started redinkstone.com and how it can help expose artists to information about effectively marketing your work via social media, understanding contracts, and so much more.

"It does require a lot of effort and a lot of work to ensure that you properly utilize that momentum."

"What am I going to regret more in life? Am I going to regret a job that I'm kind of okay with or following through with a passion that is clearly working at this point?"

"Even struggling for a few years would be a much more satisfying experience than cruising in a job that I didn't particularly enjoy."

"Even if you are dedicating a half-hour or an hour every day it is going to improve that process and the skills that you are using."

"The more that you practice and the more that you dedicate yourself to that subject or skill, you will see improvement and you will see results."

"There's luck and there's also manufactured luck. There's definitely ways that you can help it along."

"It's good to be prepared and have the right tools in place so that if and when it does happen, you are ready for it."

"Whatever time I could spare was to realize this dream."

"How I quit my corporate job to become a professional artist"

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Prints / Redinkstone

Chan Dick is a Hong Kong photographer whose personal works have caught as much as, if not more, public attention as his commercial works. In 2015, his photo book of picturesque bird-eyed view of Chai Wan Fire Station won him the Hong Kong Photo Book Awards. His photos have been selected by Invisible Photographer Asia and showcased at Angkor Photo Festival 2015. His photo series No Compromise portrays student activists aspired to make social progress in Hong Kong’s political scene. It won him a third place in the International Photography Awards (IPA) Competition in the professional editorial/political category. His earlier works include Escapers that touches on the odds of escaping from a totalitarian regime, and War, a photo story taken for kart racing aficionado to support the construction of a racing circuit in Hong Kong. The latter was exhibited in the 2014 Pingyao International Photo Festival in China.

Today, Chan Dick answers some of our questions about his photography and what drives his creativity.

Full shownotes/interview: http://yourcreativepush.com/chandick

Victor is a Research Director at a Philadelphia-based digital design and development firm. He regularly writes and speaks on the application of psychology to design. He has written for A List Apart, Smashing Magazine, UX Booth, User Experience Magazine (UXPA) and many more. Victor is the author Design for the Mind, an upcoming book on the application of principles of psychology to design.

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

-His first creative moments, and how his interest in writing began.

-How sharing your work can build your confidence... or help you to realize that you have a talent in the first place.

-How people can surprise you with the amount of support that they can offer.

-Some things in his early life that held him back from being creative.

-The way that alcohol entered his life as a ritual for him to pass time on a nightly basis.

-How once he stopped drinking, writing replaced that need and it came crashing down like a dam suddenly let loose.

-What led to him getting to the point of hitting "rock bottom."

-His "coming out" article and how it affected so many people in the industry.

-How his boss was shocked when he told him about his alcoholism, and how telling that is in terms of how easy it is to hide things like alcoholism.

-Some of the issues that he is now attempting to address dealing with the culture of workplace drinking.

-How you don't need to get punched in the face to need to make a change in order to become the better version of yourself.

-How he doesn't believe that things necessarily get easier, just different.

-You need to let go of worrying about how something is going to be received when you put it out there.

-Look for little wins and build upon them.

-How the simple act of starting to do something gives you expertise, and you can begin teaching at this very early point.

"The universe is a neutral place, it doesn't care if you fail or if you succeed. However, if you put yourself out there, people are really supportive, and people care if you fail or if you succeed. And they want you to succeed."

"On my way to passing out I would always have this thought of, 'Tomorrow it will be different. Tomorrow I will start writing my book.'"

"The drinking was preventing me from writing. But in the back of my mind I felt like the drinking was inspiring me because I'd have these thoughts at the end... 'you should write. I want to write.' But I would wake up without another word written."

"Fifteen years of holding back the dam on writing just came crashing down as soon as I was able to stop drinking. I haven't been able to stop writing since then."

"Like a rocketship, things started to get better once I was sober."

"I replaced drinking with writing."

Victor's upcoming book, Design for the Mind (use the coupon code for 39% off: yoccopcycp)

What it's like to be a recovering alcoholic in an office where booze is everywhere (Victor's article for Vox)

The UX of Alcohol Abuse: Reflections on a Year of Sobriety (Victor's article for Model View Culture)

Youngman's Words + Music video having to do with alcoholism

Website / Linkedin / Twitter / Design for the Mind

Jon is an artist and graphic designer from New York. His designs, typography, and illustrations have graced magazine covers, t-shirts, album jackets, murals, food trucks, movie posters, websites, and national ad campaigns, just to name a few. He’s the Founder & Creative Director of Contino Brand menswear and accessories company, as well as Co-Founder & Creative Director of CXXVI Clothing Company.

Listen to Part 1

Full Shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/31

-The experience of designing for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition 2015.

-What it is like to have your fingerprints on something that is massive in scale.

-How he handled the offer of being able to do body painting on the swimsuit models.

-Working for top-secret projects and the difficulty it brings to the creative process.

-How he handles his work based on his love for it, not based on his love for sleep.

-How time vanishes when you are doing something you love.

-What art and creativity brings to his life.

-How he makes every effort to make his design to be his best effort.

-About how lucky breaks happen for everyone, its just up to you to make it catch.

-How you have to trudge through so much as a creative person.

"There's no excuse. If you want to do it, you just do it. Because if you don't do it, you're gonna be on your deathbed one day and you're gonna wish that you were able to do it and the only person you can blame is yourself."

"If YOU don't do it, SOMEBODY ELSE will."

"If you want something so bad that you just have to do it, you do it, and you don't have to hear it from anybody.

"I think there's three important words to remember as a creative person. Pay. Your. Dues."

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2015

Jon's interview with Playboy

Website / Instagram / Facebook / Twitter / Dribble

Jon is an artist and graphic designer from New York. His designs, typography, and illustrations have graced magazine covers, t-shirts, album jackets, murals, food trucks, movie posters, websites, and national ad campaigns, just to name a few. He’s the Founder & Creative Director of Contino Brand menswear and accessories company, as well as Co-Founder & Creative Director of CXXVI Clothing Company.

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

-How his love and ability for design drives him.

-The difference between being a creative director and a young designer.

-The origins of his confidence and the journey it has taken.

-The importance of a "nothing to lose" attitude.

-His worst moment as a designer, and the importance of going through it.

-To not get too excited about things like interviews with Playboy.

-How it is a constant push, and almost addiction, for creative people to constantly want more.

-How LETTING GO of what he thought a designer was supposed to be allowed him to become the designer that he always was.

-How growing up in New York City (Manhatten in particular) and his love for minimalism helped to shape his design and what defined him.

-The importance of hand-drawing.

-About being influenced by other art and how it can (and should) seep into your own work.

-How you'll never get to the level of your favorite artist -- you'll be different no matter what.

-What to do when you get an idea in the middle of the night.

"I think that as a creative person, if there is a finish line, you're done being a creative person."

"The second I started to actually do what I felt was me, that's when I couldn't get enough."

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2015

Jon's interview with Playboy

Website / Instagram / Facebook / Twitter / Dribble

Brett Gajda has launched two multi-million dollar businesses, studied with some of the world’s leading self-development teachers, visited 40 countries, released an album, starred in a stage musical, got married, escaped from Alcatraz, became a father, and he currently trains and coaches professionals at Fortune 1000 companies globally. He is also the host of "Where There's Smoke" -- an amazing self-help podcast that is one of the major inspirations for Youngman Brown to start "Your Creative Push."

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

-A recent review of his podcast "Where There's Smoke" that defined it as "genre-defying" and how that sentiment struck a chord with him.

-The concept of "The Gap" (introduced by Ira Glass) and how to get over it.

-How the only way to get to the level you want to be at with your art is to actually put the time and work into the craft that you want to master.

-His advice for moving past the fact that the first thing that you create is not very good.

-How there isn't a single person in the world that just started walking without taking a first step (usually falling right after).

-How setting a long-term goal of not paying attention to short-term results really helped him to continue.

-The importance of talking to people who have been through the journey you want to go on.

-How working for other people and helping to tell their stories made it clear to him that he wanted to tell his story. He just needed to find the medium.

-How he tried many times to figure out how to get his voice out in the world, but it still didn't feel right... but at least he was trying.

-How one of the themes of "Where There's Smoke" is the idea that you just have to put in the work.

-Let the journey to the top of the mountain be the most important part of your trip to the top of the mountain... not your few moments standing on the top.

-How his best moments are those where he actually creates something.

-If you have multiple ideas, to put all of your fuel into making one of them launch.

-Even if your #1 goal is to do something like write a novel, there might be smaller goals that you should accomplish first.

-How creativity is in EVERYTHING you do.

"Just look at today. What's the next step? What's one thing that you can do today?"

"Find five people who have done what you want to do, and ask them to tell you about what their journey was like when they started."

"The good news was that I was trying. I was swinging the bat. I wasn't just sitting in my room trying to figure it out. I was trying to figure it out through action."

"If I find 10 things I don't want to do, I'm still closer to what I DO want to do."

"There was all these questions. And instead of just sitting there stuck in the questions, I just took a step."

"Find a way for the journey and the experience to be the TOP of the mountain."

"The regrets I have in my life that have haunted me are all the times I didn't do something."

"Failing is not that big of a deal. The thing about failure is that you get to be proud of the fact that you tried and you learned from it."

"I want people to live the full expression of their life."

"The Gap" by Ira Glass

Where There's Smoke: "Work it! (Creativity)"

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Mr. Nice

Dancing Spiderman matches up with any song you play

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