Your Creative Push

Thomas is a visual artist and photographer based out of Atlanta, Georgia who has developed a style that he calls "painterly photo montage" - a method he employs in editing software in which he crafts elaborately textured pieces that have a very organic, non-digital look to them. Although his artwork resembles paintings, his pieces are entirely photographic in nature, fusing many images into a cohesive whole.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/thomasdodd2

-How to realize the conversation you have with your art is actually a conversation with yourself.

-How the best art shows us that we are all separate, but we all share the same emotions and struggles.

-Why music is incredibly powerful, especially in younger people in their formative years.

-The importance of being receptive to new forms of art or music.

-If you follow your own uniqueness and put the time in, eventually people will notice you and want you to be YOU.

-Communication coupled with social intelligence is incredibly important in dealing with other people, especially those who are not as creative as you.

"You should have a job that supports what you do, that hopefully doesn't drain you."

"Enjoy what you do. It's not a race. It's just being who you are and enjoying what you do."

"Transform" by Zack Arias

Website / Facebook / Workshops

Thomas is a visual artist and photographer based out of Atlanta, Georgia who has developed a style that he calls "painterly photo montage" - a method he employs in editing software in which he crafts elaborately textured pieces that have a very organic, non-digital look to them. Although his artwork resembles paintings, his pieces are entirely photographic in nature, fusing many images into a cohesive whole.

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

-How he got his start in Mod Clubs, learning techniques to make pictures look "painterly."

-How artists should always be looking to learn, and spend free time learning from masters.

-How combining your artistic journey with making money can sometimes be soul-crushing, leaving you not enjoying the art anymore.

-The importance of setting aside time to do your art, if you are getting burnt out from your full-time job, even if it is just 15 minutes a day.

-How he originally got into punk music and then as a harpist in Trio Nocturna

-That there is an unlimited, universal wellspring that you can tap into

-If he doesn't feel like creating, he doesn't try to force it, but instead works on the promotion aspect of the arts.

-To go along with the ebb and the flow of creativity.

-How everyone goes through the struggle of not feeling good enough artistically, and how this is an important thing to go through -- the ones who don't think this way usually are bad.

-If you are new, you have to face the reality that you probably aren't good, but you have to be willing to improve.

-How important it is to seek out critiques from people who are better than you -- someone who can point out your good points but also gently tell you where you need to improve.

-When he is feeling particularly good about his work, he looks at other particular artist's works to humble himself a bit.

-Entering the flow state in Photoshop as well as playing music.

-How quitting drinking led to an immersion in video games and then into his art, from negative to neutral to positive.

-How the best art can succeed across all people and cultures.

"Live, breathe, and eat it."

"The process is a lifelong journey."

"The most important thing we do as artists is that we communicate emotion to people."

"I'm not thinking as I'm creating. I'm just letting it happen and letting my tastes dictate as I go along."

"It's the intuition that guides you, and the intuition is always right."

"Transform" by Zack Arias

Website / Facebook / Workshops

Daniel Flores aka DTM aka Da Creative Genius, is not just a man of many names, but a man of many talents. These talents include graphic design, drawing, painting, and tattoos. Daniel also hosts the Art is King podcast, where he interviews other artists about their craft.

Be sure to check out Part 1, here!

-The importance of branching out and trying new things so that you don't remain stagnant, doing the same thing over and over.

-Setting aside time in your calendar to do your creative work.

-What he tells his children about art.

-Keeping your job but just trying art for the love of it.

-How art is not a get-rich-quick scheme.

-The value of finding an art mentor.

-His most difficult story when he lost a year's worth of art and work.

-How he handles it when people steal his art.

"Every drawing is just a chance for you to be who you want to be."

"I'm dedicated to my gym. And my gym is pencil and paper."

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/dtm2

Daniel Flores aka DTM aka Da Creative Genius, is not just a man of many names, but a man of many talents. These talents include graphic design, drawing, painting, and tattoos. Daniel also hosts the Art is King podcast, where he interviews other artists about their craft.

In this episode, DTM discusses:

-Why he started the "Art is King" podcast and what it brings to his life.

-How putting a microphone in front of someone is a great way to get them to talk to you.

-His creative origins, and his journey until today.

-How he kept true to the things that he wanted to draw, however it came to him.

-How he came to find an community of artists in Atlanta.

-How he didn't have the support for his art from an early age.

-Drawing sessions with other artists.

-His advice to individuals with TONS of different creative ideas who hasn't started any of them yet.

-How you should follow artists that you want to become like.

Quotes:

"That passion that nags at you when you're not doing it. That's Art."

"You always feel like you're falling short, I don't know. I feel that way. I have those doubts in my mind even though I've been a professional artist for twenty years."

"Get out of the house. Go somewhere. Be around other artists."

"Find the real people who care and are passionate about that same thing that you are about. You need that."

"If you really want it, you'll find the time."

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/16

Patty Lesser is a writer and world traveler, and frankly I don’t know if I should put those two in reverse order… world traveler first and writer second, because you have spent so much time in so many different places, which, by the way, makes me INSANELY jealous. Some of those places include Nova Scotia, Israel, Dominican Republic, Australia, England, Holland, and Belgium.

-How her dream as a child was to travel, and how she is now living that life.

-Her time in Israel and what she learned there.

-When she was a young child writing about dragons and how that led to her writing short stories.

-How she doesn't write for a specific genre and instead just writes what she loves.

-How she wasn't ready to write when she first started, until it finally hit her that she is a writer.

-How an operation shifted her focus to her health and diet and how it affected her writing.

-The best feeling is when you finish a book.

-How she works on multiple projects at a time.

-The only thing she stops working for during the day is to watch Ellen.

-How she doesn't try to write like other writers, she sticks to what she knows.

-How she is her own inspiration.

-To not look back on your regrets but to just keep moving forward.

"I don't write geared towards a specific genre. I write the book and then I say to my editor "What's the genre?"

"I just write what I love and what interests me and what fascinates me."

"I usually know the last line before I finish a book."

"I love to write. And I've got so many ideas and they're so unique."

"Just write."

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/15

Yuko Shimizu is a Japanese illustrator based in New York City and instructor at School of Visual Arts. Newsweek Japan has chosen Yuko as one of “100 Japanese People The World Respects in 2009. You may have seen her work on The Gap T-shirts, Pepsi cans, VISA billboards, Microsoft and Target ads, as well as on the book covers of Penguin, Scholastic, DC Comics, and on the pages of NY Times, Time, Rolling Stone, New Yorker and in many other publications over last ten years.

If you missed Part 1 of the interview, click here.

-Trusting your intuitions. If you really want to do something, then do it.

-How something that you go through that doesn't make sense at the moment sometimes makes perfect sense five years later when you look back at it.

-How hindsight can make you see that you loved something, hated something, or anything in between, but either is better than never having done it.

-There are people in your life that will try to discourage you to try to help you, but this is the point where you know where you see it clearly as to whether or not it is something you have to do.

-How the drawing portion of her work is like meditation. She gets in the zone and can just focus.

-How there is often too much work and often not enough work and how to deal with the in-between.

-How taking her dog for a walk and coming back fresh helps to re-motivate her when she is in a block.

-The importance of sleep when you want to be creative.

-How traveling to new places inspires her the most and also makes time slow down a bit.

-How routine makes days and years go so much faster.

"I always get enough sleep."

"You can't just keep creating. Output comes from input. The biggest one is going to places I haven't been."

"Trust your intuition. That's why you're an artist."

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/yuko2

Yuko Shimizu is a Japanese illustrator based in New York City and instructor at School of Visual Arts. Newsweek Japan has chosen Yuko as one of “100 Japanese People The World Respects in 2009. You may have seen her work on The Gap T-shirts, Pepsi cans, VISA billboards, Microsoft and Target ads, as well as on the book covers of Penguin, Scholastic, DC Comics, and on the pages of NY Times, Time, Rolling Stone, New Yorker and in many other publications over last ten years.

To hear Part 2 of the interview, click here.

-Her "mid-life crisis" at the age of 22 and how she decided to go to art school after 11 years of work.

-How it took hitting rock bottom to inspire her to finally make a shift and go to school.

-How she was able to make it work money-wise when she made the change.

-The process of leaving Japan to study in the United States and how she made it work for four years.

-How there is a transition period between a hobby and a career in art and there are no set rules as to how long it should last.

-How turning 30 was a catalyst for her to stop and reevaluate the path she was on.

-How she always felt inferior to people who went to art school and ended up going to art school because she knew she would always have that insecurity.

-How a 2-week gap in work as a freelancer can make you feel like it is the end of your career.

-How applying to art school in the United States before the internet was not easy, having to wake up in the middle of the night.

"When things are really bad, that triggers you to make decisions."

"It's not black and white. You don't need to be doing this full time."

"I wanted to try out my passion before it gets too late."

"The worry never goes away."

"Art school means a lot of money. And living in New York means more money on top."

"I'm 30. I'm not a kid anymore. Do I want to be here? And my answer was 'no.'"

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

DZO Olivier is a self-taught painter and illustrator from France. The simple, three-letter alias of DZO represents a divergence from his career in graphic arts and into the noosphere, which is defined as a postulated sphere or stage of evolutionary development dominated by consciousness, the mind, and interpersonal relationships. His work is both haunting and awe-inspiring and feels as if it could come from either religious or occult texts. A few moments with one of DZO’s unique works will make you wonder where you’ve seen such chilling beauty before, and make you wonder if maybe it was within your own mind.

Today, DZO answers some of our questions about what drives him and how he maintains his creativity.

Read the full interview: http://yourcreativepush.com/dzo

Hjalmar Wåhlin is a Swedish artist who loves to create. His background is in commercial retouching, and he has worked with clients such as Ford, Coca-cola, Läckerol and DN. Recently, he has moved towards illustration and design. And that work is seriously awe-inspiring.

-The joy that the imaginative nature of illustration brings to him.

-How long each of his pieces takes him to do.

-Starting with the fundamentals.

-Find a teacher or other resources online.

-His piece "Heaven At Last," and the personal story behind it.

-One of his first creative moments as a child.

-How his laziness and fear are two factors that used to hold him back.

-How he stopped drawing from ages 8-18.

-How his FEAR OF SUCCESS sometimes still tries to stop him.

-The roller coaster ride that is the process of creating something.

-A difficulty that arose during a collaboration and how it affected him and his motivation.

-How receiving comments on his work is what motivates him.

-Art and creativity bring MEANING to his life.

-How concept artists are his greatest inspiration.

"I have a lot of fear. That goes way back for me."

"You can overthink it. Just make something new that brings a lot of joy."

"Don't let it be this monumental task that you have to do, but let it bring joy to your life."

"Maybe the first things that you do will be shit. And it will look like shit. Or be shit. But you shouldn't expect otherwise. You just have to keep doing it and doing it and doing it and eventually it will get easier."

"You have to sit down and say, 'Now I'm going to do it!' or chances are it's not going to get done."

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

Richard Gaston is a 26-year old photographer from Glasgow, Scotland. His landscapes are completely breathtaking are some of the most inspiring that you’ll ever see. Richard uses the camera to explore what is important in life.

-How he started taking photographs as a hobby with his friends.

-How he and his friends all started around the same time and how nice it is to see their organic approaches as well.

-How people really tune into the idea of a small man in a vast landscape.

-The research that goes into many of his photographs in the outdoors.

-How using a camera is not that difficult. You just have to be there to take the photograph.

-Going to university or college for photography is unnecessary. You can easily learn on Youtube. Photography is just about putting yourself in that scenario and taking pictures.

-A tricky situation that he got himself in The Lost Valley.

-The story behind his photographs of the Aurora Borealis.

"I never studied photography, so for me its a hobby and a lifestyle. I still get that exciting feeling regardless of what I'm taking photographs of."

"You can't recreate something in the outdoors. It happens once and once only."

"That's the thing about the outdoors -- you don't know what to expect. It's very exciting."

"You have to be there to take the photo. That's all it is."

"Working the camera is not that difficult. It's just being there."

"There's no rush. As long as you are doing something you really like, it's going to happen eventually."

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