Your Creative Push
Youngman Brown
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Top 10 Your Creative Push Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Your Creative Push episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Your Creative Push for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Your Creative Push episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
227: Stop listening to your excuses (w/ Yellena James)
Your Creative Push
06/15/17 • 35 min
Yellena James is an artist who uses pens, inks, markers and acrylics to combine complex abstract forms into dazzling images which take on lives of their own. Her colorful arrangements of organic shapes and tangled lines are at once floral and alien, organic and sci-fi
She has participated in shows around the U.S. and overseas including solo exhibitions at Giant Robot, the Here Gallery, and the Hijinks Gallery and she has done illustration work for Anthropologie, Crate and Barrell, Relativity Media and many others.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/yellena
In this episode, Yellena discusses:-Growing up in Sarajevo during the Bosnian War.
-How she developed her creativity despite the conflict that was happening all around her.
-Her family’s move to Florida and where she went from there.
-How she started doing pen and ink work in her sketchbooks because she didn’t have studio space.
-Her decision to post her work on Etsy and where that led her.
-How bloggers began to notice her work and how that enabled her to be in shows and obtain illustration gigs.
-How many of her jobs seem to come out of nowhere and at the perfect time, but how that all comes from her work being out there.
-Her advice to put all of your work out there and to reach out to bloggers.
-Letting go of your internal dialogue that constantly asks if you are going in the right direction.
-How she balances her time.
-Her new book, Star, Branch, Spiral, Fan.
Yellena's Final Push will inspire you to stop listening to your excuses and start listening to your own heart. Quotes:“It was kind of intense art-learning and I was very fortunate to be in that environment even though everything outside was very hectic.”
“It felt almost like somebody knew when I would finish one job and something else would come along.”
“Put it out there. Make sure people know about you.”
“I think if you work really hard and put your whole soul into it, you’ll eventually get to the point that you’re really happy with your work.”
“Don’t listen to your excuses because they are lying to you and they’re not worth listening to. You’ve got to follow your own heart.”
Links mentioned:Star, Branch, Spiral, Fan: Learn to Draw from Nature's Perfect Design Structures by Yellena James
Connect with Yellena:Website / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter
On the next episode:Tyler Thrasher : Website / Instagram / Soundcloud
Share what you've created this week in the Facebook group!
222: The Penny Drop Moment (w/ Mike Kus)
Your Creative Push
05/25/17 • 53 min
Mike is a UK based designer specializing in Web/UI Design, Graphic Design, Branding, Illustration & Photography. He has a worldwide client roster and his work is regularly featured in design related publications. Mike is also a regular speaker at design & tech conferences.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/mikekus
In this episode, Mike discusses:-How he feels as if he was predisposed to become a designer from a young age.
-Working as a graphic designer for The Body Shop.
-His entrance into the world of web design.
-The story of his creative block while trying to design for Carsonified and the “penny drop moment” that cracked the block.
-The strategy he employs to avoid creative blocks and to get to the thesis of what he is going to create for a company.
-Developing a “single sentence” that encompasses what a company is all about and what his design will attempt to portray.
-Being a black sheep in the face of trends.
-How he attempts to create a unique identity for each of the companies that he works with.
-How the layout of a website is unimportant in comparison to the content.
-How his interest in photography was reawakened with the emergence of Instagram and the accessibility of his phone’s camera.
-The importance of not having an agenda for your creative passions and just doing them because you want to do them.
-A lesson he learned from being in a band about not listening to people who try to influence you to change one way or another.
-A story of putting off writing an article about productivity.
Mike's Final Push will inspire you to never back down! Quotes:“Creativity is the last thing that computers will steal from us.”
“There’s not even a point in doing design if you’re not trying to be a black sheep.”
“My belief is that everyone I work with is unique and has a unique story to tell.”
“I don’t feel that layout is much of an issue. It’s really the content of the website that’s up for grabs.”
“For me it was more about capturing a moment.”
“Because it was simple, because it was in my pocket, I started getting into taking pictures again.”
“I started using Instagram on the day it came out.”
“Doing work for companies mixed in with my personal works brings more variety to the pictures I take and the locations I end up in because of it.”
“Just starting to do it and seeing what happens is much more important than trying to have an agenda.”
“Just to know that when you’re going through a period of lack of motivation and you’re not being productive, you’re not the only one. Just knowing that other people are in the same boat is sort of comforting.”
Connect with Mike:Website / Instagram / Twitter / Dribble
On the next episode:Blake McFarland : Website / Instagram
Share your work and join the discussion on the Facebook group!316: STRETCH your creative imagination! (w/ Felix Semper)
Your Creative Push
12/10/18 • 45 min
Felix Semper is a Cuban American painter and sculptor. He gained popularity with his sculpture of the late rapper The Notorious B.I.G. which he crafted from thousands of layers of glued paper.
Semper's work has been collected by global corporations and celebrities such as Business Insider, Marriott International, Champs Sports, A$AP Rocky, Wendy Williams, Elvis Duran, Ryan Seacrest, and Kelly Ripa from Live with Kelly and Ryan, as well as numerous private collectors and institutions.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/felixsemper
In this episode, Felix discusses:-How he describes his unique sculptures.
-Taking a long break from his artistic endeavors.
-How cutting paper in a print shop was one of the seeds that had been planted long before he started his sculptures.
-His career building properties and what happened during the housing crash in 2008.
-Getting back to his creative roots as a means of healing his pain.
-The way that he creates his material by gluing pieces of paper together.
-How time disappears while he is making his art.
-The spontaneous and explosive bursts of creativity that he gets through his painting, which helps him balance the monotonous and long process of creating one of his sculptures.
-The doubt that creeps in as he starts a piece (and the eventual moment of recognition when the piece appears, sometimes weeks or months later).
-The structural integrity of his sculptures and how people have to learn how to handle them.
Felix's Final Push will inspire you to start to snowball your creative efforts until you can’t control it any longer! Quotes:“I went back to my roots and started drawing to heal my wounds and to heal what was happening on my outside.”
“We think that everything has been invented and everything has been done, but in reality it hasn’t. There’s still so many angles you can take just based on your creativity.”
“It was something that I was doing for healing, waiting for the next thing in my life to happen, never knowing that this was the thing that was going to happen.”
“I don’t want to do anything else for the rest of my life. I want to do art.”
“I wake up every morning and go to my studio and start working and I am the happiest person on earth.”
Links mentioned:Kelly & Ryan Anniversary Mugs [YouTube]
Felix Semper's Frida [YouTube]
Connect with Felix:Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / YouTube
On the next episode:David Kochberg of Goodnight, Sunrise: Website / Soundcloud / Spotify
Join the discussion in the Facebook group!290: The INPUT is just as important as the OUTPUT (w/ Jan Urschel)
Your Creative Push
05/21/18 • 47 min
Jan Urschel is a freelance concept designer and illustrator working in the entertainment industry, designing for feature films and video games. Clients include: Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros, Lucasfilm, Marvel, EA, Sony, Ubisoft, LucasArts, Cloud Imperium Games, Psyop etc.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/janurschel
In this episode, Jan discusses:-His decision to go to school for Japanese studies and what that did for his art.
-Living and working in Singapore as a graphic designer.
-His inspiration to become a concept designer and the thought process behind making the switch.
-How he started and stopped his art many times over many years.
-How he got his first job at LucasArts and what it was like to work there.
-The struggle of either not being allowed to show the work that he did on a project, or not wanting to show it because it has been so long.
-The importance of doing personal work as a freelancer and how he attempts to find the balance of personal work and client work.
-How he is in his most productive and effective state when he is employing painful self-discipline.
-His “Project T” and the importance of pursuing your own personal projects for the simple purpose of self-pleasure.
Jan's Final Push will inspire you to remember to enjoy living life and getting that daily inspiration and experience from life. Quotes:“As a freelancer, you need some material to show off what you can do.”
“In order to put yourself out there in a way that is true to yourself, you really need to put out personal work. And a lot of it.”
“You have to follow your own path and listen to your creative ideas.”
“Live your life and have a bit of fun. People are too focused on making money or becoming a superstar.”
“Experience as much as you can and live a full life. That will help you to become a better creative in the end.”
Connect with Jan:Website / Instagram / Twitter / Behance
On the next episode:Shayne Taylor : Website / Instagram
Join the discussion in the Facebook group!155: Shine a light to find your CREATIVE ZEN! (w/ Abz)
Your Creative Push
10/03/16 • 40 min
Abz is an illustrator from Perth, Australia that is still relatively new to the art world, having been making art for the past 3 years. Much of his work revolves around nostalgic characters and fantasy themes, and he’s currently in the early stages of creating his own imaginary world.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/abz
In this episode, Abz discusses:-What he is attempting to create with his “imaginary world.”
-How he was initially inspired by Rave Master and then later by his friend.
-How you don’t need any authority figure to give you permission to create and share your creations.
-How using an alias can potentially help bring confidence to people who are shy or afraid to share their work.
-Pushing aside negative thoughts because it doesn’t matter what other people think – the only thing that matters is being true to yourself.
-One of his earliest creative moments.
-The notion of finding your own “dark hallway,” where it is just you shining a light on your creative focus.
-His love for Pokemon and how Pokemon Go has helped to increase his following recently.
-Self-doubt and laziness and how to combat each of them.
-Attempting to post more work on a regular basis and drawing every single day and how that has positively changed his output and mindset.
-How you are going to look back on your old work after a year or two and detect all of the mistakes anyway, so you might as well put it out there and move on to the next thing.
-How our eyes are often a year or two ahead of our skills.
-A recent difficult moment when he was demoralized, but how sometimes all it takes is encouragement from a friend or loved one to get you back on track.
-One of his best creative moments, the first time someone wanted to buy his artwork.
-The satisfaction that he gets from going to conventions and meeting the people that support his work.
-The notion of chunking down your time into 45-50 minute intervals and focusing solely on one task.
Abz's Final Push will inspire you to go to sleep at night feeling like you just had a meaningful day. Quotes:“Being anonymous seems to give you some sort of boost in confidence.”
“It doesn’t really matter what other people think about it because at this point being authentic is my main priority.”
“One of my major weaknesses is this sort of laziness that takes over when I’m a bit afraid to approach whatever it is that I’m trying to get done.”
“Sometimes you have to create the trash to get to the gold.”
“Our eyes are often a year or two ahead of our skills. You can detect what you want it to look like, but you just can’t get there quite yet.”
Links mentioned:Rave Master by Hiro Mashima
Sir Ken Robinson’s TED Talk: “Do schools kill creativity?”
The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Ken Robinson
Connect with Abz:Etsy / DeviantArt / Instagram / Facebook / Tumblr
11/07/16 • 37 min
Saddhasura is an artist, illustrator, and musician who is procuring and creating to then connect creative works to people who love them. He has also taught meditation and mindfulness for over fifteen years.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/saddhasura
In this episode, Saddhasura discusses:-His creative upbringing and a brief overview of his life so far.
-Why certain creative pursuits have bubbled to the surface and then fallen away.
-Doubt and indecision and the role that they can play in pulling you away from your creative passions.
-The imposter syndrome and how it especially seems to creep up just as you are about to actually become the thing you are trying to be.
-Inconsistencies and how they help to bolster the imposter syndrome.
-What the Buddhist teachings can tell us about the ever-changing nature of humanity and how that can relate to creativity.
-Starting each day with clear intention.
-The idea of writing down nuggets of inspiration to go back to when you are feeling defeated.
-Having the instinct to protect his moleskin over his phone and his iPad.
-The power that comes when you set aside bad habits and make a clear decision.
-How he maintains a positive attitude even when things are going poorly.
-Some of his ideas for his future.
Saddhasura's Final Push will remind you that you are not a human being on a spiritual journey, you’re a spiritual being on a human journey. Quotes:“The things I’ve missed out on are the things I haven’t kept my eye on.”
“The human being is inconsistent by its very nature. Everything about us is constantly changing.”
“I’ve got a choice. I can either crumble and let this all really get the better of me or I can just see it as a really great opportunity.”
“Here and now is not bad. The past is just a string of proteins that are lined up in my brain. The future is a possibility based in fantasy and projection. Neither one of those alternatives are a useful place to plan anything.”
“In the manure of this experience, a rose can grow.”
Connect with Saddhasura:164: EXPAND your creative mind! (w/ Stuart Holland)
Your Creative Push
10/21/16 • 37 min
Stuart Holland is a visionary realism artist currently based in Boise, Idaho. Working in primarily charcoal and watercolor, Stuart's work often depicts ethereal figures as they explore and engage with stark landscapes riddled with enigmatic natural and artificial features. Drawing influence from sources like psychology, various spiritual traditions, psychedelics, and quantum physics, Stuart's drawings and paintings explore the timeless concepts of Light and urge viewers to contemplate their innate relationships with Self, Nature, and the Universe at large.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/stuartholland
In this episode, Stuart discusses:-How his recent work has been heavily influenced by ayahuasca ceremonies that he recently took part in.
-How his artistic style has changed since his experiences.
-His reason for using charcoal.
-The experience of telling his parents about his transformative experience.
-Self-doubt and how to deal with it as a creative person.
-The importance of having a creative sanctuary.
-The role that travel plays in expanding his perspective and feeding his creative energy.
-How he balances his time as a bartender, an artist, and someone who loves to sleep.
-His dreams and the significance that he gives to them.
-Lucid dreaming and how they can be used to potential “speak” with your subconscious to get through creative blocks.
Stuart's Final Push will inspire you to be honest with yourself, both in your failures and your successes. Quotes:“I would really love to get into working with holograms and using that as a medium to facilitate a facsimile of a psychedelic experience in a sort of immersive art installation.”
“It’s so hard to be a creative person in a world that doesn’t necessarily favor creative endeavors.”
“Having that creative space is crucial for me.”
“Creating something and bringing it to fruition and manifesting it in front of you is a very sacred ability that we have and it needs the reverence and the opportunity to flourish.”
“Each night you dream it’s like having a mini-life.”
“It’s not going to be one single decision that makes that transformation happen in your life, but it’s going to be a small series of decisions that you make throughout your day, throughout your week, over the course of a year.”
Links mentioned:The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell by Aldous Huxley
Dark Nature: A Natural History of Evil by Lyall Watson
Connect with Stuart:140: Know yourself so you can BE YOURSELF (w/ Dan Mumford)
Your Creative Push
08/26/16 • 27 min
Dan Mumford is a freelance illustrator working out of Studio100 in central London, UK. Over the past 10 years, Dan has worked within the pop culture and music scene creating everything from album covers, branding, and screenprints to new interpretations of classic film posters and albums.
His clients include Disney, Sony, Iron Maiden, Wizards of the Coast, Icon Motosports, CBS, and many bands and record labels from around the world.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/danmumford
In this episode, Dan discusses:-The path that he went down to begin to develop his unique style.
-The importance of embracing your many interests and passions and trying to find a way to combine them into your creative expression.
-The difference between passion projects and commissioned work.
-How he has never been able to get work done at home and needs to go to the studio in order to be productive.
-The importance of not pushing your body too hard, or else you could develop serious injuries that will take you out of the game completely.
-His formula for balancing his time, including getting e-mails and other work out of the way and off of his mind first thing in the morning.
-His best and worst creative moments.
-The value of having a gallery behind you to take care of the “extra” stuff.
Dan's Final Push will inspire you to be true to yourself and to keep making your work in a way that makes you happy! Quotes:“I’d never really done anything on quite such a large scale before. It was really tiring as well.”
“Don’t worry too much about the outside world.”
“If you enjoy doing it, then you’re going to be better at doing it. You’ll find yourself creating work that is far superior.”
“Be yourself. Just be true to yourself and don’t try to be something that you’re not.”
“Keep making your work in a way that makes you happy.”
Connect with Dan:060: Discover WHO YOU ARE and then BE YOURSELF! (w/ Pascal Campion)
Your Creative Push
04/04/16 • 33 min
Pascal Campion is a prolific French-American illustrator and animator from the San Francisco whose clients include: DreamWorks Animation, Paramount Pictures, Disney Feature, Disney Toons, Cartoon Network, Hulu, and PBS. Working in the animation industry for over 15 years, currently he is the Art Director for the Netflix/Warner Bros “Green Eggs and Ham” series. His feature work includes Visual Development of "Mr. Peabody and Sherman" and "The Penguins of Madagascar." Pascal also has worked with Marvel Comics since 2013 and has steadily posted over 3,000 images of personal work to his “Sketches of the Day” project since 2005.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/pascal
In this episode, Pascal discusses:-How he started his "Sketch of the Day" project.
-His advice to anyone struggling to do the work every day, to take it one step at a time.
-How if you are impatient with your art, it is something that you can work on with your daily practice.
-The importance of finishing a drawing, because your brain starts to recognize the beginning, middle, and end of creating a piece of art, and if you don't finish the piece, you don't recognize those landmarks.
-How as you create art and get better, your goals change as you continue to learn more and more.
-How many of his less-favorite pieces end up being more popular than the ones he loves the most.
-How you can compare yourself to other talented artists, but they might be comparing themselves to you as well.
-His advice for people who might be afraid to draw or paint everyday scenes.
-A story about the time he watched a duck for 20 minutes.
-How when you are younger you want to be someone else, but as you get older you grow to accept who you are.
-How hard it is when you are young (or even older) and you are told to “be yourself,” when you don’t know exactly who you are.
-The beauty of being able to recognize that you are changing as an artist and a human being.
-Being able to let go of things you are good at for the sake of progressing, especially if those things found success.
-What it is like for him to get into the “zone,” and how it is like deep-sea diving.
-When he gets into a flow state, how it feels as if he is a conduit for something else, and how he is just there to help it along.
-The importance of staying physically fit and the relationship that it can have with your art and creativity.
Pascal's Final Push will inspire you to start drawing whatever you are thinking a feeling, right now! Quotes:"I have a hard time doing an image without telling a story."
"After a few minutes, I have this nervous energy where I just want to get to the end really quickly."
"Patience and the amount of time that you can sit down and draw is something that you can work on. It's like running. It's like a muscle. The more you exercise it, the better you get at it."
"If you don't finish a drawing, you don't get those landmarks in your head."
"If you actually put yourself through the paces of finishing a drawing, your brain is going to create a grid: This is the beginning, this is the middle, and this is the end. You'll have an idea of the trip that you're going to be taken on."
"Always finish your drawing. The more you finish, the more you understand the whole process and the easier it is to get it done. If you keep starting and not finishing your drawings, you will never get the map in your head of the amount of work it takes to get a drawing done."
"I get incredible pleasure from creating images. Even if they are bad, the actual process of it is fun to me."
"As long as you enjoy it, it's going to show in the drawing."
"When I turned 30, things got a whole lot easier in my life because I wasn't trying to become something else anymore."
“The more you keep saying you’re going to do something when you have time, the less likely you are to do it.”
“There’s no better time than NOW to do what you want to do.”
“The ME of ten years ago would not do the same drawings as me now, even if we were at the same technical level.
“My best days of drawing are often when I’ve done a lot of physical exercise.”
Connect with Pascal:216: The deep end or the shallow end, JUST GET WET! (w/ Lana Crooks)
Your Creative Push
05/04/17 • 50 min
Lana Crooks loves the antique, the creepy, the cute and the mysterious. Constructing creatures from fabrics and found objects, she is a purveyor of faux specimens and soft curiosities that are a blend of science and fantasy. Sought after for her pattern-making abilities, she frequently teams up with other artists to breathe three dimensional life into their illustrations, earning her two Designer Toy Awards.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/lanacrooks
In this episode, Lana discusses:-The “convoluted” artistic path that she took.
-Some of the many variables that came together to make her decide that she didn’t want to continue being an illustrator.
-How an “escape from people” at her job at Virgin Megastore led to a new creative job.
-How she started making her felt creatures and skeletons.
-Having two unique styles and not being afraid to pursue both at the same time.
-Her advice for people who spend too much time in the “incubation period” and allow themselves too much time to let doubt creep into their heads.
-This Is What I Do Now moments.
-Some of the other things that hold her back, like wanting to be “good enough,” being a perfectionist, and sometimes being too close to her pieces for too long.
-Her “box of sadness” and “box of happiness.”
-How she handles her monthly calendar and occasionally needs to catch up by having a “beast week.”
-The idea of needing to force yourself to get out of the house in order to give yourself time to be inspired by things that are outside of yourself.
-Her experience of studying bones at museums.
Lana's Final Push will inspire you to pursue your creative inclinations, whether you jump in the deep end or start out in the shallow end! Quotes:“Basically my whole creative career is a series of whims and tests.”
“It was perfect for me. It blends illustration with the costume design and the sewing, tactile part of it with the crazy things in my head.”
“You have to see where it takes you. You can’t pretend that the idea never crossed your mind because it won’t ever become anything.”
“Every couple years I have a This Is What I Do Now moment.”
“Having a lot of things to work on at one time is good for my morale. I get to banish pieces to the closet until I can have a strong enough will to see them again. And then sometimes I’ll pull it out and think that is great and wonder how I did it.”
“Once you’ve resigned the piece to its fate, that’s when you can start seeing good in it.”
“These pieces of art are basically like my children, but they’re just jerks. I love being able to create them, but they give me such hell that I get emotionally attached to them, either good or bad.”
“If you’re waiting for someone to hand you an opportunity, you’ll be waiting a very long time.”
Links mentioned:Max Bare & Melissa Sue Stanley on Your Creative Push
Connect with Lana:Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Patreon
On the next episode:Shane Madden : Website / Illustration Lighthouse
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FAQ
How many episodes does Your Creative Push have?
Your Creative Push currently has 390 episodes available.
What topics does Your Creative Push cover?
The podcast is about Courage, Photography, Artist, Art, Visual Arts, Interview, Inspirational, Writing, Writers, Artists, Podcasts, Arts and Inspire.
What is the most popular episode on Your Creative Push?
The episode title '367: Your Art and The Beholder's Share (w/ Yana Zorina)' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Your Creative Push?
The average episode length on Your Creative Push is 43 minutes.
How often are episodes of Your Creative Push released?
Episodes of Your Creative Push are typically released every 3 days.
When was the first episode of Your Creative Push?
The first episode of Your Creative Push was released on Jan 16, 2016.
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