155: Shine a light to find your CREATIVE ZEN! (w/ Abz)
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
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
Previous Episode
154: Find even the TINIEST amount of time, EVERY DAY (w/ Brooke Rothshank)
Brooke Rothshank is a painter and illustrator working in watercolor, oil, acrylic, and egg tempera paint since 2002.
Her work as a miniature artist has been exhibited around the country and featured in both Miniature Collector and Dollhouse Miniatures magazines. Brooke has illustrated three children's books for Herald Press, and is currently working on a fourth illustration project that se is pursuing independently.
Brooke's panting work has been exhibited at the Penland Gallery, the Andy Warhol Museum, the Chicago International Miniature Show, and elsewhere.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/154
In this episode, Brooke discusses:-How she got started with miniature drawings and paintings.
-The International Guild of Mini Artisens and what they do.
-The issues of perfectionism as well as allowing herself to follow what she’s interested in.
-How to battle perfectionism.
-The importance of a schedule, deadlines, and getting started right away when it is time to work.
-Making small amounts of consistent progress in the right direction every single day.
-One of her more difficult moments after college in trying to define herself as an artist and attempting to figure out the business.
-How having children made her more efficient with her limited time.
-How to get past the fear of putting your art out into the world, especially when it comes from a vulnerable place.
-How her best moments are any time she is invited to show her work, teach, or collaborate on a project.
-How her art makes her a more patient parent and partner, and makes her feel more energized.
-Her year of daily paintings and how it felt like a visual journal to her.
-Two of her greatest inspirations – Koo Shadler and her husband, Justin.
Brooke's Final Push will inspire you to figure out what it is you want out of your creative life and to pursue it every single day! Quotes:“If I just allow myself to follow what I’m interested in, the result is generally more creative and authentic.”
“The thing I found is that when I’m striving for that perfection, I can often ruining the freshness of a piece.”
“It may be hard to see the progress when you’re doing the slow and steady thing, but in the long run you really can see a difference.”
“The more you create and the more you share, the less you’re concerned about what other people are going to think or say.”
“It’s doing the consistent, boring stuff along the way that makes the little positive moments shine.”
Links mentioned: Connect with Brooke:Next Episode
156: Be a BUSY MOCKINGBIRD (w/ Mica Angela Hendricks)
Mica Angela Hendricks is a professional illustrator who works primarily in ballpoint pen and acrylics. She travels the world with her military husband and her talented 7-year old daughter, Myla, with whom she collaborates for A Busy Mockingbird.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/156
In this episode, Mica discusses:-How she began drawing with her daughter.
-How her daughter has developed as an artist and how they now collaborate with ideas.
-The idea of being on equal ground with her daughter in terms of creative control.
-Trying not to get too discouraged by the talented artists and creatives that inspire you.
-Some of the many ways that she gets through creative blocks.
-Her advice for people who have trouble letting go of their creative control.
-A practice in collaboration of letting your followers or fans help to decide what you are going to draw.
-The friendliness and helpfulness of the people on Instagram.
-The value you can provide by posting either works in progress or “mistakes,” to show that it isn’t just as easy as creating something wonderful from start to finish.
-How Myla doesn’t care what other people think about her work and how we should all strive to reach that same freedom.
-Dealing with negative feedback.
-Dealing with dry spells and having to deal with the ebb and flow.
-How the name “Busy Mockingbird” came to be.
-How we all need both relaxation time as well as physically active time in our daily lives.
-The idea of “going on an adventure” with kids as a form of meditation.
-The story behind her book, “Share With Me.”
Mica's Final Push will inspire you to keep trying every single day and to always continue to learn. Quotes:“I like to let her have control. It prepares her for when she’s older to be able to have the confidence to know that her ideas are valid.”
“I told her one time that she inspired me and she was kind of surprised by that.”
“Who cares, you know? I’m drawing what I like and if you don’t like it, there’s a little button up there that says ‘unfollow.’”
“You get dry spells. You get this time where everything just comes out like crap.”
“If you have to draw a hundred bad drawings to get to the good one to get you back into it, then you better start doing it.”
“Knowing that you’re going to have that ebb and flow is necessary to functioning properly as an artist. You have to know that it’s going to come back and it’s not gone forever.”
“I feel lazy if I’m watching TV. If I watch TV I have a sketchbook in front of me.”
“If you enjoy doing something, you’ll get better at it in time. You just have to keep trying and keep learning. Never ever ever stop learning.”
Links mentioned: Connect with Mica:If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/your-creative-push-195793/155-shine-a-light-to-find-your-creative-zen-w-abz-19079830"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to 155: shine a light to find your creative zen! (w/ abz) on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy