Kick In The Creative's Podcast

In today's episode, we talk about sketching in public places and how to do that with more confidence. After our sketching trip to London late last year, we thought now would be the perfect time to talk about the topic. Obviously, our number one tip would be to get yourself an incognito disguise like a furry hat and moustache or horses head mask. Failing that, we do have a few other suggestions from ourselves and the advice you all shared on social media (thank you).

This week’s guest is Will Terry. Will has been a freelance illustrator for 23 years. After finishing his BFA project at BYU he began working for magazines and newspapers not far from where he grew up in Washington D.C. His early clients include publications such as Time, Money,  Wall Street Journal and Mastercard. He has illustrated around 30 children's books for many of the top publishers including Random House Scholastic and Penguin. He has created several indie ebooks that have sold tens of thousands of copies. He also co-owns www.svslearn.com - online illustration classes for children's book illustrators selling in over 80 countries.

In today’s episode we talk about whether you’re ever too old to start making art…. And the answer to that question is NO. So that’s it for today, we’ll see you next time!! No, but seriously… It’s a question you hear from older people, wondering if they’ve left it too late to learn. In fact Sandra wondered it too as she didn't take art seriously until she was in her 30s.

Happy New Year (that sounds so weird when I’m writing this in December) Today’s episode is a round-up of the arty things we’ve loved and what we learned in 2018, plus a look at what we’ve got coming up for 2019. We want to start by saying that having great art materials does not make you a great artist. Any pencil or pen will do, but they are blooming lovely and collecting them is a hobby in itself.

Today’s episode is all about New Years Resolutions. Don’t you just love them? Why is it that after chugging down a load of wine and eating too much chocolate we feel that we need to make a resolution? Oh yeah, maybe it’s just that we’ve chugged down a load of wine and eaten too much chocolate. Anyway, allow yourself to breathe and let that top button pop open, as we don’t think you should be making resolutions. However, we do think there are better ways we can make positive changes and build those creative habits too. One of your resolutions was going to be to be more creative or draw more, wasn’t it? And to listen to more podcasts?

Today’s episode is all about why too much social media can kill your creative confidence. Of course, social media can be a great place to share your work and meet like-minded people. However, along with the good side of social media, scrolling through too much of it can be a sure way of feeling inferior and it can even end up destroying your confidence. Some of the social media creative confidence issues we discuss How easy it is to feel intimidated by other artists on social media Why you shouldn’t take everything at face value (retouched eye bags) How we can use social media for inspiration and encouragement How timelapse can distort our view on the ease of creation How we can curb our social media addiction How we should compare our own work with our past work rather than anyone else's

Today’s episode is all about how time management for creatives. One of the common things we hear that creatives struggle with is finding the time to create something, whether it’s finding time to write each day, or time to draw or paint. In this podcast, we discuss ways that you can make the best use of whatever time you have to keep your creative projects alive.

This week’s guest is artist Jon Burgerman. I think we’ve mentioned Jon in nearly every joint podcast episode we’ve done so far. But if you haven’t heard of him you should definitely check out some of his work. Jon was born in the UK but moved to  New York City in 2010. His art has a doodle like quality about it. What I like about his work is that it seems to be very much about play and experimentation. Jon’s work exists in many forms including canvases, murals, sculpture, toys, apparel, design, print and even tatoos. He also does some really funny animation and video projects. As well as writing and illustrating books, teaching on Skillshare and his other projects Jon has also collaborated with some very high profile brands including CocaCola, Samsung, Nintendo, Nike and Sony. John talks to us about his artistic life and how he thinks you develop an artist style. He shares a few of his fun creative projects that he has done on the subway, which he does spontaneously. The projects start because he is perhaps b

In today’s episode, we talk about how to recognise and deal with a creative block. And, more importantly, why do we even have them? And it comes at a good time because both myself and Sandra have been through one quite recently. It seems that just about every Artist out there goes through this at some point, if not a couple of times a year and it is all part of being a Creative. But knowing that doesn’t always make it any easier to deal with.

This weeks guest is Joanna Penn from The Creative Penn. Joanna is an Award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. She’s an independent (indie) author and has written 27 books and sold over 500,000 books in 84 countries and 5 languages. And as if that’s not enough, she’s also an international speaker and award-winning creative entrepreneur. Joanna shares the secrets to her success in multiple ways including her award-winning blog and her own Podcast for writers, ‘The Creative Penn’ (spelt with a double n)

In today’s episode, we are talking about painting/drawing for commissions versus painting for joy. Within the idea of paid commissions, we are also including those “jobs” where friends or family ask you to create things for them (we’ve all been there!). We’ve been thinking about doing this episode for a while. Sandra has done a lot of commissions this year and I’ve also done a tiny commission recently and some in the past. So we thought now was a good time to talk about it. We’ve both recently been having a creative slump too, could that be to do with commissions? We talk about that in this episode.

This week's guest is Jake Parker. Jake is an illustrator, writer, and teacher based in Utah. Jake has worked on everything from animated films to comics to picture books since 1999. He’s lived in six states, working at the best studios with some of the most amazing and talented people in the country. Now Jake freelances out of his own studio in Utah. Jake started his professional drawing career straight out of school, and in the podcast, he explains how he got that first break which kick-started his career. Since then he has worked for many high profile clients including Disney, Warner Brothers and Google. Jake’s work has been published countless times in way too many places to list here, but despite that, he might be best known to our listeners as the founder of the hugely popular October drawing challenge ‘Inktober’.

Today’s episode is all about general tips for artists. It’s a bit of a follow on from Episode 15 about making the best of your creative space. We cover a lot in this episode. Just in case you’re not aware, Sandra is an experienced oil painter who paints highly detailed still lifes. Prior to discovering her love of oils, she used to paint in watercolours. So Sandra has a wealth of tips to share, plus I throw in a few tips of my own that I’ve learned over the years too. One of the biggest things you’ll learn is to take your bathroom cabinet out of the bathroom and transfer it to your art space. It appears that Sandra has miraculously found a use for everything in hers for painting. Even I found some of the suggestions a little eye-opening!

We are delighted to have the incredibly talented artist and co-founder of Sketchbook Skool, Koosje Koene on the podcast today. Koosje was born in the Netherlands and lives in Amsterdam. She studied Graphic Design but later went on to become an award-winning photographer. After 10 years as a photographer, Kosha got itchy feet and her pencils began calling her. She quickly re-discovered her love for drawing and started her blog. Koosje then began developing online classes and not only is she now a highly talented illustrator, but also an online teacher. She also hosts ‘Draw Tip Tuesday’ where she offers weekly drawing tips, encouraging people to draw every single day. She shares how she gets inspiration for both Draw Tip Tuesday and her own personal art. In the podcast, you will hear more about Koosje's creative journey on the way to co-founding Sketchbook Skool with Danny Gregory in 2014. She also shares her hopes for the future of Sketchbook Skool and her own creative work.

Today’s episode is all about making the best of your creative space. Now that includes keeping your stuff organised and tidy. Anyone that knows me well, will know that tidiness is definitely not my forte. In fact, my partner (who never stops hoovering) would be rolling around laughing at the thought of me giving anyone else advice on this stuff. Hands up who else has an “I don’t know where to put it” drawer Now if you were panicking and thinking why on earth would I listen to someone so untidy, fear not. Fortunately, Sandra, who says herself that she is a little OCD in the clean and tidy department, can help balance out my messiness. So just like you, I will have to listen back to this episode to see what Mrs Tidypants (as Sandra will be known from this day forward ) has to say about creative space organisation.

This week we are delighted to have Danny Gregory from Sketchbook Skool on the podcast. In fact, delighted is pretty much an understatement, especially for Sandra who had to decide what outfit she would wear for our voice-only podcast. I'm sure if you love art and drawing you'll know all about Danny Gregory, but just in case you've had your head buried under a sketchbook for the last few years, let me tell you a little more. Danny spent three decades working as one of New York's leading advertising directors. When his wife had a tragic accident which left her paralyzed, Danny started drawing and keeping a journal as a sort of therapy to help him come to terms with what happened. He has been drawing ever since. He also used drawing to help him cope with the death of his wife through another accident years later. Danny has written several books, some of which show his beautiful journal sketches alongside his words, we talk about some of them in the podcast including A Kiss Before You Go and Shut Your Monkey. A f

Our guest for this episode is realist artist Callum Stephen, who you may remember from the BBC Big Painting Challenge. Sandra takes the reins today as she interviews Callum while I’m off on holiday in France, which funnily enough is where Callum is now living.

Today's episode is all about idea generation, a topic we love. I have to try and keep Sandra under control otherwise she comes up with bizarre ideas like inflatable knickers (don't ask!). If you have ever sat with a blank sheet of paper not knowing what to create, then this episode is for you. You really don’t need to wait for that Eureka moment to have an idea. There are lots of different creative techniques you can try. Some of the creativity techniques we cover: Mind mapping - but we put our own twist on this How to get ideas out of your everyday life How to use a random word to get ideas - we also try this live to show you how it works - yikes (we don't even cheat by picking the random words first! ) Freewriting - Sandra shares a scary app for this too Sandra talks about how you should carry a notebook at all times, but hasn't got one when we need one on the podcast :-) Idea mash-up - Its a bit like making a cheese and potato pie, but completely different Moodboards and White-Boards Poetry and Character T

This week we are delighted to have a guest on the show and that's Mike Young, better known as Youngman Brown creator of the popular podcast Your Creative Push. Now Mike has a lot to answer for, in fact, he is the reason that this podcast even exists. He's the one to blame when Sandra and I are warbling on in your ear, as we met via Mike's Creative Push Facebook Group.  Mike originally started his podcast because he was looking for a podcast about pushing yourself to be more creative, but he couldn't find one. Mike is a great writer but he found he wasn't motivating himself to write as much as he wanted to. Originally Mike was putting out one episode of the show a day, which is quite an achievement. Finding guests, interviewing and editing a podcast takes a huge amount of time and Mike was doing all that alongside his job of being a poker dealer. Mike shares how he managed his time and got so much done. Mike shares some of the creative projects he is working on including Words plus music http://wordsplusmusic.

As a follow up to our episode about dealing with negative feedback, today's episode is about imposter syndrome. If you haven't heard the term before, it doesn't mean you have to disguise yourself with a pair of googly eyes and fake moustache. Instead, it's that feeling you get that you get when you feel you shouldn't be in the position your in. That you aren't knowledgeable enough even though you have all the expertise and experience that you need to be where you are. How to spot if you have imposter syndrome Feeling inferior amongst others in your field A fear of being ‘found out’... or people realising that you’re not really as knowledgeable on the subject as they’d thought Lack of self-confidence and self-belief Procrastination Feelings of self-doubt Our experiences of imposter syndrome We share our experiences of imposter syndrome. Sandra talks about having Imposter Syndrome when her art was featured on the front cover of a magazine. Tara's art hasn't yet achieved such notoriety but she did once win a ha