Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 116—Adventures in Drawing with Scott Campbell
126 Plays6 years ago
"I find it inspiring to see people have successes. It makes me want to do better stuff," says Scott C. Scott is an author and illustrator and his latest wonderful creation is Adventures in Drawing: A Guided Sketchbook. This thing is tons of fun. I love drawing as a way unplugging my brain from my daily nonsense. His Instagram feed is chock full of his amazing and playful sketches and water colors. His great showdowns are hilarious and cute and fun. I won’t do them justice by talking about them so you should visit Scottc.com or look him up on Insta at Scottlava. We talk a lot of creative insecurities, comparing yourself to others, and the importance of community in any artistic pursuit. I wish I had two hours to talk to Scott, but we’ll have to made due with one. One other thing...are you subscribed this pod? Go find it on Apple Podcasts, Sticher, Google Play, and Spotify. And if you’re feeling kind, leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Please share this with a buddy. Go find Scott at scottc.com and follow him everywhere. Buy his book. Buy his merch. Buy a great showdown print. I deserpately want the Infinifty War print and the Spiderman Homecoming print, and the Wonder Woman print. I was thinking of suggesting a Titanic and Iceberg Great Showdown, but that seemed in bad taste. Thanks for listening CNFers. Much love from your humble host. If you can’t DO, Interview! SEE YA!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction & Newsletter
00:00:01
Speaker
ACNFers, today's episode is brought to you by my amazing monthly newsletter. That's right. Sign up for my reading recommendations list by visiting BrendanOmera.com and entering your email either in the smart bar, which is to say the smart bar, at the top of the page or in the pop-up that'll come up in the middle, about 10 seconds into your sesh.
00:00:25
Speaker
On the first of the month, you'll receive a cool photograph I took, four book recommendations, a cool quote or two, links to any writing I might have done that I'm proud of, and links to the past month on the podcast. It's a tasty bit of goodness to start your month. Once a month, no spam. Can't beat it. Cue intro riff.
Guest Introduction: Scott Campbell
00:00:50
Speaker
Mmm, yes, I like that.
00:00:52
Speaker
Loping along here at CNF HQ, what the hell is going on CNF-ers? Feel a little bit better after last week's oral surgery. Sutures are still in there, but I can kind of talk and I'm not in quite as much discomfort. You know I've got a good show for you when questions get this kind of response.
00:01:15
Speaker
That's Scott Campbell, better known as Scott C, also known as Scott Lava, across Twitter and Instagram. Scott is an author and illustrator and his latest wonderful creation is Adventures in Drawing, a guided sketchbook. This thing is tons of fun.
00:01:36
Speaker
I love drawing as a way of unplugging my brain from my daily nonsense. It's a good way to kind of pivot from my stock and trade whatever that is. If that's this or if I'm writing sometimes having a notebook there to doodle is just a cool way to unplug. And this book almost gives you a little blueprint
00:01:59
Speaker
of how to do it and just to have some fun. His Instagram feed is chock full of his amazing and playful sketches and watercolors.
Career Journey & Latest Work
00:02:07
Speaker
His great showdowns, greatshowdowns.com, you can also find it at scotc.com, are hilarious and cute and fun. I won't do them justice by talking about them, but you should visit scotc.com, that's the letter C, scotc.
00:02:21
Speaker
or look him up on Insta at Scott Lava. We talk a lot about creative insecurities, comparing yourself to others, his path as an artist, and also the importance of community in any artistic pursuit. I wish I had two hours to talk to Scott, but we'll have to make do with one. So maybe he'll, maybe you can come up with a new book in the next year or two and we can get him back on the show.
00:02:48
Speaker
One other thing, are you subscribed to this pod? Go find it on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, and Spotify, and if you're feeling kind or mean, leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts and share this with a buddy. Okay, now it's on to the show. Cue interview riff.
00:03:12
Speaker
What was the, maybe those conversations or the dialogues you were having when you're like, hey, mom, dad, you know, is an uncertain path, but I, you know, I want to be an artist and illustrator. What was that like in that moment when you decided you wanted to take a dive and go down this road? Well, I mean, I was pretty fortunate to have like, my mom was really creative and she was always, she was painting and making things. She was always pretty productive on that. So I think early on, like,
Artistic Support & Early Influences
00:03:40
Speaker
Like they saw how much I was loving it when I was really small. And they saw that my brother was more into music. So they put me in our classes when I was little and my brother in music. So that was like our little breakdown. So I've always been kind of like a little artist dude in our family. So I think it's just, it was never really something that like, never really discussed it. It was like, oh, hey, you know, like, is this a viable career or anything like that? It just was like gonna be, it was definitely just gonna be that since the very beginning.
00:04:11
Speaker
So, um, so yeah, cause we were, we were pretty creative and my brother and I did a lot of creative activities together. It was, I was very fortunate to have a brother that I like, we played together and we drew together and like, we sometimes would make books based on our adventures that we played with together and our actor figures and stuff. So, um, yeah, it was pretty creative environment.
00:04:31
Speaker
Yeah. Early on, who was giving you the right pushes and the right directions that were saying, like, oh, Scott, you have a knack for this. Keep going. Keep working on this and honing your skill set. Well, really, I mean, my mom probably was the biggest push arm to be honest. She was always the one that was trying to putting art materials in front of me and making me do that sort of stuff. But yeah, I guess, like,
00:05:01
Speaker
I mean, and all through elementary school even, I was just the artist kid. And I was always, I remember in second grade, we had the big contest to design the logo for the school. We were the Dilworth Dragons. And I was like, oh man, this is my chance to show everybody I'm just such a good artist. And so I submitted probably 10 designs, and a lot of them were plagiarized.
00:05:28
Speaker
that I just copied out of other books and stuff. And I didn't win some other kid in fifth grade one and I was just couldn't believe it. It was, I was like, Oh, and that made me want to just like focus on being the best at drawing dragons. So then I was really decided I would master that. So, I mean, even early on, I was always the drawing kid trying to like do that. Oh, and I got an award. I got a little trophy at the local mall when I was six years old, like coloring in, uh,
00:05:57
Speaker
It was like my first and biggest trophy that I ever got. It was weird. And it was like just a haphazard. What I love about watching kids work, it was totally that way where just like a million different colors, you know, the rabbit was purple, the tree was, you know, green. It was just not, you know, how kids think about it, which I guess is what makes me excited about watching kids work.
00:06:21
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, I was always doing that and I went to, um, and I had a great, um, junior high art teacher, my high school art teacher, Lee Okamichi was just the most encouraging person ever. Like he's still very encouraging, high energy, uh, influence. So I kind of always wanted to do it.
00:06:40
Speaker
Yeah. Did you have a real aptitude for it at a young age?
Developing Artistic Style
00:06:45
Speaker
And then through rigor and hard work, you were able to really hone your skills? Or was it something like you really had to work at it to manifest your talent? I don't know. I mean, it's so early on. I think I always, I mean, I was really working on it only because I loved it, you know? I just was drawing all the time, so I would naturally get better. But I think I did have this, like, I must have had some sort of natural thing where someone's like, dude, he's pretty good at drawing, like, um,
00:07:09
Speaker
this dragon or whatever it is you know like you'd be good drawing this one thing so I mean I guess there was a little bit of a natural bit of it and I did trace a lot from my coloring books I don't know if that helped train me but like I would like color the backs of my Star Wars coming books and then like I would trace them and then bring them to school and say I do this stormtrooper like I freehand and everyone's like oh my god really I was such a little liar
00:07:35
Speaker
But maybe perhaps that kind of helped me a little bit, like tracing something and copying something. Eventually, maybe you retain a little bit of that.
00:07:44
Speaker
That strikes me as a pretty good exercise to do because you start to learn just the natural sort of contours and proportions that make certain things just look aesthetically pleasing. And you're kind of developing a muscle based on someone else's training, but then eventually you break off those training wheels and then sort of develop your own voice. Totally. Yeah, that's how I feel about anybody like that is kind of obviously influenced by different artists or something like that. And like, oh man, you're just ripping off that artist.
00:08:14
Speaker
you know, it's at some point you'd be like, okay, yeah, you should probably change. But I feel like when an artist is trying to establish their style, that's always seems like the big thing. Everyone's like, Oh my God, how do I get my own style and all that? I feel like that's the sort of thing that just comes naturally from drawing the things that you're influenced by and drawing what gets you excited. I think eventually, even if your, your stuff is looking like somebody else's, I think eventually it comes into its own. If you,
00:08:41
Speaker
naturally, I would think. So I never get super bummed to see people that are totally biting someone else's style sometimes, but you know.
00:08:49
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's the only way to really that's how you develop a voice or the equivalent of an illustrator is that you do you have to steal a little bit from the person A and person B and then eventually over time if you do do the work and do enough repetitions your own taste does sort of surface as a hybrid of all your influences and then you become something holy you Yeah, totally. That's what's exciting part of the process man. I love that.
00:09:19
Speaker
Yeah, and I think that, we'll probably jump around a little bit, but just what you're saying really, I think, segues nicely into what you've created with the Adventures in Drawing guided sketchbook, because I think the tendency probably is to kind of maybe through the early pages of it, and it's a load of fun. And I think a lot of people would probably be like, all right, I'm going to imitate
00:09:44
Speaker
Scott just by you know you have the visual sort of guides there and I think by the time you do every single page by the time you reach the end you're probably going to start finding. A sort of artistic voice inside you didn't know it was there but you kinda had to go through the whole process right yeah totally that's all yeah that's the whole point of it like trying to like.
Creative Process & Overcoming Blocks
00:10:04
Speaker
push yourself to I mean there's all kinds of concepts in there really that like that I like try to try to adhere to when I'm when I'm trying to create which I think all you know most writers kind of do that whole free-writing thing and try to how to loosen your mind and come up with ideas and just like getting as many ideas as you can out even the crappy ones just to like kind of loosen loosen your mind up that's the whole point of the book is just try how to kind of like ease your mind
00:10:33
Speaker
And sometimes a blank piece of paper is like the most intimidating thing, but like when someone just makes one suggestion, then at least something's in your mind. There's something there and that can inspire something else. Like a tree, someone says tree and that inspires a whole wealth of possibilities.
00:10:50
Speaker
Yeah, something you just said was so important. And it's something I've heard of Seth Godin opine about while citing Isaac Asimov, who is someone who prolific sci fi writer, and he just sat himself down at the typewriter from like, seven in the morning till noon, and he just typed and didn't stop. And that was an exercise in being comfortable enough with generating enough bad work to get to the good work.
00:11:19
Speaker
So many people put that hurdle in front of them thinking they have to generate good work all the time but it's and you just said it was You have to learn how to be as soon as you learn how to be comfortable with bad stuff Then you can actually break through but you do have to generate bad stuff first, right? Exactly. I mean that I mean that and I learned that lesson in I mean in college you learn that also a little bit but it wasn't until I worked in games because I don't know I don't know if I should mention what I've done I guess but absolutely absolutely but yeah, I mean I
00:11:48
Speaker
Because I'd originally, I'm jumping around just like you're saying, right? Yeah, totally. When I went to college, I wanted to do comic books. I really wanted to draw X-Men comics and things like that. That's what I went to school to do. It was hard and it was like the mid-90s to do, they didn't have much of that stuff in school. So it was like storyboarding for movies or something like that and maybe some comic classes. So that was kind of like,
00:12:16
Speaker
that style was what I wanted to work in. And maybe picture books too, but mostly I wanted to do comics. But then after school, or even through school, through friends introducing me to other types of comics, like Chris Ware and Acme and Yikes and all these other, and Eight Ball, and other ways of doing comics that made me think differently about it and able to riff a little bit differently
00:12:46
Speaker
I don't know what characters could be doing, what they could be saying, what they could be looking like. It just kind of helped loosen it up. But then working in games, I worked in, after college, I worked at Lucas Learning doing like Star Wars games. And I was never really a huge gamer. I mean, I don't think gamer is even a term back then, but like the games, drawing for games. And then like after Lucas going in with Tim Schafer to start Double Fine,
00:13:15
Speaker
as art director and concept artist, drawing characters, the whole idea of degenerating ideas for characters is such a grueling process because you're like, you can't be married to your designs, but you have to keep on generating so many designs and then putting them in front of Tim or whoever it is and saying, hey, this is this, and you pitch it, but then you can't be so married to it because
00:13:42
Speaker
you're constantly getting denied with these things and you need to fully, fully explore all the possibilities of a character, all the possibilities of whatever it is you're working on before you actually come to the sweet spot of when the ideas are really good and what's most appropriate for whatever the project is.
00:13:59
Speaker
It's, it strikes me that that experience that you had in fifth grade of putting out 10 mockups for a logo and not winning almost was like set you up for what you were doing there with the, with this gaming company in the sense that you had to generate a lot and get used to saying nine out of 10 are like, uh, uh, uh, and then yes. So that, that strikes me as something that was pretty formative. Like if you just retroactively look back at that experience, probably true. That's probably true.
00:14:26
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I always thought that in school too, like definitely like when you, again, you have to put the first 10, 15 ideas down before you're like, Oh, okay. Now I'm getting some good ideas. Or even, even if the first idea was the best idea, going down the path of creating the 15, you're like, okay, you know what? That first idea was pretty wonderful. And you go back to it that way. But I mean, you have to fully understand what you're trying to come up with and what your, the subject matter is. You have to like really spend the time thinking about it like that.
00:14:54
Speaker
And when you were coming up as a very young artist, did you have any limiting beliefs that you had to overcome? Oh, definitely, yeah. Yeah, I mean, when I went into school, I only had a certain type of—I mean, I was into, like, you know, that certain type of art. I was into realism, and I was into, like, fantasy art. I was into all those things when I really didn't, like,
00:15:18
Speaker
abstract art didn't like modern art any kind of contemporary art like in that way and that was something that I had to learn it held me back from growing as an artist and seeing things differently and like being exposed to that like I love so many of those types of things I love I mean oh god it sounds weird but I mean I just like
00:15:42
Speaker
That has influenced how I see things, I guess. And it's opened up quite a bit more for me to that type of way of interpreting stuff. But I feel like that was the main thing for me that was holding me back, being very pigeonholing myself with what I enjoyed to look at.
Growth & Adaptation in Art
00:16:05
Speaker
And what did maybe opening your mind to some of the things that maybe didn't necessarily suit your suit, your taste 100%. But what did some of maybe that other stuff teach you and inform the work that you ended up doing and love doing? I mean, the newer styles. Yeah, yeah.
00:16:26
Speaker
Um, well, I guess like breaking it down and not having it just be like, cause in, in school I was like, Oh, I want to perfect, um, like the human body. Like I just want to be a great drafts person, you know, I want to like, just be the best at drawing these, these things. And after a while it became like, okay, I felt pretty good at it, but also it was like, what's, what am I getting out of this? And what am I saying with this? I mean, I guess that was also the thing that does a turning point for me. Cause I felt pretty lost after college of trying to figure out just like why
00:16:56
Speaker
I was creating like, because I kind of like lost my enjoyment of it. Like I was like, I just don't know why I'm painting these things. I don't know why am I putting them on the wall so people look at it and give me a thumbs up and say, Oh, you're good at drawing. Or might like, do I, cause I didn't have any messages to say to people. Like I didn't, like, I didn't have a rough life. I was just like, I, and I'm not like needing to paint or draw to stay sane or anything like that. So I feel like I didn't have a reason to be doing it. And I struggled with that quite a bit. So I, I, I.
00:17:26
Speaker
you know, saw a therapist about it even. And like, I started working with kids, painting and stuff with them and drawing with them like in shelters and things and that kind of the more time I spent with them, the more I was like, okay, this is the obviously the excitement that I've always wanted to retain from when you're a kid, and you're just like, so excited to draw in color and create scenes and characters and things like that was kind of what I wanted to get back to. So being exposed to all these different
00:17:54
Speaker
types of ways of thinking about things from kids to like, you know, adults in museums and galleries that I was enjoying going to, like, that just helped me kind of break things down a little bit, a little bit differently.
Finding Joy & Avoiding Burnout
00:18:09
Speaker
And what about your work graduated to another level after that, after working with the kids and having that kind of a breakthrough?
00:18:19
Speaker
I think it just loosened me up a bit because that was the main thing about it. I enjoyed the process more and I enjoyed seeing people enjoy the work. I like making people laugh and I like making people enjoy themselves. That's what I've decided.
00:18:40
Speaker
That's my favorite thing to do. I'm not going to make them think. I mean, maybe in the future I could maybe try to figure out how to make people think about the deeper parts of life. But I guess I am making people think about that.
00:18:53
Speaker
I forgot the question. I'm rambling. What did you say? Just how did your work change after you had that breakthrough of working with them? You're at that point where you were lost after college and then working with the kids in the shelters, another switch turned on for you. Well, I think that's what it was. I enjoyed the process a lot more and I enjoyed painting in that way and thinking about it and not worrying about it and just
00:19:22
Speaker
not being afraid of the blank page and not being afraid of like the reason why I was creating it. And I was just enjoying making these things. And, and I think it just, my, my work kind of started coming alive a bit more. Um, and, and around that time, I also started painting in watercolors and the mediums themselves were something I struggled with as well, because I was trying to paint with gouache and acrylic and I just was struggling with everything. It was like, I just didn't enjoy it.
00:19:46
Speaker
So it was just kind of things came together at the right time, like discovering watercolors was kind of like a nice way to, it helped me relax a little bit because it was a very airy, pleasant, almost non-committal medium to me that I was like, oh, this is really easing my
00:20:05
Speaker
easing myself, easing my mind, my soul. And as you're looking to then take your art and turn it into a vocation, how did you maintain the joy and the excitement? Or how do you maintain the joy and excitement so you don't get burned out when you go to the drafting table and you're like, here we go again?
00:20:31
Speaker
How do you manifest that so you don't get burned out with the work that you grew up loving? It's hard, man, because you do get burnt out. I do get burnt out, to be honest with you. But I think in the years of growing as an artist, when I was working at the game company, I had a number of different outlets, I guess, for it. Not having all of it in the game company. When I was working on the games,
00:20:57
Speaker
I was also working on comics. I was doing comics with my friends. We get together every Sunday and we would just do jam comics together and we would make these comics for comic shows and stuff. And then I also had a band and I had like another art collective that we would throw shows together and everyone did different things like photography and like painting and whatever it is. And so there's some chefs and like we would throw these shows, these experiences. So it was kind of like,
00:21:23
Speaker
having my hand in different things, and always with a group of other people, because I had a hard time motivating myself. So I think having my hand in all those different things kind of helped fuel each other, because I could take a break from any of those things, you know? And that kind of helped me kind of relax with everything. And I kind of probably overworked myself a bit too much. In my San Francisco days, I probably worked a little bit too much. But it didn't matter, because I was young and excited. I had the energy to do it.
00:21:53
Speaker
Now, finding the life balance was something that kind of also shifted my life a bit.
Community & Collaboration
00:22:02
Speaker
So I wasn't working constantly because I think another part of it too is getting out and enjoying the day, enjoying friends, enjoying experiences, and taking in the culture of the world and not working constantly. I think there needs to be happy meaning between that or else it's different doubt.
00:22:18
Speaker
that you've said a lot of really great things they're worth unpacking like there's that a community element to that I think so vital whether it doesn't matter what discipline artistic discipline it's like having having these groups and being a little getting outside of your own head and being a part of something that's a little bit bigger what like the just even if it's as simple as a bunch of pals getting around doing the
00:22:43
Speaker
jam comics, which just sounds awesome. Like, how important was that for you to have these more social gatherings? And how did that inform inform you and sort of feed you? Well, it was always good to have friends to get you to do things. I mean, because you hold each other accountable for it. And then having goals like it's one thing to have a group of friends to get together and show projects to each other is another thing to be like, okay, well, let's have a show. Let's rent out this space and we will have a show.
00:23:13
Speaker
And, um, there, and that's the goal. So we will create work for that show. Or here's a comic, a comic invention coming out. Um, we have to create comics that we bring to the show. Like we had goals, like that was a secret to like actually being productive. Um, but actually having friends to be accountable, help you be accountable, like really helped as well. So, and with the comic guys getting together and doing the jam comics, that, that was like the early days of me.
00:23:41
Speaker
really getting stressed out about the blank page because, um, I'm sure you know about that. People have known about the jam comic thing, but the, the sort of thing where like what you each have a piece of paper and like one person draws a panel to start like a comic and then you pass it to the next person. And then they continue that comic and you have to kind of. I mean, oftentimes they turn raunchy, which I tried to avoid as much as I could, but they tried to like, uh, you know, you, you try to be funny and out funny, each other, whatever.
00:24:09
Speaker
But whenever it came to me, I would really get stressed out about it and really be struggling with it. I'm like, Oh my God, like what do I do next? And it was a really good exercise to kind of loosen up that part of, uh, of the mind. So.
00:24:23
Speaker
With your approach to the to the work, what would you say is are your your key strengths?
Improv Techniques in Art
00:24:31
Speaker
And what do you struggle with as well? With when it comes to brainstorming coming up with ideas and things your ideas or even just your
00:24:40
Speaker
Um, as you approach, you know, a project or an assignment, you know, what do you, what are some things that you feel you're particularly good at? And, uh, maybe some things that are, are, that are lagging, but you, you know, you gotta level those up to what you're really strong with. Right, right, right. Well, I guess like, I mean, every, whatever the project is I'm working on or, um, I like to, um, uh,
00:25:07
Speaker
I like to, and I just need to take the pressure off my mind in any way possible. I mean, that's like, cause I approach it a little bit like, um, I mean, I talk a lot about improv cause I, I do improv every once in a while. Um, which is, um, just, I'm sure people know about what it is, but it's like the, where, uh, group of people get up in front of, uh, of an audience and, um, or just in front of each other and you ask for a word from the audience and then you just started instantly making
00:25:35
Speaker
scenes from those words. So it's a way to kind of stay creative. And you never think about it that much. You just go in and keep continuing as a way to kind of get out of your head. That's because that's the whole point of it. And I like to take that same approach to drawing and coming up with ideas and things. So if there's a project, I will like, first thing I'll probably do is I gather so much reference. I'm very good at gathering reference. Like it's kind of my procrastinator. I just
00:26:04
Speaker
like spend like a long time gathering reference because I never know like what are the what are those things you just never know what might inspire an idea and then lay all that reference out and like just start riffing and just drawing and making lists and not having it be having to be very extreme consciousness and not being afraid to just like make a list about you know what you're gonna do during the day or make a list about your you know your favorite movies your favorite foods whatever it is doesn't matter because you're just
00:26:33
Speaker
you're just exercising your mind a little bit. And that was like, that was kind of like, I feel like that's the best way for me to generate lots and lots of ideas. And I feel like that is a strength that I have as far as like coming up with lots of ideas. I kind of do that to perhaps a fault because I spend a lot of time doing that side of it. And then focusing on certain ideas that kind of are like, that make me laugh or make me happy or that might work for whatever the project is. That's like,
00:27:03
Speaker
I'm not the best decision maker, so sometimes I need help with that part of it. But besides that, once I get started, then it's a pretty enjoyable process. But definitely the brainstorming part was just my favorite part. And then actually painting it, there's always the point where I assemble everything in the computer, and then I print it out to paint it. And I'm always like,
00:27:33
Speaker
When I'm painting something, there's always a middle zone. Like when I get started, I'm like, cool. Oh man, I have to make decisions on color. It kind of stresses me out. And there's always like a middle zone where I'm like basically trying to salvage the painting. Like I feel like I'm trying to, I'm like, this is going to turn out horrible. And I'm just trying to salvage it. And then by the end of it, I'm like, okay, that works. That feels good. And I'm just, I have to call it quits.
00:27:57
Speaker
And I always call my paintings quits before they probably should be quit just because I could genuinely work on every painting for like five, six, seven months and never be done with it. Cause I'm just keep seeing stuff. So I have to cut myself off or else like, you know, at some point, you know, I'll never get onto another painting sort of thing.
00:28:18
Speaker
Yeah, that's, uh, uh, I think a common thread among a lot of people, you know, writers too, like if they don't have a deadline, they'll just keep tinkering and tinkering and tinkering, taking out a sentence and then putting another one back in. And it's like, eventually you just need to say, nope, it's you've put in the time, it's good, ship it and move on to the next project. I know. And sometimes it's definitely disconcerting, like working in the games, like you're constantly like,
00:28:42
Speaker
seeing things that you could like make better or gameplay that is better and you're constantly like, oh, wanting to keep doing it, but you just don't have the time, you don't have the budget and you just have to put out, just do as well, as good a job as you can and whatever it is and hopefully it'll be, you know, people won't notice the things that you notice. Yeah. Yeah. Which is almost always the case. Yeah, sometimes you just have to get to a point where it's like, it doesn't have to be good, it just has to be good enough and then keep moving. Right.
00:29:10
Speaker
Right. It's not a depressing thought. It's like just something you're like, hey, you know, like, this is the best I can do right now. I'm going to move on and make some other wonderful thing. And so you just kind of keep moving. Have you seen the movie Don't Think Twice? Oh, man, I don't think so.
00:29:25
Speaker
that movies, um, you know, it's an improv movie and it's written by Mike Berbigula. And yeah, and it's, it's stars Gillian Jacobs and, um, you know, Oh geez, a Keenan Michael key, uh, Michael. Yeah. The guy from key and Peele, the key for key and Peele. Yeah. I need to watch that because I haven't watched it yet.
00:29:46
Speaker
Man, I think you'd love it given that you dabble in an improv and I there are just so many great things that are and themes within that movie that I think apply to anyone in the art in the arts and Namely like one of them gets very successful in the troop like gets picked out to be like the Saturday Night Live one and
00:30:06
Speaker
And he's not necessarily better than everyone else, but for some reason he was chosen. And so then it's like how does the group dynamic where improv is all about the group and surrendering to that, whatever it is. It's all for the yes and it's all for the group. And then the one gets plucked. And so all of a sudden it's the one with his, you know, they all have the same ambitions.
00:30:27
Speaker
But that guy made it. And so it's like, how do these people wrestle with their jealousies and everything? And so I think there's a lot of really good things that you'd probably just recognize as any artist I think does in that movie. Yeah, definitely. Because your peers and everyone are constantly having successes and failures all around you. And it's hard to not compare yourself to other people, obviously.
00:30:53
Speaker
That's something I love talking to people about everyone because I'm especially guilty of it. Anytime I find myself doing it, I just feel lousy. How do you deal with comparing yourself to others and maybe jealousies that you have felt for other people in the field? How do you redirect that energy when you feel that creeping on?
00:31:21
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, of course that affects me, but like I try to just like, I mean, I just kind of let it happen a little bit and then just kind of let it wash over myself. But for the most part, just to remind myself that everyone is like, everyone has their own path and their own strengths and weaknesses. And it's just like, it's, um,
00:31:38
Speaker
I find it kind of inspiring to see people have successes and have wonderful things happening. It just makes me want to keep doing better stuff.
00:31:55
Speaker
someone you feel like you're every bit as talented, you work every bit as hard, and then one person seems to be just like a meteoric rise, and then you just start looking at yourself like, what did I do wrong if I'm still sort of stuck in the mud here? It can be challenging to deal with that. I feel like that's just like looking at the universe, and it's just like it's too much to handle. It's too overwhelming for a human being to think about that too much. There's enough stuff to worry about in your day-to-day life to think about the hypotheticals of like, oh my god,
00:32:24
Speaker
This person's like, Oh, that's so successful. What's this thing? Why haven't I did it? Like, that's just like thinking about, Oh man, where's the universe end? What is the, what is the, it's just like, there's no point to be thinking that stuff. It just kind of just messes with your mind and you leave the earth for awhile and you think about that stuff and then you come back and like, Oh, okay, let's get back to what I'm doing. It's just like.
00:32:46
Speaker
There's not really a point to do that. Yeah. I like that. Yeah. Total agreement. Um, how do you set up your days so you can approach the work with like good energy and try to check in with yourself to kind of reach that, that coveted flow state where you're just really clicking on all cylinders?
Daily Routines & Productivity Tips
00:33:05
Speaker
Well, I do kind of like have a little bit of a routine.
00:33:09
Speaker
Um, that I, that I do kind of rely on as a way to like, I mean, creature habits in that way, but, um, um, but yeah, I, cause I always, I mean, and there's through the years, there's things I've discovered about myself with my own productivity, just give myself a break on certain things and let myself go. When like, for example, like I, I wake up, I, I like mornings since I wake up early and, um, I immediately have to get out of the house. Like I can't work in my house in the mornings. Like I have to.
00:33:38
Speaker
And I like being around other people. So I immediately have to get out and go to a coffee shop and hang out, read, read whatever I'm reading and just, just relax myself as much as I can. And then I can get into whatever the work is that I need to do. Um, and I also know that, um, my, there's the golden hours of working. Like I, you don't, I feel like you don't need to work nonstop from morning till night. Even if you have a deadline, it just seems like.
00:34:02
Speaker
You don't have to have a huge chunk of time to do that stuff if you're trying to riff on something. I can usually get my work done from 9 to 11, and then I know that I have a weak spot in the middle of the day where I can't get anything done. I can't focus at all until 3 or 4, and then 3 or 4 until 7, that's my other golden hour. Those are my two times that I can get work done, and it's okay to not
00:34:29
Speaker
get a lot of work done in the middle of the day. If you know you can cram some good chunks of work in those two little zones and you can get the same amount of work done, then it's fine. If you know that you get a lot of work done in a few hours of the day and you can really hammer it out, then that's fine. You don't have to push yourself constantly. I feel like those sorts of breaks are kind of nice. I can do my business-y things in the middle of the day, my brainless stuff that I don't need to worry about.
00:34:59
Speaker
too much. So when you go to the coffee shop in the morning, what are you typically reading? I don't know, whatever book I'm reading. I'm reading some sci-fi book right now. Do you have a favorite author or genre that you like to read? No, not really. After I finish a book that I really love, I want to keep reading that genre and they start down the road of a similar book. I'm like, this isn't the same. And then I shift. I really like
00:35:30
Speaker
I like, I mean, I like fantasy stuff. I like sci-fi stuff. I like kind of Stephen King sorts of books where it's like, like, you know, real world stuff. It's just a touch of supernatural weird stuff happening. You know, I like those sorts of books too. What am I reading right now? This is a super sci-fi one. The fifth season is what I'm reading right now. Okay. Go to N.K. Jemisin. It's really good.
00:35:55
Speaker
Um, I think I read Stephen King before this to be honest, but anyways, yeah. So then you, then you get back to your studio. Is your studio at home or do you have a workplace offsite? I have, I've recently moved to LA and I haven't like gotten a studio here yet. I haven't, um, I, but I do like to work out and around like.
00:36:17
Speaker
And it's like we work sorts of spaces and stuff to be around people. But I have a studio in Brooklyn that I, with a bunch of artists that I like to be around and work. But usually like when I'm trying to come up with ideas, I like to be out in coffee shops to come up with ideas. And then I go into the studio to just make stuff like, like, you know, paint and do that sort of thing. That's usually how I break it up.
00:36:39
Speaker
And so you've got that window, say nine to 11. And then you have another golden set of hours from three to seven. So in between, what are you typically doing in those in those moments to either detach yourself from what you've been doing and also in a way to like prepare for the next wave.
00:37:00
Speaker
Um, I guess like, well, that's when I do my emails and get on a computer and kind of take care of like, businessy things. I mean, there's enough businessy things to like, keep me occupied a little bit. And then also just, uh, gathering reference and things that, and going for strolls and hopefully getting out and experiencing the world a little bit more going to museum or, you know, going to the park. Um, I don't know, I'm doing, uh, doing more of the kind of normal life things of all the time.
00:37:27
Speaker
And what do those business-y things look like for you personally? So for people to get a sense of what that is, the nature of your hustle, invoicing, whatever it may be. What does that look like for you? God, there's so many. I mean, I have my online shop that I have to like, I have someone that runs it and everything.
00:37:48
Speaker
Um, we have, and we have regular prints, print drops that we do and products that we have to create. Um, and then just like answering emails from people and, um, I mean, various, I feel like I want to open my email just to kind of remind me what I do, what I have to do. But, uh, I mean, I'm not constantly doing invoices. I'm not constantly doing that stuff, but just like, I guess business is, is all the things on email and stuff that, that take me away from.
00:38:18
Speaker
drawing, I suppose. It probably isn't really business, I'll say. Right. And what fraction of your time and sort of mental headspace is dedicated to that versus actual creation? Probably more than I wish it was. During the day, you mean? Yeah, yeah. Probably more than, yeah. It occupies my mind a little bit too much. But you're also catching me at a moment where I'm like in the throes of all these deadlines and I'm like,
00:38:46
Speaker
trying to juggle like three or four different projects at once, and I'm like exceptionally in scattered range. And I try my best to fill in every moment, which is, I'm not really living by my rules right now. Uh-huh, yeah. It's funny, yeah, a couple months ago, months ago, maybe a couple months ago, is when I was just like scrolling through my Google feed on my phone. And that's when I came across, this is how I got,
00:39:15
Speaker
Familiar with with you and your work. I it was the the great showdowns with the infinity war thing for summer that popped up and I was like, oh that's super cool and so I just started clicking on that and then of course went down the rabbit hole of finding out more about you and your work and Something that that struck me. I was interesting
00:39:39
Speaker
aside from it just being all the showdown stuff you do, just being super fun and just really fun to look at. I was curious about how an artist can get permission to use popular culture images for their own interpretation.
Inspiration & Intellectual Property
00:40:00
Speaker
Is there a process where you have to talk to Marvel or Disney about this?
00:40:06
Speaker
How does that work at a decimal for my own curiosity? I mean, you probably should if you're making like tons and tons of money off of something and it becomes like a huge thing. I mean, obviously, yeah, you probably should. But I mean, with a lot of these projects, I just like – well, the showdowns, it's just – I mean, in some ways, it's like –
00:40:28
Speaker
It's an interpretive kind of fan thing that you're just kind of you're creating something based on something that is like something that's just as inspiring so it's just like a it's a sea of like the showdowns are just like a sea of The films that inspire me just boil down to like little moments of tension and things and that's like just kind of a fun little thing that I do but I def I certainly don't get
00:40:51
Speaker
go and seek out all the studios and get permission to post those. That just would be a little bit too much work. I've never had a problem with it. I've only just kind of talked to directors and movie makers and things about it and it's just kind of a fun exchange of
00:41:11
Speaker
Stuff, I guess, you know like giving them prints of the movies that they've made and like enjoying the movies that they make and like it's just kind of an exchange of Creating things for each other is how I see it, you know, how did you come up with the great showdown idea? That was like from I used to show well, I still show it this was gallery called night gallery 1988 in LA I forget how long they've been around since 2005 or something but
00:41:41
Speaker
They were one of the, I feel like they're one of the first galleries to have like kind of pop culture inspired shows. And there's one, one of the early group shows is called Crazy for Cult, which is like paintings based, you know, inspired by cult movies. And that was in the first time I was in that show was when I created those little 10 little showdowns for movies just to kind of like have them
00:42:06
Speaker
be like little candy, little bite-sized pieces. Because a lot of the pieces that everyone was creating were really big and overwhelming. And I was more like little taste tests for people, like affordable little art that people could buy. And it was kind of just like fun little boiling down those moments. And I think it was like a fistful of dollars and Ghostbusters and against Slimer. And I think it was Predator when he takes off his mask.
00:42:34
Speaker
like various moments that between characters, like real moments that we remember between things. And it was just a fun, fun time I had making that. And then every time they had a cult show, a crazy cult show each year, I would make more of them. And then eventually I just got really so, so into them. I started the website as a way for me to like create them on a regular basis. Do you have a notebook set aside that's like your great showdown's ideas?
00:43:04
Speaker
Yeah, well I have a word doc that I've had since 2008 that I just keep adding to and then crossing off and stuff, but Because anytime anyone is like I've done this or this and I'll just add it to the list So I'm slowly making my way through it and there's a lot of movies that are comfortably in the middle of the queue. I
00:43:21
Speaker
But I don't know if I'll ever get to them. So it's always it exists. Yeah. Yeah. And there you can do so you can take it in so many different directions. And it's really just it's wild and fun. And I wonder if when you were watching Infinity War as you you're like, oh, man, this is going to be I might be in trouble with this one. This one's big. Yeah, that was definitely a big one. Sure.
00:43:48
Speaker
I mean, there was a time too when I was when I was really, because I took a break from the showdowns for about a year, like last year. And because it was it was it did kind of get overwhelming and just kind of every time I'd see a movie, I would think, Oh, what would I, what would the show be from this? And just kind of messed with my viewing experiences sometimes. But now I just don't care about as much. Just well, when I sit down later after seeing a movie, then I'll try to sift through and figure out what would be a good moment.
00:44:15
Speaker
Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking. If you're so in that, then you're watching the movie just thinking like, all right, well, what's going to be the great showdown for this? And then it totally just takes you out of the moment. It does. I feel that way too when I'm on vacation and taking pictures. I don't take pictures that much on vacation or I'm taking it a lot in a moment. I like to experience the vacation, so I feel like it takes me out. Like, okay, now I'm going to frame it and take a picture of it.
00:44:44
Speaker
All of a sudden, I'm having pictures on vacation instead of having a vacation. It just messes with it. I don't know. It's true. Also, just the sort of infective way that social media has just kind of viralized into our lives.
00:45:09
Speaker
It can be a bit it's a bit unsettling that it's just every moment you know there is some a little twitch in your brain that's like when you take a picture of something it's like oh like is this a postable thing and it's like no it's like stop that this is like a new phenomenon for the last 10 years like just stop it and enjoy the landscape instead of thinking about how you're gonna post it on your instagram feed yeah i mean if you can really there and there are people i mean i don't know i think most people well
00:45:35
Speaker
I mean, I don't know how they feel about like taking pictures like that and what their reasons are for it. But I remember like before Instagram, like my buddy that we've always been hanging out and he'd constantly be wanting to, oh yeah, let's take a photo right now. I'll take a photo. I'm like, man, that's so crazy that like he, it's like super enjoyable for him to record those moments. And like, it's part of experiencing the world for him is like, oh, let's take a picture of him, take a picture of it. But, um, which I think like now maybe, maybe people think of it that way too, I suppose. But.
00:46:03
Speaker
How do you like to manage your social media so you don't get overwhelmed by the whole machine of that? I don't know. I don't know. I'm really into like, I mean, I think right now I've just gotten really into the Instagram stories. It's like, because I can just power through it really quick. And like, like just eating a quick meal sort of thing. And I guess like, I'm not
00:46:33
Speaker
I don't know. It's not a huge part of my life. I'm not really on Facebook much anymore. It's not like I'm not looking at it all the time. It's not a huge obsession of mine necessarily. So I feel like I don't need to regulate it a lot.
00:46:45
Speaker
Yeah. What's fun about your Instagram feed, I love the process ones, the showing your work elements of showing you sketching, pencil sketch of something and then as you're painting in with the watercolors and stuff. That's pretty fun. I love seeing process stuff. Is that kind of your favorite thing to use it for? Yeah. I think so because I love watching people paint. It's so therapeutic to watch. I love that, to be honest.
00:47:13
Speaker
Yeah, I like to, I like to post that much. I can, but it, but then again, that is something that like, I think about when I'm painting like, oh, here I'm cruising painting. And then I'm like, oh, I should probably, oh man, maybe I should record video. And that just takes me out of the whole painting experience too. So even that it's like, I'm either painting or I'm like thinking about how I should.
00:47:31
Speaker
do a photograph and it takes me out. I'm an observer of myself. Yeah. At what point did you want to then design and work your way through adventures in drawing?
Creating Adventures in Drawing
00:47:45
Speaker
What was the inspiration for you to create this wonderful little notebook?
00:47:53
Speaker
I mean, I really do enjoy the process of coming up with ideas and brainstorming. And I think Insight Editions that put out my art book, which came before The Splendid Life, is like a collection of all my art for the past six, seven years. And they wanted to also put a coloring book out like as a companion thing. So I was kind of thinking like, well, let's make it like more like a workbook. Like you would have the art book and you'd have
00:48:18
Speaker
this book as almost like a way to kind of like come up with ideas and when you're looking through you're looking through the art and everything and then you this is kind of like your own little notebook that you kind of bring around and and brainstorm yourself because I mean I do find I mean I am fascinated by people's like process and how they come up with ideas and I just wanted to like create a book that like people can kind of
00:48:43
Speaker
you know, riff and come up with ideas on their own, but it's like we're, I'm making suggestions for them and kind of taking them through my process a little bit so we can kind of create together. So I really want it to be a book where like, it's like, I'm hanging out, we're hanging out together, drawing together. Like I really wanted to feel like that. That's why I wrote little, all through it, I have my, I'm just like writing little things about what we're drawing together and almost like we're just kind of hanging out in a coffee shop together, you know? Yeah. Cause that's one thing I really love. Like I love,
00:49:13
Speaker
interacting with people I love hanging out that's with with the live stuff on live streaming and things like that and going to shows gallery shows and going to comic conventions and things I just love meeting other artists and meeting people that like I enjoy their work they enjoy my work or just like people that just I don't know it's fun to hang out with people like in that capacity so I kind of wanted to be that virtual
00:49:36
Speaker
Yeah, I always love talking to people about how they deal with loneliness and even self-doubt. And it sounds like how you deal with maybe both of those is by ensuring that you're surrounded by people who are maybe of different artistic taste, but just by being in and among a group of people who just dig art is a way to kind of quell those inner demons as well as
00:50:02
Speaker
you know, keep you from going crazy. And they, cause this is what can be lonely work. Definitely. I mean, that's probably why Twitter and Instagram and stuff is so popular with artists. Cause I mean, it is such a lonely profession. And so it's kind of feel like you can, you're working late, you're stressed on something and then you look on there and like, Oh, there's these other people working late too. It's like the world's our workshop together. The world's our studio. Oh, I'm sorry. Go on.
00:50:28
Speaker
No, just like working in a studio, it's the same thing I was just gonna say. That's why I like being around other artists, even just in their presence.
00:50:35
Speaker
Yeah, and you said you were fascinated. Part of the reason why you like to show the videos of you painting or sketching is because you're fascinated by other artists' process as well. So who are some of the other artists, maybe peers that you admire or maybe even just inspirations from decades ago, maybe their process. Who are some of those artists that inform what you do and fascinate you?
00:51:04
Speaker
God, I mean, that's like such a huge, I mean, I guess it's ever it's certainly ever changing. I think like, I think some some of my big influences when I was first starting with my style, this painting and stuff was like, really into shag. And like, Joe Soren, and JOC bold and those guys and, um,
00:51:26
Speaker
and then slowly kind of building from the, and then earlier than that Richard Scarry books with just a lot happening in those books and at Emberley and you know, Morrie Sendak and those sorts of illustrators and creators. But then like, I mean, even now like on Instagram, see I'm pulling my Instagram now so I can remember who all I'm looking at all the time. I mean, I love,
00:51:54
Speaker
I love, Aaron Horky puts out a lot of, our styles are wildly different, but like he does those really detailed pen drawings for Mondo that I just, and he's constantly putting process stuff up there. And it's so fun to watch him do his like pen work. It's crazy. And like, I like Seo Kim stuff. I like Ghost Shrimp. I like Fandria. I like, I don't know.
00:52:24
Speaker
It's a sea of people that run together in a wonderful community. Is there a particular tactic or anything in the last, let's just say, five years that you've picked up from somebody else and be like, oh, that's a really cool habit or tactic that I'm going to cherry pick and steal to apply to my own work? Well, I'm sure that in the early days, my buddy John Classen, he's a pretty popular, pretty successful picture book artist. And I know in the beginning days when we were drawing,
00:52:54
Speaker
I would be very much influenced without how he would break down shapes.
00:53:00
Speaker
Um, and I would find myself wanting to simplify like that as much as I could. I mean, he relies a lot more on, well, not relies, but he's really wonderful at creating shapes to define things. And I really rely on, uh, lines, like really lively line work. You know, I feel like that kind of saves my stuff lots of times, but I, but I would oftentimes think about how he would break shapes down with like, with, uh, values and lights and darks and things. And that could kind of help me.
00:53:28
Speaker
think about things. Sometimes I did what John do. I asked myself that. How have you over the over the years kind of cultivated a sense of patience with your work to run your own race and to let your career just kind of unfold that at your own tempo?
Patience & Comparison in Art
00:53:48
Speaker
Man, how do you deal how you deal with your own tempo, your own like,
00:53:52
Speaker
I guess this kind of harkens back to the comparison question, in a sense, it's kind of a partner to that. Because you know, just, you know, you might be seeing some, some people that might be five or 10 years ahead of you, and you're like, you want to get there so fast, but you have to have like, a security and your own, and your own path. And just be patient that if you put in the work, you know, you'll get there, it might just, it might not be tomorrow, but it's coming, you just got to keep doing the work.
00:54:19
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I think that came from many, many years because there's, there's so many people that like are much younger than me that I'm like, Oh my God, they're doing the stuff that I want to be doing too. You know, but I think it's just like so many, there's just so many things that I just want to do. I just know that like, I don't know. I just know that I'll get to him someday or maybe I won't, but as long as I'm still just making those things, it doesn't, it doesn't bother me as much as maybe it should, I guess. I don't know exactly the best way to deal with it. He's ever just keep yourself productive and.
00:54:49
Speaker
Um, not dwell, like, you know, see other people. I guess like if I was ever kind of really getting down the dumps about it or kind of getting my own freaked out zone, I'll just call somebody up or go hang out with some people and just forget about it. Wash it away with hangouts. I like that. Uh, what are, what are some of the things that you, um, some other goals that you have creatively that you want to get to?
00:55:14
Speaker
Well, I mean, I have these pitches I'm working on for more books, picture books and stuff, but I would like to do some, I would like to do cartoon. I would like to get into movement of my stuff. I've been trying to figure out how to get together some pitches for that. And, but also like, I like performing. I like being in front of people. I like doing that sort of thing too. So I don't know. My own person in front of people. I don't know what that entails.
00:55:42
Speaker
in movies and, uh, you know, things like that. I just like, I don't know, like, I don't know all that stuff, but I also love to create like a environment for people to come like their kit for kids, like almost like a Disneyland environment. That'd be another dream. That's cool. Yeah. Like a Lego, like the Lego park and all that kind of interactive stuff. Yeah. A place that kids can enter an experience or people can enter an experience or even a show. Well, also I want to do a show like, uh,
00:56:10
Speaker
Like a, not a Mr. Rogers show or a Bob Ross show, but a show that I can create and hang out with people and connect to people in that way as well. Like maybe live in person and also something, you know, a show online or some sort of.
00:56:26
Speaker
TV thing. I don't know. I feel like that would be like, especially since you're in LA now, like to just do maybe like a little 10 or 15 person audience, but you just like can stream it live on YouTube and then have it archived there too. So it serves, it serves the live audience as well as an archived audience who wants to go check out the backlog. That seems totally possible. Yeah. It seems like so many of those shows now that you see like live comedy shows like, okay, recording this is a podcast.
00:56:54
Speaker
Um, it seems like a popular thing, live show. Yeah. But yeah, I'd be down with that. I'd be down with that. I just, I just like working with people and having good times. I want to stay fresh and happy. Yeah. So, so what, how do you keep things, you know, fresh and happy and what still excites you and keeps bringing you back to the drafting table? I don't know. Like, um, like.
00:57:24
Speaker
just brainstorming, brainstorming new new projects, whether it be like a gallery show or like a book or I don't know, I feel like as an artist, it's good to keep on wanting to change and grow with what you do and stuff. Like I would like to tell some like longer form stories somehow. I mean, heck, I haven't even told that many short form stories. Yeah. But someone tells more stories. I don't know. That's a tough one.
00:57:50
Speaker
Yeah. I guess. Yeah. I partly ask that because once you've been in it for 15 or 20 years, it can be a grind. And I'm sure you've experienced that. And everyone does at some point. But at some point, you reach a level where, oh, that's why I did this. It was that moment when I was in fifth grade drawing dragons. That was that moment of joy. And if I can get back to that ethos,
00:58:20
Speaker
it'll make everything kind of iron over like de wrinkle everything that you're doing, the business stuff, you know, it's like, if I can get back to that moment of joy. And so that's why sometimes I ask like, what still excites you because that's, it's like, Oh, yeah, if I can find that moment, that's what keeps bringing the best work out of myself. Right. I think that's that I mean, I think that's what that's definitely what it is. Like, just like, um,
00:58:46
Speaker
whatever job you're working on, because I've been working on Psychonauts, a sequel to an early game that came out in 2005 from Double Fine. And it's something that is super fun, but in order to keep fresh and enjoy that, there's, I'm constantly wandering eyes, I'm like, oh my god, there's this other thing I want to do, or this other thing I want to do, and just finding time to work on all these various things, I feel like can keep you young, but also can drive you bonkers.
00:59:16
Speaker
I don't know. There's such a thing as doing too many things at once. I guess that's the thing that I have. Yeah, I have a hard time focusing myself. Is that something you kind of struggle with too, is like just picking a direction and going with it? Definitely. I mean, man, this past like, I mean, the last book, last picture book that I came out with was Cug Machine. That was 2014. And I do, I am a little frustrated. I haven't put out another book since then on my own.
00:59:42
Speaker
And when I was sending pictures to my agent, I would come up with these little log lines, little concepts, like the brainstorming thing is always my favorite part. And I had a list of 150 of these concepts, and I would send them to my agent, and I'd be like, help me pick five of these. And I could definitely go through and part those down. I think you could part those down. Not all of them are that great. But I just have a hard time. I need someone to help me figure out, hey, focus on these ones. I just need it. That's where I need to help.
01:00:12
Speaker
the health the most, perhaps, you know, like knowing which to pay attention to, you know. Yeah. And with Adventures in Drawing, like what are you hoping that even someone who wouldn't consider themselves an aspiring artist, just someone who's like just looking to noodle noodle around and have some fun, like what are you hoping that they take away from this this fun book? Well, I guess like that they can come up with ideas of their own that are pretty wonderful and like just how to like kind of
01:00:41
Speaker
Just relax your mind, you know? And like, just, I don't know, feel good about the wild ideas that they can come up with. Yeah, and is there a particular, I loved on very early, there's like different types of tools to use, whether brush pens or pencils or crayons. Is there a particular device that lends itself better to a certain kind of sketching, or is it just a matter of taste?
01:01:11
Speaker
I think it probably is a matter of taste. I remember back in the day when I was first designing Double Fine, I would constantly change my mediums because if I'm hitting a wall for my design, I'm like, oh, it's because I'm using colored pencils. I need to use markers. And I'll start using markers. And then I'll be like, oh, and I'll hit a good run of good designs. And then I'll start hitting a wall again. I'm like, I need to switch up. I need to start drawing on paper bag. I was constantly changing my mediums because it was just
01:01:40
Speaker
whatever you're the most comfortable doing, you know, because sometimes even using the same thing over and over again, you get burnt out on that. And you're, you know, so that's, that's why I like it. I mean, for me right now, I really like painting with soft graphite pencils and colored pencils, or that's not painting. That's trying. But that's how I like generating ideas. That's my favorite thing. But in the past, it was like brush pens or like ballpoint pen sometimes are fun to draw with. But
01:02:09
Speaker
Really, whatever relaxes you. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. Well, Scott, where can people find you online and get more familiar with your work if they're not already familiar with you? Scott C. That's just the letter C. Scottc.com is probably the best way. You can go see gretchodowns.com and things like that. But Scott C. is probably the quickest way to get to everything.
01:02:37
Speaker
and then like on Twitter and Instagram I Scott lava is my handle very nice where did that come from the lava part oh well that's in the beginning days of Twitter when you have to come up with a handle and it was like a hot lava Scott lava
01:02:54
Speaker
And that joke is going to have to stick with me for the rest of my days, basically. Fantastic. Well, Scott, thank you so much for carving out an hour of your day to just talk shop about how you go about your own work and your in your career. This is a lot of fun for me to get to kind of know you a little bit more and get familiar with your work and talk to you about the process. So thank you so much for the time and I wish you the continued success. And I can't wait to have another conversation like this again at some point in the future.
01:03:22
Speaker
Thank you, man. Thank you so much. It was super great talking to you. Awesome. Well, thanks so much. And yeah, we'll keep in touch for sure. Let's do it. All right. Take care. Me too. I'm going to give myself a high five for that show, episode 116 in the books. Go find Scott at scottc.com and follow him everywhere.
01:03:43
Speaker
buy his book, buy his merch, buy a great showdown print. I desperately want the Infinity War print, and the Spider-Man Homecoming print, and the Wonder Woman print. I was thinking of suggesting a Titanic and Iceberg great showdown, but that seemed in poor taste. Thanks for listening, CNFers. Much love from your humble host. If you can't do interview, see ya!
01:04:06
Speaker
Today's episode is brought to you by my amazing monthly newsletter. That's right. Sign up for my reading recommendations list by visiting brendanomera.com and entering your email either in the snot bar at the top of the page or in the pop-up that'll come up in the middle about 10 seconds into your sesh.
01:04:28
Speaker
On the first of the month, you'll receive a cool photograph I took, four book recommendations, a cool quote or two, and links to the past month on the podcast. It's a tasty bit of goodness to start your month.