The Creative Advice that Changed My Life Forever
The Creative Advice that Changed My Life Forever
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The Finds
How I turn a single scrap of paper into several new art opportunities.
The world expected Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to be shattered and ungracious when Lebron James broke the all-time scoring record. To the contrary…
You may have seen that I’m planning a complete overhaul of my studio/workspace so I’ve been binging workspace planning content like mad.
There’s something oddly satisfying about staring at an ugly thing with awe.
Earlier this week, I declared that I’m no longer interested in graphic design, and infinitely more interested in art… with a design aesthetic. I wonder, could my recent work could be useful as editorial illustration. If so, then I better learn how to beef up the portfolio in that regard.
A video I watched a couple of years ago recently popped up in my YouTube feed again and I remember how it changed my life, but not before it changed Campbell’s life first—Holy Frickin’ Click Bait!
The Click Bait Explained
If you were bold enough to click on that last link in The Finds, you were greeted by one of the most genuine and humorous artists on YouTube. I’ve been paying attention to Campbell Walker (aka Struthless) for many years now mostly because he has a quirky sense of humor mixed with a relatable and unique view of the creative world.
I watched the video a few months after it came out and ever since I’ve been on a journey to find the latitude and longitude crossover between my divided worlds. I wanted to find the middle ground between my art and my design aesthetics, but also the happy place where what I create digitally is in synch with what I create physically.
Let me tell you right now, this was no easy task, and it’s only been the last couple of months that I’ve found the near-perfect juxtaposition. Without being overly dramatic, I’m certain it came down to one specific, creative act.
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In April of 2022, while on vacation with my family, I started an art journal, using the elements of my surroundings to document my days. Shortly after I started, I got caught up in lots of work and put the book away. However, in January, I started working on my art journal daily, this time letting impulse and intuition drive the art.
Working on this project every day brought about a wellspring of new ideas and creative energy to the point of now having a list of potential projects long enough to fill my entire year if not longer.
Along with that, I’m now creating work that fits neatly at the center of the crossroads of my style and choice of medium. There will always be nuance between them, but I believe now that I can incorporate almost any new project in any format and know exactly how to make it work.
In a few weeks, I’ll be able to show the entire magical art journal to the world (there are still a few empty pages to fill) and with it, a brand new outlook on what I’m creating and sharing.
The short story on this is that if you ever find yourself drifting creatively, then maybe it’s time to paint some ibis (that only makes sense if you watched the Struthless video).
I’ll see you soon.
Cheers,
Dave
Extra
I’m willing to bet you can probably taste this art process video.