Today’s podcast is all about ten skills that every artist needs. That’s from the creative side of things to admin or business skills.

Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS

The Ten Artist Skills We Talk About in the Podcast

1. Manage time

• This might mean being selfish at times
• Treating art like an appointment
• Prioritising
• Realising how long your art takes with everything that come with it

2. Focus

• Ignoring social media
• Ignoring housework
• Commit to a project
• Challenges

3. See

• Draw what you actually see and don’t make assumptions
• Take notice of everything
• Try to look at your subject more than your paper.
• See tones of light and dark in what you are working on,
• See subtle changes in colour hues

4. Imagine

• Do what’s right for the art
• Generate ideas. This can be as simple as deciding what to paint and in what style, to generating weird and wonderful imaginative ideas
• Think a little differently

5. Get over failure

• We can’t learn without failing
• See if you can use that failure in any way.

6. Take criticism

• You will never please everyone
• They may not even be right
• If the person is right you can use it to learn from.
• If you try to please everyone your work might be bland or unnoticeable and in the end will not please anyone.

7. Self Promote

• Talk about your art
• Share it
• Learn a bit of techie stuff
• Don’t be afraid to say ‘I’m an Artist.

8. Accept rejection

• You won’t always be the right fit for galleries, podcast interviews etc

9. Say No

• Don’t say yes to other projects for fear of missing out FOMO
• Also say no to friends and family for free stuff unless its something you really want to
• To commissions if they are not the right fit or if you already have too many

10. Be Brave

• Experiment and try things out
• Don’t be afraid to get out there and sketch in public
• Be confident (or pretend to be)
• Be open to new opportunities

Also mentioned in the podcast

The Kick in the Creative’s first course – How to Use Water Soluble Wax Pastels 

This week’s creative question

 Q. Has a real-life situation ever inspired your work?

The best answers will be read out on a future podcast.

You can Tweet us your answers @KickCreatives or let us know in the Facebook Group, which by the way if you haven’t already joined, I highly recommend that you do! We will put the question up there and also on the facebook page… and of course, on our Instagram page @kickinthecreatives.

If you have any suggestions for the podcast or our challenges please feel free to get in touch.

.
Subscribe to our Youtube channel and click the notifications bell to be alerted on all our new videos.

In today’s podcast we’re going to talk about using your imagination in your art, even if you don’t think you have any. The idea for this episode came from a conversation between Eva Falk-Wall Simpson and Sanna Siira, who posted in the facebook group.

Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS

Sanna said…

– I’ve been admiring Eva Falck-Wall Simpson’s wonderful paintings, where stories just emerge from different lines. Yesterday I saw another version of this technique somewhere. They had painted spots of watercolour and drawn faces on the spots with pencils. I had to try! I don’t know where all these dogs came from though, but this looks fabulous too! It’s great to know more versions to try. I haven’t felt comfortable drawing from imagination before, but this way, when I have something, shapes or lines, to start with, feels easier and fun 😊

And then Eva Falck-Wall Simpson replied to her comment and said…

That’s exactly how I feel. I used to think I didn’t have any imagination, but all I needed was a spark to unlock it. I think we just have to find our own way to access it. Enjoy your journey

Thank you Eva and Sanna for letting us use your words and inspiring this podcast

Funnily enough when I suggested this episode to Sandra she said I would have to take the lead on the episode as she didn’t really use imagination in her art. I then pointed out lots of ways she did. And that’s the key to it… finding a way of unlocking that part of your brain. We all have it, it’s just a matter of finding out how to access it.

Ways of using Imagination in Your Art

• We need to go back to the mindset we used to have as kids.
• Sandra talks about Carla Sonheim who creates art from pavement cracks.
• Tara didn’t think she could draw from imagination before she went to college, but it was all a matter of being taught how to think differently
• You can  create prompts to get yourself to think in different ways.
• You can put things together in unexpected ways
• Stories are a way to get your imagination working, imagine how the characters might look
• One way to get the imagination flowing is to watch (not listen) to people from a distance in conversation and imagine what they are saying.
• Even if you interpret a scene in front of you if you use a bit of artistic license or stylize things that’s imagination.
• When you’re coming up with an idea, just ask yourself, how can I make this: Different? Abstracted? Funny? Creepy? Ridiculous? And other questions like that.

Also mentioned in the podcast

The Kick in the Creative’s first course – How to Use Water Soluble Wax Pastels 

Dan Whiteson’s (Freeform Lifedrawing) Sunday Sessions 

This week’s creative question

Q. Do you have a secret talent, other than creating? If so, what is it?

The best answers will be read out on a future podcast.

We hope they are better than the “talents” Sandra and I said we have

You can Tweet us your answers @KickCreatives or let us know in the Facebook Group, which by the way if you haven’t already joined, I highly recommend that you do! We will put the question up there and also on the facebook page… and of course, on our Instagram page @kickinthecreatives.

If you have any suggestions for the podcast or our challenges please feel free to get in touch.

.
Subscribe to our Youtube channel and click the notifications bell to be alerted on all our new videos.

In today’s podcast, we’re going to talk about the curse of perfectionism for artists. And one of the first things to consider is why you are striving for perfection. Are you striving for perfection because you enjoy the process of getting there? (That’s not a bad thing) Or are you just striving for perfection to prove to others, or yourself that you are ‘good enough?’

Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS

Some of the things that we discuss

• One of the causes of perfectionism is that you compare yourself to other people and feel you don’t measure up.
• Another problem with comparing ourselves to others is we can lose aspects of what we do that makes us original
• Being a perfectionist can make you wait until you feel the situation is perfect to start.
• Perfectionism can make you hesitant and scared to put down a mark with confidence, so you lose spontaneity
• Try to bring that feeling of play from your sketchbook into your more finished work
• Perfectionism can make you scared to try something new for fear of failure
• When You get annoyed about your drawing not being as good as you want it might stop you from creating for a while or hinder your progress.
• Perfectionism can lead to an overworked and sterile piece or art

Do you suffer from perfectionism?

This week’s creative question

Q. What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever done with an art tool, that doesn’t involve what it was meant for?

The best answers will be read out on a future podcast.

You can Tweet us your answers @KickCreatives or let us know in the Facebook Group, which by the way if you haven’t already joined, I highly recommend that you do! We will put the question up there and also on the facebook page… and of course, on our Instagram page @kickinthecreatives.

If you have any suggestions for the podcast or our challenges please feel free to get in touch.

.
Subscribe to our Youtube channel and click the notifications bell to be alerted on all our new videos.

Today we are talking about the pros and cons of social media for artists, of which there are many. I think at some point we will all have had some great experiences on social media, whether that is making new friends and contacts or a great comment. But of course it also has its downsides too.

Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS

Some of the Pros and Cons of social media that we discuss

(starting with the cons and ending on a high note)

• Feeling pressured to post every day.
• The pressure to produce art that is ‘post-worthy’
• Worry about how many follows, unfollows and likes you get.
• Feeling like you need to ‘like and follow’ everyone who does it for you
• The time suck element of social media
• Feeling the need to make everything seem perfect
• Being intimidated by other people’s work
• Being open to criticism from others, even if you don’t ask for it
• Feeling pigeonholed – We mention a post by @RonnieWalter on Instagram
• Build a network of creative friends
• You can find groups to join where people have similar interests to you
• Finding people to collaborate with
• Plenty of inspiration
• You might also discover opportunities/ courses etc that you might like.
• The ability to reach a much wider audience
• Being able to send traffic to your website/blog or online shop
• You are likely to sell more
• It allows your followers to get to know and hopefully like you, because they can see more of your personality
• Being able to get advice from others on social media when needed
• Getting nice feedback about your work

You can have a lot of fun showing the sillier, imperfect side of yourself too. It can be fun to share that side of yourself and encourage others to do the same and be more comfortable with themselves too.

What are your pros and cons of Social Media for you as a creative?

This week’s creative question

Q. What’s the weirdest or funniest thing that has happened to you while creating?

The best answers will be read out on a future podcast.

You can Tweet us your answers @KickCreatives or let us know in the Facebook Group, which by the way if you haven’t already joined, I highly recommend that you do! We will put the question up there and also on the facebook page… and of course, on our Instagram page @kickinthecreatives.

If you have any suggestions for the podcast or our challenges please feel free to get in touch.

.
Subscribe to our Youtube channel and click the notifications bell to be alerted on all our new videos.

Today we are talking about creating cartoon characters. Sandra received a message from Penny Henriksen who is in our Facebook Group saying  “I  would love for you to talk about your comic process. How did you develop Felicity Fizz (create her)? How do you come up with your ideas? How do you sketch her up (digital/other)? What tools do you use for her?” As both Sandra and I like creating characters and cartoons we thought it was a great topic for a podcast. We both have very different ways of coming up with them, so we’ll both talk about our own approaches.

Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS

How we get our character and cartoon ideas and develop them

Felicity Fizz by Sandra Busby

• How Sandra came up with the idea for her cartoon Felicity Fizz by developing a story her Dad told her about her Mum into a funny drawing
• Get inspiration from household objects – just go round and either photograph things or sketch them to give you shape ideas.
• Cut out bits from magazines and put them together to make characters. You can draw them or use the collage itself.
• You could start with a theme and create characters around it. For example Tara has created some characters based around the weather (for kids) and some cartoon characters based on Mindfulness (Mindfoolness)

• You can hold your pen or pencil right at the end and create a random face shape. Then still holding it loose add some eyes and look and see what sort of character you think it wants to be.
• Doodle geometric shapes and add features to them
• How Sandra developed Fizz’s personality. It needs to be believable.
• Embrace a characters flaws
• Draw from your own experiences, but finding a way of exaggerating the funny side
• Anything goes with a cartoon! Nothing is impossible. Whether that’s impossible body positions, superpowers or massive ears. You can push it as far as your imagination will let you

Felicity Fizz by Sandra Busby

The life drawing tuition class that I mentioned during the show is Life Drawing How it’s Done by Soho life Drawing. The class was £10.50, if your interested you might be able to buy a video recording or the class might be run again,

This week’s creative question

Q. Who was (or is) your favourite cartoon or comic character and why?

The best answers will be read out on a future podcast.

You can Tweet us your answers @KickCreatives or let us know in the Facebook Group, which by the way if you haven’t already joined, I highly recommend that you do! We will put the question up there and also on the facebook page… and of course, on our Instagram page @kickinthecreatives.

If you have any suggestions for the podcast or our challenges please feel free to get in touch.

.
Subscribe to our Youtube channel and click the notifications bell to be alerted on all our new videos.

In today’s podcast we’re going to talk about using your sketchbook to explore and have fun, rather than thinking of it as a portfolio. With the kind of sketchbook flip-throughs  you see online, it’s easy to think a sketchbook should be a work of art in itself… but that’s not so! You wouldn’t expect an author’s first draft or notes for a book to be perfect so why should we treat a sketchbook that way.

Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS

Things we discuss about having fun with your sketchbook

• When you see sketchbook walk throughs don’t be daunted. These are often portfolio sketchbooks by someone who has mastered a technique/medium and keeps their sketchbook for this purpose. They are made to be shown
• Not everyone’s sketchbook looks perfect – If you flicked through mine, to look at some of the sketches you would think I couldn’t draw at all and it doesn’t look like a cohesive thing,
• You should have at least one sketchbook which is a place for experimentation and to not be afraid of the result. It’s often those experiments which can lead to something interesting in your work.
• Use your sketchbook to collect inspiration… This might be memorabilia, Labels, tickets, colour swatches, photo’s, fabric.
• Try cutting up bits of magazines or old catalogues and leaflets and stick them down and use them in your art
• Make notes in your sketchbooks…Use your sketchbook to scribble down thoughts, ideas, titles etc
• Use your book to make thumbnails. These are small drawings that you do to work out compositions and ideas.
• Sketchbooks can have multiple different purposes, they don’t have to conform to anyone else’s idea of what a sketchbook should be.
• Keep a secret sketchbook (or as Sandra said by mistake “sex book” – check the blooper at the end of the podcast)… Padlock it if necessary! Treat it like a diary. You wouldn’t expect someone to read that, so your sketchbook can be just as private. This is something a previous guest Chris Riddell Advises.
• Don’t be precious. Start drawing with your hand at the end of the pen so you don’t have much control, let your hand wander then make it into something
• If you create a page you don’t like use the blank bits of it to doodle other things or try out different pens.

This week’s creative question

Q. If you wanted to hide a secret sketchbook, where would your perfect hiding place be?

The best answers will be read out on a future podcast.

You can Tweet us your answers @KickCreatives or let us know in the Facebook Group, which by the way if you haven’t already joined, I highly recommend that you do! We will put the question up there and also on the facebook page… and of course, on our Instagram page @kickinthecreatives.

If you have any suggestions for the podcast or our challenges please feel free to get in touch.

.
Subscribe to our Youtube channel and click the notifications bell to be alerted on all our new videos.

In today’s podcast, we’re talking about drawing and sketching people. It’s a subject a lot of people avoid because drawing people can be tricky, especially if they are moving. Drawing people is something that Sandra and I both enjoy and want to keep improving. There are lots of different ways to practice drawing people, whether that’s from life or photos and videos.

Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS

Ideas for practising drawing and sketching people that we discuss

• You could take a life drawing class. While it may not be possible to do that in person at the moment (due to the Pandemic) you could always do it online with both clothed and nude models. Check out our blog post about online life drawing. Some of the online life drawing classes Tara likes are @thejollysketcher @thamesmeadlifedrawing @thedrawingsesh and @CabaretCouture. Sandra also talks about her experience of attending an in-person life drawing class.
• Croquet Cafe – If you don’t want to try a life drawing class then check out Croquet Cafe – They used to be on Youtube, but have moved their content over to Vimeo – https://vimeo.com/croquiscafe They have videos of models and a timer so you can practice timed sketches.
  
• UPDATE Croquet Cafe is no longer free try checking out New Masters Academy on YouTube instead for free content.
• If you’re not comfortable with the idea of a life drawing class, you could draw yourself in front of a mirror or from a selfie. We have people in the group doing daily portraits.
• You could practice drawing your partner or spouse or even a friend if they are willing.
• Practice drawing moving people – if it’s not possible from life, then why not try drawing a newsreader, or a weatherman because you know that their movements will be limited.
• Also to practice drawing moving people you could loop a Youtube video. Check out https://youtubeloop.net/ which lets you loop sections of a video
• Once we’re allowed to venture outdoors more (after lockdown) another good place to draw slow-moving people is in a cafe. You will find people moving around a little bit but not much. Even if they get up and walk away, someone else will often take their place.
• Practice capturing movement with a basic line of gesture (line of action) to get the feel of movement.

If you are new to drawing people, expect your sketches to be bad at first. But with practice, they will only get better.

This week’s creative question

Q. Aside from cooking, what is the most creative thing you have either done or seen done with a vegetable? (you can blame Sandra for this one, no rude answers please 🤣 )

Check out @katybobsyouraunty on Instagram to see some of the fun things she does

The best answers will be read out on a future podcast.

You can Tweet us your answers @KickCreatives or let us know in the Facebook Group, which by the way if you haven’t already joined, I highly recommend that you do! We will put the question up there and also on the facebook page… and of course, on our Instagram page @kickinthecreatives.

If you have any suggestions for the podcast or our challenges please feel free to get in touch.

We’ve now got a Youtube Channel where we put up a new Art Video every Sunday.
Subscribe to our channel and click the notifications bell to be alerted on all our new videos.

Happy new year and welcome to today’s episode, the first of 2021! Today we are talking about our personal favourite art books… and not just tutorial books, but other inspirational books too. There are lots of obvious ones we could talk about, the Danny Gregory’s and the Austin Kleon’s, but we’re pretty sure that most of you will have heard of those, so we’re going to talk about the less obvious ones.

Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS

Books we mention in the show:

Art Tutorial Books

• Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, by Betty Edwards
• Sketching People and Urban Sketchers Guide to Drawing Figures and Faces – Lynne Chapman
  Lynne Chapman has also been on our podcast on Episode 45
• Dare to Sketch, by Felix Scheinberger
• Urban Watercolor Sketching by Felix Scheinberger
• Sketching from Square One, to Trafalgar Square, by Richard E Scott
• Jean Haines’ Atmospheric Watercolours
• The Simple Secret to Better painting, by Greg Albert

Fun Art Books

• 52 Exercises to Make Drawing Fun – Carla Sonheim
• It’s Great to Create, by Jon Burgerman, also check out the podcast we did with Jon
• Making Comics – Lynda Barry

Art Inspiration Books

• Street Sketchbook and Street Sketchbook Journeys – both by Tristan Manko
• Basquiat – Brooklyn Museum
• Remedial Sketches – Lewis Rossignol
• A World of Artist Journal Pages – curated by Dawn Devries Sokol
• Dot Dot Dash – Designer Toys, Action Figures and Character Art
• Any of the Pictoplasma Books

Books Where We Love the Illustrations

• The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy
• Winespeak, by Ronald Searle
• Charlie and Lola: We honestly can look after your dog by Lauren Child
• Travels with my Sketchbook, by Chris Riddell who was on podcast episode 72

More Unusual Creative Books

• Thinkertoys, A handbook of Creative Thinking Techniques – Micheal Michalko
• Neighbours, by Lucy Dawson

Please note that some some of the links are affiliate links, so if you decide to purchase via our link we get a small commission. Thank you for your support.

This week’s creative question

Q. What is your favourite art book and why?

The best answers will be read out on a future podcast.

You can Tweet us your answers @KickCreatives or let us know in the Facebook Group, which by the way if you haven’t already joined, I highly recommend that you do! We will put the question up there and also on the facebook page… and of course, on our Instagram page @kickinthecreatives.

If you have any suggestions for the podcast or our challenges please feel free to get in touch.

We’ve now got a Youtube Channel where we put up a new Art Video every Sunday.
Subscribe to our channel and click the notifications bell to be alerted on all our new videos.

Today’s podcast is all about our favourite art materials as well as some of the ones our guests have mentioned to us along the way. We’d love you to share the art materials you love in the comments too. Everyone loves new art stuff don’t they!

Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS

Art Materials we mention in the show

Please note that some of the links are affiliate links, so if you decide to buy using our link we get a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Pencils for Art

• Stabilo All Black Pencil – writes on most surfaces
• Pentel Graph Gear 1000 Mechanical Drafting Pencil 0.7mm
• Derwent Graphitone – Water Soluble graphite pencils
• Conte Pastel Pencils H – Art and Illustrator Chris Ridell loves these as mentioned in episode 72

Artist Pens

• Pigma Sensei waterproof pens
• Paper Mate Flair Felt Tip Pen – black
• Pentel Brush Pen – which Laura Frankstone also mentions in Episode 63
• Platinum Carbon Pen
• Lamy-Safari Broad Nib and Lamy Joy Calligraphy Pen
• Sailor Fude Fountain Pen
• Zig Cartoonist Dip Pen

Ink

• Lami Ink as is water soluble
• Noodlers Ink as is water resistant but won’t clog your pen
• Higgins black magic works well with a dip pen too and is water resistant
• Quink Ink for washes

Markers

• Windsor and Newton Watercolour markers
• Ohuhu Markers

Other Artists’ Paints and Mediums

• Neocolor 2
• Inktense blocks
• Gamblin brand of oil paints and mediums
• Old Holland Oil Paints are mentioned by Kevin Murphy in episode 73
• White Nights Watercolours

Paper and Surfaces

• Seawhite sketchbooks
• Canson Imagine mixed media paper smooth
• Daler Rowney Artboards
• Pink Pig watercolour sketchbooks
• Stillman & Birn Alpha Series
• Canson XL Sketchbook
• Belle Ari fine linen canvas

Art Tools and Gadgets

• kids brushes set
• Da Vinci Travel Watercolour Brush
• Double ended metal pencil holders – the ends are big enough to hold neocolors and some oil pastels
• Light box
• Spray bottle – To charge watercolours
• Wrist sweat band, to wipe brush
• Shaving brush
• Sketching stool (Lesfit)
• Camping cushion

This week’s creative question

Q. What is your favourite art material and why?

The best answers will be read out on a future podcast.

You can Tweet us your answers @KickCreatives or let us know in the Facebook Group, which by the way if you haven’t already joined, I highly recommend that you do! We will put the question up there and also on the facebook page… and of course, on our Instagram page @kickinthecreatives.

If you have any suggestions for the podcast or our challenges please feel free to get in touch.

We’ve now got a Youtube Channel where we put up a new Art Video every Sunday.
Subscribe to our channel and click the notifications bell to be alerted on all our new videos.