Issue 183

Hello,

This weekend I'm in a small town in eastern AZ called Safford to celebrate Thanksgiving with some family. To give you an idea of what it's like here, imagine Radiator Springs from Cars, but the cars don't talk.

I like visiting Safford because it's a much slower pace of life here that allows me to catch my breath. We play boardgames, and yard games, and night games. We eat too many tacos, and nap on the floor. Then we pack it up and head home.

Safford is also home to an amazing artist I've had the pleasure to make friends with last year: Brandt Woods. He's a muralist and a prolific one at that. I even got to help him with a mural on my in-law's auto repair shop: LINK​

Here's 5 things I thought you'd find interesting this weekend.

Enjoy!

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STAYING IN THE LOOP:

• Fall Original Art Sale is Live: LINK
• BLACK FRIDAY/CYBERMONDAY SALE 25% OFF CODE: FALL2023: LINK​
• Podcast Episode 184: How To Be Productive with Ryan Claytor​
• Podcast Episode 183: What Should I Sell?​
• Podcast Episode 182: Cons and Conferences: What To Know Before You Go​
• Podcast Episode 181: Starving the Content Machine​

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1) Recent Sketchbook Stuff

From the Drawings Unit

Over the years, as client and personal project needs picked up, I have started to draw less and less in my sketchbook. I used to finish 3 sketchbooks in a year and now they are taking me well over a year to finish.

What I noticed is that when I did have a moment to sit down to draw in my sketchbook I had forgotten how to do it. I had forgotten what a sketchbook was for. It seemed like a waste of time...time that could be spent working on my to-do list. None of my drawings were creative or exciting. They looked forced and unimaginative.

About halfway through this year I realized I hadn't had any NEW ideas. I've been rehashing old ones and executing on past ideas. It dawned on me that my lack of sketchbooking was probably a culprit. I decided to rediscover my sketchbook and recapture its power to be a place of exploration and fun. The drawings above are the first fruits of that.

I'll get more into my sketchbook philosophy in another email, but for now, just wanted to share these drawings.

PATREON: If you want to see ALL the sketches, reference material, and prelim drawings I'm doing that go into the creation of drawings like these, become a patron today.

If you sign up this month I'll give you any of my digital artbooks of your choice. Just DM after sign up and I'll send you a download link.

You also get a 15% discount in my shop, and at the end of the month some patrons get all my working files to learn from and pick apart. Sign up here: LINK​

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2) Kickstarter Round Up​
​From the Friendship Unit

A couple friends of mine have some amazing kickstarters ending net week:

​ONE BITE AT A TIME by Ryan Claytor

This is a behind the scenes, process book and a look into the mind of one of the most creative and consistently prolific artists I've gotten to know over the years.

Ryan makes indie comics, designs neon signs, designs watches, all while keeping his day job as a professor at Michigan State. This book tells how he does it all.

Back it here: LINK​

​CHAOTIC DRAW ALONG by Anthony Wheeler

Anthony has been cooking this up for over a year now. This is a silly, fun, and creative drawing prompt deck. You pull three cards from the deck of 106 and combine them to make a unique drawing. There's over 340,000 possible combinations, so the deck should last you and everyone you know a lifetime.

Back it here: LINK​

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3) The Kinetic Ghibli Fan Art of Art Veider

From the Illustrators Division

Art Veider is a St Petersberg based artist who excels in energetic action comic style art. His characters are typically drawn from the waist up in a dynamic pose that exude creative electricity. I've been a fan for years.

Recently he's drawn a trio of Ghibli fan art pieces that I love to death.

You can see more of his work here:

Instagram: LINK​

Twitter: LINK​

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4) Emerson Tung's Tankhead

From the Illustrators Division

Kindred spirit and formidable hard surface artist Emerson Tung has just launched his new book: TANKHEAD.

I've been watching Emerosn post these tank mech designs for close to a decasde now and it's exciting to see them collected in a world building book.

You can order the book here: LINK​

Check out the rest of Emerson's work here:

Website: LINK​

Instagram: LINK​

Twitter: LINK​

Artstation: LINK​

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5) On what grips your soul

From the Inspirational Thought Unit

"You must cultivate activities that you love. You must discover work that you do, not for its utility, but for itself, whether it succeeds or not, whether you are praised for it or not, whether you are loved and rewarded for it or not, whether people know about it and are grateful to you for it or not. How many activities can you count in your life that you engage in simply because they delight you and grip your soul? Find them out, cultivate them, for they are your passport to freedom and to love." - Jesuit priest Anthony de Mello

Source: The Way to Love (via: James Clear's Newsletter)

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That's all for this week. Thank you for reading this newsletter and hope you have a great weekend!

-Jake

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