Mike Roy is the creator of Artist Myth, a site dedicated to helping artists overcome the things that hold them back. In this episode, Mike talks about the common myths artists believe, what people can do to overcome those myths, and how to find work you love.
Here are three things you can learn from Mike:
Artists who want to make a career out of their art must first overcome the ideas that hold them back. According to Mike, the best way to do this is to ask questions.
Far too often we let others influence our beliefs. If you truly want to become an empowered and inspired artist, you must discover it for yourself. Don’t believe everything you hear.
How do you do this? First you must ask why, then you must follow up and find out why. This allows you to make your own informed and educated opinions.
Many people want to live a creative and fulfilling life, but don’t know where to start. If you are in this boat, you can follow Mike’s three spotlight method for finding the work you love.
First comes your passion. If you want to live an inspired life, you must find out what gets you excited.
Second is your talents. What are you good at? How can you use these things to fulfill your creative purpose?
Last, you must find your market. Discover those who want what you have to offer. They are your tribe.
When you are able to combine these three things, you can begin to build a business around them.
It’s very hard to combine your passion, talent, and market. If you already know them, you are ahead of most people, and now it’s time for you to take action.
This is where many people fall off the wagon. They can pin point everything they need, but they find it hard to do the work. But that is the most important, and most difficult part.
You do this by putting your work out their and getting validation from it. If you want to know if people will buy your work, you must put it out there.
Doing this will give you valuable feedback on what people like and don’t like about your work. You can use this to grow your business and become a better artist.
Lee Moyer is a polymath and illustrator who has been working for over 35 years. He has worked with book publishers, theaters, and game developers among many other things. In this episode, we talk about a lot of topics including learning from others, how to handle criticism and information overload, and his Kickstarter project The Doom that Came to Atlantic City.
Here are three things you can learn from Lee:
Lee is a big believer in learning from those who came before you. He never had a traditional art education and doesn’t think it is necessary to become a great artist.
In order to become a better artist, he studied under other artists and absorbed their knowledge. This allowed him to learn under the best and the brightest instead of going into debt by going to art school.
He is also a big believer in joining forums and learning from artists on the internet. These avenues make it easier than ever to become a better, more refined artist.
Lee believes criticism is an important part of becoming a better artist. Instead of letting criticism get to you, learn from what others are trying to tell you.
People who critique your work are using their own time and energy to give you constructive feedback. Listen to what they they have to say and instead of taking it personally. If people didn’t like you, they wouldn’t bother to critique you.
Everyone must deal with impostor syndrome. Even the late, great B.B. King was not immune from it. In order to overcome your feeling of not being good enough, you have to know and believe your work will turn out well.
Even when you feel like nothing is coming together, you have to work through it. You need to be stubborn enough to work through the lulls in order to create something great. Just keep working and you will be fine.
Katy Walker and Joel Mejia are the co-directors of the Time is Artdocumentary, a film that follow’s Jennifer Palmer’s journey after her aunt’s death and her exploration of synchronicity. They are also the minds behind Things Are Changing Productions, a creative collective that produces youth media programs, indie films, and music videos. In this episode we explore what you must do to take action, why you should work with limitations, and the benefits of empowering others.
Here are three things you can learn from Katy and Joel:
Looking inward is one of the most empowering things people can do. Many of us go days without taking the time to look within ourselves for answers. We are so busy trying to be productive that we forget to think things through.
Most of the time, the answer we are looking for is already within us. The next time you are stuck looking for answers, pause and look inside yourself. You might be surprised by what you discover.
Big budget blockbusters have an almost an unlimited amount of money to work with. They are given every resource they may need, which might be the reason so many of them fall flat.
Joel believes the best way to get the most out of an artist is to give that artist some limitations. When you are up against a wall, you are forced to come up with a creative solution, which often lead to the best results.
Most of us believe the more free you are, the easier it is to be creative. The problem is, this gives you t oo many options. The next time you are stuck, give yourself some limitations. You may be surprised by the results.
Katy and Joel are big believers in empowering other people. They believe apprenticeships are a powerful form of teaching. When someone becomes your apprentice, they are not being forced to learn. They are looking for long term value and a longer term education.
They are also running a series of workshops along with the film. This encourages people to engage and collaborate with others, which leads to a more powerful experience. They want people to connect through the film and the workshops and create long terms connections from it.
Read more shownotes for episode 26 with Katy Walker and Joel Mejia