Podcast
Making a Living with Fantasy Art (ft. April Solomon) – Draftsmen S2E32
Marshall sits down with professional fantasy artist April Solomon. The two discuss how April fell in love with drawing dragons and werewolves, the power of traditional art materials and the techniques she’s learned over the years, art festivals, what her art schedule looks like, and more.
Portraiture Painting (ft. Joseph Todorovitch) – Draftsmen S2E31
While Stan is out on paternity leave, Marshall invites fine artist Joseph Todorovitch on the show. Joseph talks about what it’s like being a parent and a working artist during a lockdown, his portrait painting methods, and making the switch from animation to fine art in the early 90’s.
Our First LIVE Q&A – Draftsmen S2E30
For Lightbox 2020 this year Stan and Marshall streamed their first live Q&A episode! Rather than release the full version that had awkward pauses and tech issues it’s been edited down and remastered. Now you’ll get a clean experience as they answer a variety of personal and art related questions. Some of what you’ll hear are answers to how the podcast got started, brainstorming techniques for artists, perspective vs form, bad habits for digital drawing, and the story behind our thumbnails.
How to Get Useful Feedback and Learning to Self Critique – Draftsmen S2E29
In the 2nd part of Marshall and Stan’s critique discussion, the two talk about getting useful feedback, the importance of being specific with your critique requests and the concept of the 6 thinking hats and how you can use them for self critique.
Developing Your Art Critique Chops – Draftsmen S2E28
Stan and Marshall return to the topic of art criticism to impart the secrets of giving and receiving the best critiques possible. They summarize why it’s good to critique people, what goals you should have when critiquing someone’s art, how to frame things positively for the person receiving the critique and more.
The 5 Sins Artists Should Be Aware of – Draftsmen S2E27
Marshall talks to Stan about the different “corrupting” influences which can affect the purity of an art piece. Some problems affect the craft of your art, but others affect the spirit, undermining the meaning you are trying to convey in your work. These pitfalls, while hard to avoid, are something Marshall believes artists should be aware of as they pursue their careers. Learn how pandering, sentimentality, mannerism, frigidity, and didacticism can violate the spirit of art and how an artist battles between being commercially attractive to clients versus being considered a sellout and a hack.
Bad Teachers – Draftsmen S2E26
Sometimes we’re stuck with bad teachers and when that happens, what do you do? Marshall and Stan address the frustration of one high school art student that’s facing this problem by trying to provide them with workable solutions. They also answer a few additional voicemail questions on learning how to teach art, how to increase output for commissions, and more.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Social Media for Artists – Draftsmen S2E25
Stan talks with Marshall about social media and how to be successful with it. Publishing quality content is key, but that’s only one of many areas that an artist needs to focus on now if they want to be noticed on a platform. Learn how to build an audience, avoid getting dinged by social media algorithms, and why it’s important not to stress about analytics and nasty comments.
Art and Fear – Draftsmen S2E24
Marshall and Stan have another book club episode, this time discussing “Art and Fear” by David Bayles and Ted Orland. The book explores how fear inhibits an artist’s work and the way in which an artist can confront their fears to help them create. Some of the topics covered include the difference between stopping and quitting, how you can be the best version of yourself, the way we are similar to geniuses like Mozart, and more.
Exploring Diversity in Art with Jennifer Wang – Draftsmen S2E23
Guest artist Jennifer Wang joins the podcast to discuss gender, race and sexuality in art. Marshall and Stan ask for her opinion on a previous caller’s question about the sexualization of women in art. The broad topic opens up other cultural conversations as Jennifer talks about the challenges of getting representation in media, cultural appropriation and more.
