Draftsmen Podcast

Stan and Marshall discuss fearing critique but growing from it, finding a good balance with feedback, and what they think about photorealism. Marshall is teaching a workshop and Stan loves his shoes.

Stan gets a message on Instagram from a lazy artist. Stan and Marshall talk about the importance of focus, discipline, productivity, pushing past distractions, the importance of environment, and mindful eating. Should you listen to music while you work? A young caller wants to know how to get noticed as an artist.

In this episode of the Draftsmen podcast Marshall and Stan talk about the biggest art and career mistakes they’ve made. Stan accidentally draws a fetus. Marshall attempts to insult Stan. The caller of the week asks about the best drawing and painting apps for iPad.

Stan and Marshall talk about the fundamentals all artists need to learn to become talented draftsmen. The basic elements of picture making. Stan and Marsha

Stan and Marshall talk about adopting good “art parents” – the artists that inspire you and who will influence your style and technique. A caller asks how to establish a daily drawing routine that he can stick with. Marshall likes to Netflix and Chill with a good Coen Brothers film.

This episode starts with a bang! Marshall adds onto last week’s episode about choosing *older* art parents. Stan talks about hyper-analyzing our schedule to identify blocks of time that we want to use differently. It’s amazing how much time can be created by using our time more efficiently.

Marshall and Stan discuss the pros and cons of studying multiple disciplines and their effect on learning art. A caller wants to know if the overhand grip can be applied to drawing with a digital stylus. Both Draftsmen have “thangs” that help them stay physically fit and active.

Stan and Marshall talk about toxic environments, how an artist’s family and/or school can create situations that hold them back and how to overcome them. A caller asks about creating an attractive portfolio for Disney and Stan talks about his dream studio.

Advice on how you can put together your portfolio to increase your chances of being hired. How networking, personal behavior, and social media habits impact your career. A caller from India wants to know our dieting habits which leads to conversations about intermittent fasting and caffeine addiction… yay!

The most common mistakes students make when studying anatomy and practical advice on how to study it correctly. An in-depth discussion on our favorite anatomy books for artists. Stories about surreal experiences visiting the Body Worlds exhibit. And the premiere of Marshall’s highly requested hit single, Anatomical Skull song!

Stan gets an email from a frustrated student and forwards it to Marshall. Marshall gets obsessed with it spending days and days pondering the issue! This leads to discussions on mastery, overcoming frustration, and how having a negative attitude hurts your progression. A listener makes the draftsmen choose between technical prowess or art that evokes emotion. Blackwing pencils definitely does not sponsor this episode, but hopefully will in the future ;)

Technology and art collide as Stan talks about the exciting new AI tools he’s developing for students. Why should we have AI art teachers? Stan explains the strengths of human teachers and AI teachers. Marshall expresses concerns about the Terminator killing us all!

For the first time, we dedicate the entire episode to voicemail questions. We discuss building healthy art communities, how to have clarity in your illustrations, and how to find art mentors. Stan does a book review on The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin, listing some of the golden nuggets he learned from the book about reaching mastery.

This is a good one… We go through and discuss a list of 23 important art habits that every artist should consider. A tattoo artist gets advice about compos

A listener sends us a letter voicing their frustration with Stan’s past comments about art history. It prompts a longer discussion about the benefits you can get from learning history. Jazza didn’t sponsor this episode, but we unbox his Jazzy Art Box.

We respond to a listener’s email about what to think about while drawing. Marshall explains his criticisms about the book “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” by Betty Edwards. I also answer a caller’s question about the value of learning to critique.

Time to make those dolla’ dolla’ bills fly yo! Marshall and I talk about various ways artists make money such as freelancing, getting a job, and starting your own business. We also dive into our own stories about how we made money and answer a voicemail question about taking commissions. And Kim Jung Gi drew an unflattering portrait of Stan.

It’s a voicemail marathon! We answer a bunch of questions from listeners of the podcast. Topics include the fear of being too old to be a professional artist, cosplay fashion design, and knowing when a painting is finished. Stan paid Karl Kopinski to do an original painting on his book cover.

Does copying from photo reference make you a fake artist? Is tracing considered cheating? Do you even have an art license?! We share our opinions about photobashing, tracing, and drawing from photos. We also discuss the debilitating effects of imposter syndrome and how it might sometimes be a good thing. Stan’s thang brings back childhood memories :)

The Breaking Bad movie just released on Netflix and because Stan is a huge fan, we’re redecorating the whole set, putting on costumes, and dedicating the episode to Drugs! We talk about our past experiences with drugs, if they can hinder or help an artist and some drug alternatives that you should look at to get those creative juices flowing. A caller asks what abstract artists should study.

Thinking of creative ideas is actually not that hard, but executing them, bring them to fruition, and solving real problems is much harder and requires creative skill. We’ll define what it means to be creative and some ways you can stimulate and improve your own creative abilities. A listener asks how he can increase his passion for art and Stan shows off some drawings he bought from Stephen Bauman.

Marshall goes full on Walter Cronkite and does some investigative journalism, asking all about the inner workings of Proko. The system we use to prioritize tasks and stay organized, the importance of delegation - Walt Disney built an empire by being a diligent delegator. Stan describes the exercise that improved his line quality while he was a student at Watts Atelier!

How can you be a good parent and a successful artist? Is it even possible? We try to find answers to those questions and the ways you can incorporate art into your life while raising a child. We go through 3 voicemail questions including our opinion on painting before learning how to draw. Is Stan a mutant child of Chernobyl?

After getting back from the very first Lightbox Convention in LA, both Draftsmen give their thoughts on the value of these conventions for artists. Includes advice on networking, etiquette, note taking, selling work, and portfolios. We elaborate on a caller’s question about drawing from imagination and why you can’t start out drawing like Kim Jung Gi.

An anonymous artist wants to know if it’s possible to draw “spicy” artwork and hold a job as an illustrator for kids books at the same time. This results in a discussion on keeping secret identities and giving examples of artists who made their living doing polar opposite work. Marshall and Stan try to give advice to a frustrated faculty member about their art program and someone’s thang promotes another intriguing podcast.

How do you study perspective? Marshall breaks down the elements of perspective and how you’d go about learning it. Stan also challenges Marshall to draw so

What better way to come together this holiday season than to argue about AI? Marshall plays the role of the YouTube commenters from episode 12 and Stan battles him about the implications AI could have on art, suggesting we should look at AI from an optimistic and synergistic point of view.

It’s the beginning of the end… end of season 1 that is! Before going into hibernation Marshall and Stan sit down and go through youtube comments from the past 26 episodes of Draftsmen. You’ll hear them respond to the relevant discussions that artists posted under each episode.

It’s the Draftsmen Season 1 Finale Part 2! Marshall and Stan continue going through youtube comments from the past episodes of Draftsmen. It is the last of the responses to the relevant discussions that artists posted under each episode.