Reinventing Yourself - Draftsmen S2E22
Reinvention is a part of growing up and plays an important role in developing as an artist. Marshall and Stan talk about the changes that they’ve had to make in their lives, a soldier and artist provides insights into reinvention, and both Draftsmen talk about the reasons why reinvention is important and how you might do it in a positive way.
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Show Links (some contain affiliate links):
Marshall’s technical/comedic illustrations - proko.com/draftsmen-media/mar...
Marshall’s Humerus illustrations - proko.com/draftsmen-media/mar...
Draftsmen S2E21 Knight Zhang - proko.com/437
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell - amzn.to/3jWJnCA
Milan, injured soldier/artist - proko.com/draftsmen-media/mil...
Design Your Career with a Whiteboard - marshallart.com/whiteboard
The Ride of a Lifetime by Robert Iger - amzn.to/3h8t6ZG
Sunday in the Park with George, Stephen Sondheim musical - amzn.to/32b6H9R
Future Shock by Alvin Toffler - amzn.to/2RcCTU1
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ABOUT DRAFTSMEN
Stan Prokopenko and Marshall Vandruff are art instructors. If you love the arts, particularly the craft of drawing and painting and image-making… and you want to level up your skills or even make a living with your skills, we are here to answer your questions. We’re here to offer you advice, refer you to our resources, share your love of the craft and maybe inspire you! Learn to Draw - www.proko.com Marshall Vandruff - www.marshallart.com. Subscribe to the podcast at bit.ly/DraftsmenPod
Hosts - Stan Prokopenko (www.stanprokopenko.com), Marshall Vandruff (www.marshallart.com/)
Production Assistance - Charlie Nicholson, Sean Ramsey (www.peoplewhodrawstuff.com)
Editing - Charlie Nicholson
Audio Engineer - Charlie Nicholson
Intro Animation - Cody Shank (codyshank.com/)
Intro Jingle - Tommy Rush ( / tommyrush )
Music Used with Permission Intro - The Freak Fandango Orchestra
How are you currently reinventing yourself and in what way?
I am reinventing myself to take school more seriously, not because I like It but so I can focus on art more without consequences from my parents that come along with bad grades.
45 years old, (my midlife crises was in my 20s XD), I killed my old pen name, (which I'm still using here), and shifted my goals from becoming an industry artist/writer, towards fine art and poetry. I realized industry artist put in 12 to 16 hour days, and I'm more interested in living my life. I can wage slave in manufacturing and do my art on my time, my way.
Becoming more adamant about getting a career in art. I felt I was being irresponsible by pursuing art, and I've come to the conclusion that it may be because of the way society looks at art. Not everyone is like this of course, but it is seen by many as a hobby and not a real job, and being that I'm a college student, I felt I was avoiding responsibilities by pursuing a less stable job. It's technically not the route people except us to go down, & so I've had a shift in perspective about what my priorities are, and what other people's priorities are and how that influences my decisions. I've started contacting more artists and studios to put myself out there more.
VR painting and animation through Oculus Quill
Learning to draw as a medical student, besides that i like a lot to draw, i've learned that making represetations of organs and structures of the body, that way i practice my drawing skills and my medical knowledge, i say reiventing because before i was like "Do i abandon drawing?"
Local young artist caught bullying harmless old man on camera (YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS)
(GONE WRONG!)
*big red arrows*
Stan is a cool guy. Marshall is also a cool guy. A couple of cool guys doing a cool podcast. Cool.
I swear, every time they said "crisis" my mind fills the rest: "on infinite Earths"
only a cool person would recognise that, Louis ;)
@Semicolon Cool beans
Really, in a world replete with forced and insubstantial voices where everyone has a microphone, this podcast ostensibly about the fundamentals of producing art and being an artist has turned out to be one of the most authentic sources of sincere thought I've ever come across. The concept of reinventing one's self digs into something so much deeper than career; identity, confidence, self-image. Some of these thoughts, about focus and taking a critical eye to the trajectory of one's own life could and indeed should be applied to the lives of everyone, not just artists. Thanks Stan and Marshall. What a lovely, lovely podcast.
that petty rivalry at the end was the most pure thing i’ve ever seen
Here's a 💕 to Marshall for his singing (I heard he likes hearts 😁)
Hm, seems I got this awesome joke about Marshall drug experience
I am 58 and in the past year and a half I got a sudden divorce after 35 years of marriage, lived for a few months in a cargo trailer I converted, made an emergency move to an apartment in another city. I am living through a pandemic and heavy smoke from wild fires while moving myself to another state with very little help. Thankfully, I have not been in the path of these wildfires. I am also thankful that I am strong both emotionally and physically. I have used my time while driving back and forth while moving to think deeply about this fork in the road. I have a giant whiteboard that I had my life passions diagrammed out, thanks to Marshall's KZhead presentation. Once I am settled in enough, I will get the whole course and remake the whiteboard. One question I have for the podcast, that I personally am struggling with as well is, with the world changing so dramatically on so many levels, how does art and being an artist fit into the bigger picture given the huge environmental, economical, sociological changes happening in the world? I have picked up many skills over the years that can contribute a great deal to my community that are not necessarily related to my art. I struggle with finally having a chance to pursue my passion for drawing, painting, and creating, with what feels to me to be a huge existential need for survival. There are many wonderful artists and I am not talking about the value of art to humanity here but the value of art to our very survival. I am hoping this makes sense. I am in the middle of this huge move and, as I mentioned, this is something I am struggling with. Perhaps what is needed in the world is a happy, well balanced, person pursuing her passion for creating art! Thanks for the podcast! I enjoy listening to it while I work on packing and moving.
I was worried there for the first few seconds that we wouldn't get Marshall's singing in this episode, glad I was wrong 😂
Oh, yes! I can write a novel here! As a child, I wanted to draw, make music and be a doctor. But the lack of money in the family put me to the choice after school: I can go directly to work or go to the uni and study economics for free. I got an education, degree and even PhD in economy and conservation. Of course, I wasn't happy, I hated my job and my life. Times to times I drew just for myself. One day my boss in the uni offered me to make an exhibition. It was common practice for students and some teachers. After this, in 2 years I had 3 personal exhibitions and that gave me some spirit to move. I decided to have an art education, and 2 consecutive years my fine art portfolio was rejected. But I couldn't stop. 4 years ago I left uni and change my life drastically. I worked as a creative writer and then got a job as a designer. In 2018 I finished Animation Mentor (Character Animation) and still work as a designer, but look for a job as an animation. I haven't got it yet but it's only my fault. I must work more and animate more and feel my portfolio with great shots. I hope someday I grow enough to be a traditional 2D animator. (Or at least get my animation job :D)
Good luck! I hope you get all the time and energy you need to reach your goal. ❤ Ps: You should watch Ethan Becker's Lightbox Livestreams where he reviews stranger's portfolios mainly focusing on the animation industry. Theyre really motivating and inspiring.
With your economics education, you can find a way to market yourself and find a way to use economics in your stories in a subtle way.
Thats inspiring, I already hate the fact that I did a 4 years animation graduation, spend money and time when I could just study at home and invest that money in online classes with much better teachers, but I'm happy that I figure it out now anyways, and I'm proud of my daily improvement
Marshall is the most wholesome teacher in the whole wide world. Lucky times when you can study from such inspirational people, I just bought his 1994 perspective course. Love you guys both, keep it up!
I worked as an Engineer in the same company for all my life in Brazil. I guess that there wasn't a single year that I didn't have to reinvent myself. Every new boss, new position, new corporate policies, economical crisis, the stress of Y2K bug, and even the introduction of personal computers that were not available when I started working there and so on, all of these made me reinvent myself in some way. When I retired a couple of years ago, I decided to learn how to draw, an old childhood passion, just as a hobby. So, here I am, reinventing myself again. If you stop pedaling, sooner or later you'll fall off the bike. So, I'd like to thank you both for all these great videos and/or podcasts that are helping me in this process.
i was wondering if you guys are planning on doing an episode on artists and depression/mental health sometime? i think it would be nice to heard an episode about it in time like these where i think people have became unmotivated
Just read a great book on this subject. “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” ― Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning
Marshal: talking about a beautiful experience walking a park Stan: "you mean the park with the duck poop?"
I had to reinvent myself a couple of time during my life. First I signed up to the navy and was stationed in Japan for 4 years. When I got out of the military and started pursuing a career as a printmaker was a huge change for me too. And more recently I'm transitioning to become a digital artist after creating a successful printmaking business. I believe change can be very hard at the beginning, but every single time I reinvented myself I felt like it was the right desition. Problem is you don't see it immediately, only in the long run. I truly believe in what stan said, the best skill anyone can have is the ability to adapt, change in inevitable. Resisting, most of the time leads to bitterness and plateau.
I make a point to reinvent myself at least a few times per decade... Whenever I feel myself becoming atrophied, dull or complacent, i'll get a new job, try a new art style, listen to a new genre of music, move to a different region or even just get a new haircut. The thing I fear above all else is becoming stiff and fossilized, unable to enjoy new experiences or being uncomfortable with new prospects and reinvention is a protection against these things. In this manner of living I have become (mostly) content with my present and optimistic about my future, even the idea of old age doesn't much worry me because I know I will find adventure and meaning at every stage of my life.
Marshall's "Now. Get to it." needs to be my new alarm sound
Marhsalls singing is so wholesome lol
Stan says he's always changing, but I look at reinventing as something larger. I feel that for Stan to "reinvent" himself, would be to say "ok i was an oil painter and now I'm trying to be a graphic designer".
He was an oil painter now he has an online art instruction school. That in itself was a reinvention, one he's not done with.
“But I look at reinventing as something larger” but you stayed within the same realm. A cook is still a cook even if he transitions from grilling to baking. If you viewed it larger than Stan, you would have offered the comparison of moving from construction to art - practical vs conceptual.
So think of it this way. Lets say Stan would want to be come a graphic designer, lets say a UI UX designer. He would need a completely new portfolio. Yes they are both creative, but you cant just get hired as a graphic designer because you know how to oil paint. I cant speak on how people get hired for cooking but im pretty sure they just have to prove they know baking. When you get hired as a designer / illustrator or whatever... you cant just show up and prove you can make a website. You need to have all this stuff already done in a portfolio and have a personal website that reflects this. Pretty much Stan would have to: A rework his website to reflect his new career goals, or create a whole separate website for his new focus. Lastly i get what you are saying about becoming a teacher.... but he's just teaching what he already is, a fine artist. I imagine it was an extreme amount of work, but he never changed or reinvented himself. He just took what he was further into a business.
Ending is awesome!
I think the concept of detachment sometimes has a negative stigma about it but I think there is such a thing as healthy detachment. Philosophically and scientifically the world truly is in a state of flux and so just remembering this from time to time helps me realize that I must be adaptable to survive. There really is no choice in the matter, you can resist but that's unsustainable. Change is a mixed bag of good and bad experience but we must step forward. So step forward like a champ and take the hits as they come.
Hi Marshall and Stan.... I've just started watching your Draftsmen channel and am really enjoying it. Keep up the great work, looking forward to the next one, very inspiring!
Stan was the student that got called on who didnt do the reading assignment last night in this one lol.
sometimes I cry when Marshall sings really beautiful voice
I literally just watched your 2 hour livestream,,,, this is great! (i'm not complaining )
The part about wandering meditation reminded me of a book by Deepak Chopra: "The 7 Spiritual Laws of Success", where the first law talks about the necessity of silence and contemplation in order for one to grasp the realm of all possibilities. If one wants to reinvent themselves, reaching for the realm of all possibilities is a crucial step in finding the desired course to take.
I agree completely. Silence is so important to creativity, that I've gotten to the point where I set the alarm earlier just so I can either meditate or lie there & focus on my project. There's something about doing this while still half asleep that I think is important. I think it's also why people say that ideas come to them in dreams or the morning shower
@@scarlet8078 yeah, when we allow other spheres from our mind to work, wonders happen. We have a great deal of potential that is different from conscious, logic thought, and that should be more valorized and explored. Loved your morning method. ^^
Thank you guys, your podcasts really keep me up in this.
35:25 You could say to simplify it a lot it's "Being in the moment" meditaiton it's not clearing your mind, meditation is focusing in the moment, feeling everything with all of you, heck you could focus on the sounds, on your breathing and that way you heartbeat and stress and pressure go down a little.
I really enjoyed this, learned a lot and I am really waiting for your new talk 💙
I think I've been in a meditative state a lot without realizing it. Especially the last few days. I keep a journal, I also recently got myself a planner/journal that is more for spewing out ideas and information that I would normally put in my phone and forget about. It's kind of like my dream journal/vision board? I recently have had a lot of changes happen in the last month or so. School started up again, I started an art shop on Redbubble, I have even been following a budget and wanting to save up for things in the near future. I am very excited to see how my art skills and style will grow and change from what I learn
I’m so happy that Marshall brought up the crisis because that is what initiates the reinventing process I believe I was thinking it the entire time you were asking the question , Stan. I think that the biggest reinvention that I’ve had to undertake as an artist has been through losing a good portion of my vision and there is nothing I can do about it, I have to accept it and in accepting it I can kind of find value in it. it’s very hard for me to focus on the details in my pieces/references, as I’ve lost about a third of my vision in my left eye, but that being said, I think that what may have been hindering me as an artist previous to this eye issue was that I focused on getting things so perfect that I never took the time to enjoy it and that’s what I’ve had to find; being present and enjoying my craft is a really huge part of being successful or feeling successful in my chosen ventures. It’s been a huge reinvention not only as an artist but as a person I look at my family and you know my seven year old is completely not in my line of sight because of this gap in my vision. It skews everything, I used to worry about my hands and when this happened out of the blue ... I had just never considered it.. It really puts things in perspective and initiates the reinvention process because I had to do it there was no way I was going to be without my art.
Thanks for making stuff!
I am a trained goldsmith and am currently reinventing myself as a visual artist. What I find hardest is feeling slightly lost as I am self studying, but i have also realised as long as you sit behind that desk and you keep doing , there will be progress.
Guys, I really enjoy listening to your conversations. I feel like drawings with friends at a drink'n'draw evening. :-]
The end is the best part lol, too funny 😂😂😂
Marshall is so cool
is one of the best podcasts of the two seasons ☺️
I wonder when we will see the red sky... Nice podcast anyway. The first testimony was a strong inspiring story...
I've never been this early!!!! Thank you for the video!
Thank you for this amazing podcast! Could you, please, share information about the course on Creativity from filmmakers, that Marshall mentioned (I think it was minute 21 smth)? Was it an online course? Thank you!
Ah. Good old Law 25. This is going to be fun. Awesome work as usual Marshall and Stan 👌🏾👌🏾💜
"I'm finding this less humorous as we get into it" - Marshall
Or less humerus.
Lots of reinvention in my life. From school to retail, to college, to hospitality, to specialty retail to people transportation to moving across Canada to temp factory work to semi-truck driver, to screen printer to moving back across Canada to retail to a trade.
I went to tradeschool. I learned car mechanics and took extra classes in welding. I enjoy welding for artistic purposes, but not in a factory for products or whatever. Even though a weld can be a work of art in its own right, I rather make statues. Car mechanics is fast work because the customer pays your working hours and expects it to go fast. I forgot to put some bolts on a car wheel and the customer was already gone. Needless to say, they could have crashed their car and died. Right now I am doing a home study course for massage therapy. Its got amazing anatomy knowledge in there. Massage therapy will enable me to work with my hands, just like welding, but on human beings. This gives me job satisfaction more so than welding. My long term goal however, is to make digital paintings and welded sculptures. So I need extra artistic skills to go along with the tradesman skills. I live in West Europe if it makes any difference, but I have some trouble finding art education to get me going on my path. I'm also short on money. I have been watching all episodes of Draftsmen. My biggest struggle is a transformation to go from a technical thinking mind, to an artistic one.
Hey guys - when you say you don't meditate but you take walks and concentrate on your surroundings and connect with nature or yourself - you are quite literally describing 'walking meditation' :) e.g. my meditation is rendering my miniature paintings, incidentally also done using the dry brush technique Marshall mentioned...yay!
I love them ❤
I was sad that Marshall didn't sing in the live Q and A for Lightbox Expo. But we got to hear him here. :)
Three decades as a contractor and now pursuing oil painting. Been doing plenty of plein air this summer after having started to paint two years ago. The paintings are piling up. Now have to sell them
Quoting Sondheim! I love it!!
I found Milan Franklin on Instagram and he is an outstanding draftsman
Time and life get in the way, and occasionally move other things out of the way. I am months late to this party because I had other things to take care of. 16 months ago the engineering company I worked for announced a technological change to a color based computer markup system. I am red-green colorblind. I told them that I could not differentiate between the colors that they picked, and they promised to switch the color format. 6 months ago they announced the final committee decisions, and the original colors were the official process. 5 colors (3 reds and 2 greens) were chosen to tell us five different processes, and I only see two colors. Nearly 45 years in the field, and 23 years with the company rapidly came to a close, and I left the company 5 months ago.. Trying to find a new job at my age and wage level would have been challenging in a great economy, but near impossible in the Covid-economy. Retiring came a few years earlier than planned. Interestingly, there has been a period that equates very much to period of grief. I definitely felt abandoned by people that I considered friends. Anger, depression, lack of focus all were part and parcel to my days. Some days are better than others. Reinvention is the best verbiage for the current changes in my life. Making art was NOT the thing that jumped out as the major goal of spending the time of each day. The drawings weren't telling the multiple stories that float in my head. Words have started to flow, and carving wood to say something has filled much more of my time. I still draw nearly every day, but they are quick sketches or inks, mostly of wildlife. Some sketches are thumbnails of scenes for the stories, but the stories need to be written before the final illustrations are done. The past me published one children's book. Will the new me be a successful writer of illustrated stories? Only time will tell. Vaya con Dios.
The surprised reaction from Stan where the camera shaked a little bit is kinda funny. xD
omg stan your shirt I want!
This might help some people out there. For the last three months, I've been going through self-imposed changes based on a course I'm actually doing, which uses journaling and establishment of routines to reinvent yourself. (Cue to the Journaling Routine Stan mentioned). A lot of it has to do with consciously healing the past and the vision you have of your past, and the vision you have for your future as well, if you really want to make substantial changes in your life. (Cue to the Whiteboard Advice Marshall did). All of that started with Atomic Habits by James Clear, an audiobook I recommend to everyone in this path, and also the 30-Day Future Self Program by Dr. Benjamin Hardy, which I thoroughly recommend if you're having trouble with change. It really helped me a lot, and it still does. Embracing change is part of life, and the testament that we are willing to make things better for everyone around us, starting with ourselves. I wish everyone reading this the best, and a huge encouragement to dare yourself to attach to nothing, and to expect everything. That's what brought our species up to where we are. Fantastic episode. Thanks Draftsmen! Greetings from Argentina!
Hi guys, My name is Gala and I have a question regarding the book 'The art of learning' which you have mentioned in previous episodes, i have read it and it sure is inspiring in many ways, One of the most exciting ideas in my opinion was the chapter 'making smaller circles' about the learning principle of plunging into the detailed mystery of the micro in order to understand what makes the macro tick. I was wondering wether you have any ideas about how to apply this to learning how to draw, and if you have experienced something similar with your process- learning something in depth and then applying it to other subjects, thank you
what kind of camera is Marshall using? I just noticed it kept following his face when he got closer xD
4:34 you can tell Stan is a dad now.
trying to draw more, animate and make humourus human figure... and trying to make a podcast, changing what I used to do teaching adults to trying to keep most of our spirits up. And Milan's story does help a lot, inspiring as Rising Phoenix can be.
Ive watched all the videos and now I took over my art class -"look at me, I'm the teacher now" lol
Protecc marshall at all costs
4:53 Marshall doing his best George McFly impersonation.
As an 18 year old striving to become an artist, I find this scary.I Have nothing to reinvent cuz I haven't even found myself yet. My art is plain no style. Just learning the fundamentals.
Same here, 20 years old
do you both considered to do vflogs? i think its something people would like to dive into where its just one of you (marshall) talking the talk about whatever he wants, whenever he wants.
“Whoa this took a turn...” 😂 😂 😂 😂
My god marshall's move struggle is so first world problem it's actually sweet
Listening to Marshall makes me think I'm only using 5% of my brain. I don't remember what happened yesterday, I need to read more.
Let's here it for the baby boomers, still making art, and some without a graphics tablet and photoshop! Yipeee!!
It started without singing and for a second I was worried 😂
Marshall singing makes me laugh, he's pretty good xD
hahaha the ending was really fun hahaha i laugh with you guys :D "you end up getting a new car" :D :D :D
I like Stan's old room because its colors were the same as my room 😂😔❤️
Man the end really had me laughing, hahahahha
Marshall, I think you really started to get in touch with those trees after you picked up that suspicious mushroom and ate it.
Marshall - "The most important thing is to be able to adapt." Stan changes the color of the Draftsmen sign. Marshall - "I don't like that one! I want the old Draftsmen back!"
I hope Marshall reads this.
Seeing Stan's face while Marshall talks is somehow unsettling
i actually lost it at the "humerous" joke hahaaa
Oh wonderful ending to this podcast ;)
PLEASE bring in Craola Greg Simkins, hes not too far, I think he lives in Torrance, CA still.
really? damn im one in a few who is 20 and loving this!
Meditate = chewing on thoughts. Everyone worries about something. That’s the easiest form of mediation but to process thoughts to move in a positive direction is typically what people associate with that word. Many have made money mystifying meditation. Making meditation a positive and productive practice takes time but it is not difficult to start.
Marshall walks naked around the lake while chewing leaves. That's what I got from this episode. It might even be true.
Man, everytime I wanna hear what Marshall has to say, Stan interrupt with some crappy stuff... very unwise...
I sometimes think Stan doesn't have quite the life experience with the ups and downs that Marshall has experienced.
don't worry because, Marshall won in the end!
Stan , "those that werent professional in 2007" Bro i was 6 years old give me a break.
t=10:30 I think pandering and giving in to a new trend or technology is not 'reinventing'. Probably the word 'adapting' fits better. People adapted to digital trends and its tools. Reinventing is like burning out and coming out of ashes anew.
22:40
Lol Tesla! This is indeed so relevant. At least to me. A 50 yrs old beginner artist
Was Marshal just funny boned at timestamp 5:09?
Stan looks ready for a MLC. [:D
Jesus, Stan.
Stan do you have a tesla??
fastest click
I'm pretty sure the lesson I can walk away with is.... When reinventing yourself be careful of the goose poop
18
damn it, not first
Stan’s a wise guy. Not a wiseguy.
Marshall won, hands dow.
I find the younger guy to be a brat.
I can’t help but wonder if there is ageism in art. It seems the industry is always celebrating and presenting the next “Infant Phenomenon”. I wish there was more diversity. (Shrug)
Disappointing 😒