Lean Into Art - Art Center for Visual Storytellers - liacast

LIA Cast 76 - Everyone Doubts

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Sat, 11 May 2013 21:52:47 PDT

Why would anyone care about what I have to say? In this episode of the Lean Into Art Cast, Rob explores the topic of self-doubt with special guest co-host: writer, former therapist, and mommy blogger Kate Shields Stenzinger. Where's Jerzy? He's off to the Toronto Comics Art Festival!

Kate and Rob discuss their own encounters with doubt in their creative projects, approaches to dealing doubt, and wonder if there's a strong connection to motivation and fear. Along the way they highilght very different models that they've each adopted: creating for the expression vs. creating as an ongoing commitment or service.

We wrap up the show with some tactics (a.k.a "stupid helpy tips") to help battle the doubt!

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Subscribe, comment, and vote on iTunes

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

Closing Thought: Leaners Aren't Weiners! Thanks for Listening!

LIA Cast 75 - Lying Low or Walking Tall

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:04:06 PDT

Listen to the mp3 here!

It's another epic-length episode as we deconstruct a question from Leaner Tyrel Pinnegar:

My question is this: Under what circumstances is it appropriate to make the progress of your project public? Are there any advantages to lying low until the project fully completed?

Links:

To Sell is Human by Daniel Pink
Invisible Ink by Brian McDonald
The Paper Wings podcast
Ryan Estrada's tweet about the fake Indiegogo campaign
The Commonwealth Saga by Peter F. Hamilton
The Abominable Charles Christopher
Fruits Basket
Dragonball Z
Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling
Kids' Comics Revolution! podcast
Seth Godin talks about shipping on Blogcast FM
Jason Brubaker's post on setting up a good Kickstarter Campaign
The Funding the Dream podcast
Comics Are Great! 17 - Marketing is Just Talking to Dudes
Neil Gaiman's talk on "Being Like Dandelions"

We also review LIA Quest 6: An A-Team of Your Own!

And to exercise more in this arena, check out these two workshops!

(each workshop comes with a bonus 12 hours of extra video content from our Creative Topics Variety Pack and more!)

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

LIA Cast 74 - Preparing for Opportunities

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 08:13:51 PDT

Listen to the MP3 here!

Our curveball once again hacks the show! We got an interesting question from Lee the other day:

Can misidentifying your tribe initially hurt your career/personal projects?

I keep following people who do what I do/what I want to do, but it feels like high school all over again with me not fitting neatly into any cliques. I feel like I must not be understanding what a tribe is, or how to find mine. What if a tribe doesn't exist for someone, they're too.... unusual? :<

If it is like high school, how can we learn from our past experiences to navigate these "tribes" to find the groups where we feel at home?

We build upon this with a tweet from Kazu Kibuishi, who always shares thought-provoking posts:

Spend time preparing for an opportunity & less time looking for one. Nothing worse than getting a chance at something w/out being prepared.
— Kazu Kibuishi (@boltcity) March 28, 2013

And this episode features the return of the Lean Into Art Quests! Check out Rob's An A-Team of Your Own, and share your efforts on Twitter with the #liaquest6 tag by April 24, 2013 to have it shown on the next episode.

Links:

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

LIA Cast 73 - Unlocking Consistency

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 07:38:17 PDT

Download the mp3 here!

You're making a comic and everyone is off model. The style you've tried out on page one doesn't match the style you're achieving on page 24. Some days you feel like drawing loosely, some days you want to draw tighter illustrations. How do you make your work more consistent?

But before we take on this question we back out to explore all the different aspects of consistency, including:

Keeping on Model
Defining one's style
Output
Workflow
Outlook

And as usual, we close with some tips and strategies to unlock consistency in our On the Ground section.

We also review this episode's entries for LIA Quest 5: Not THAT Guy!

After this quest, here's where to go for more awesome techniques and strategies on this topic:

No quest given with this episode, but you can check out and try the first five on the Quests blog.

Reference

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

LIA Cast 72 - Collective Art

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 21:15:47 PDT

Download the mp3 here!

Whether you find yourself working on a team for a job or just engaging in a creative "rock band" experiment, chances are that you'll eventually work with someone, sometime, on something.

But when groups get together to do any collaborative tasks, various kinds of tension and friction occur. This time we focus on the 3 Key Friction Points to evaluate when a collaboration gets a little less...harmonius:

Unpredictability (delightful and otherwise)
Assumptions or Mental Models of the team members
Motivation or Intent of the team members

But we always start with a curveball, and this episode's pitch comes by way of Ryan Estrada:

@jerzy @robstenzinger Why do people think of comic creators who move on as quitters, but film directors who make too many sequels as hacks?
— Ryan Estrada (@ryanestrada) March 4, 2013

And we close with a discussion of LIA Quest 4: The Smell of Funny!

After the quest, take it to the next level!

And don't forget to check out this episode's Quest: Not That Guy! Deadline to participate in time for the next show is March 27!

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

LIACast 71 - Making Your Characters Ring True

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 18:40:48 PST

In this episode of the Lean Into Art Cast, Jerzy and Rob delve into exploring the conceptual and visual design attributes of great characters. Jerzy's recent quest provides a great catalyst for our conversation in how much it helps us explore the importance of villains in storytelling.

We Reflected on LIA Quest 3: Evil or Just a Jerk

And, We Introduce a New Quest: Smell of Funny

Deadline to have your quest materials mentioned on the next LIA Cast: March 13!

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Take These Great Character Design Workshops

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

LIACast 70 - Mastering Your Schedule with Dave Seah

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 19:12:13 PST

Dave Seah is an information designer, stationary designer, and highly reflective prolific blogger. In this episode of the Lean Into Art Cast, Jerzy and Rob have a conversation with Dave Seah about anything from blogging to getting started being an independent creator.

How did Dave become so mindful with his process? How did he journey from being a computer programmer to being a designer? We cover lots of ground!

Also: Quest 3 has been EXTENDED!

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Workshops, Flexible for Your Schedule

Lean Into Art Workshops

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

LIA Cast 69 - Perseverance and Perseverance

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 11:34:06 PST

Download the mp3 here!

There’s a romance to “muscling through” and shipping. Never give up! Ganbare!

“Only a weakling gives up when the going gets tough!” - Peter Parker

But what if you’re shipping the wrong thing? How do you know whether it’s a question of your own abilities, or if it’s a situation where you can’t see the forest for the trees?

But changing projects means giving up on the old one, right? Isn’t that admitting defeat? Way to give up, Baron Wimpy von Quitsalot.

It's a packed episode as we walk around this topic, take on a curveball, and talk about this episode's Quests!

Reference (some affiliate links)

And don't forget to check out this episode's Quest: Evil, or Just a Jerk? Deadline to get your entry discussed on the next show is February 13, 2013!

This episode's entries for Quest 2: Harvester of Borrow!

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

LIA Cast 68 - Doing it Wrong with Ryan Estrada

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 17:00:10 PST

Download the mp3 here!

This one is packed to the gills with topics and discussions that visual storytellers of all stripes will enjoy. Ryan Estrada returns to the show to talk about his Do it Wrong manifesto, reflections on tabling at Korean comic cons, and the exciting model he's exploring through his Whole Story project where you can pay what you want for a massive bundle of digital comics.

Reference

And don't forget to check out this episode's Quest: Harvester of Borrow! Deadline to get your entry discussed on the next show is January 30, 2013!

This episode's entries for Quest 1: Mecha Sound!

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

LIA Cast 67 - Limbering Up for the New Year

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 12:00:25 PST

Download the mp3 here!

Now that we've reflections and plans for 2013, there's nothing for it but to dive in and complete those goals, right? Easy! But time and again we find ourselves falling short of our goals, for a variety of reasons:

We sit down to do the work and don’t know where to begin
We have the desire, but not the ideas
Nothing we throw down on the page seems very good-the work is happening laboriously, not joyfully
We don’t have any “inspiration”

So this week we dive into some thoughts on the value of "limbering up." How does the way we feel about the work change when we take a few moments to incorporate a warm-up exercise? How can we spin ourselves up to the workday and keep that energy going throughout a project? How might they simultaneously remove friction from Mind, Body, Spirit, Skill, and Awareness?

We also launch a new feature with this episode: The Lean Into Art Quests! Scroll down for more information about some new interactive challenges we're all going to take on together.

Links mentioned in this episode:

Reference (some affiliate links):

This episode's Quest: Mecha Sound!

Consider a sound effect for any or all of the following:

A rusty old tractor starting up
An air conditioner in use
Someone making an espresso

There are 3 ways to participate in the quest:

Heroic Challenge: Create the sound effect on paper or digitally. Black and white or color.
Items of Excellence: You may also find examples by others that demonstrate good mechanical sound designs.
Link Power-Ups: Provide a link to an article or tutorial that will help others in their quest.

You can share your questing materials on Twitter or Google+ with the #liaquest1 and #liaquest tags. Finish your quest by January 16, 2013 to have it discussed on the next episode!

We'll even start you off with the first Link Power-Up: Check out LIA Cast 14 for our episode on designing sound effects!

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

LIA Cast 66 - Reflecting on Last Year, Planning for Next Year

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 21:00:24 PST

Download the mp3 here!

As 2012 comes to a close, we take the opportunity to talk about a subject that is on a lot of people's minds during this time of year. As some of us make resolutions for the future while reflecting on accomplishments and failures of the past year, we think it might be a good idea to be intentional about this kind of reflection and planning. But what kind of thinking is most useful when planning and reflecting? What resources are out there for us to use as a starting point?

Links mentioned in this episode:

Workshops

The Lean Into Art Season of Creative Challenges! Many of our workshops are only $10 for a limited time.
Spotlight on Jerzy's FTAM! workshop, only $40 for an in-depth session on the fundamentals of sound design and how to create sound elements in vector format.
And Krishna Sadasivam's Creating Crazy Characters workshop, another 4 hours of video that will walk you through how to create characters based on shape and how understanding shapes helps us create dynamic characters.

People

Ryan Estrada and The Whole Story project
Shadowing Tronix
Krishna Sadasivam
David Seah
Susannah Conway
David Allen
Stephen Covey

Reference (some affiliate links):

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

LIA Cast 65 - Holiday Wish List

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 20:52:15 PST

Download the mp3 here!

Having just finished a season of creative challenges, and as we approach the season of resolutions and reflections, this is an opportunity to gear up on new tools and materials to assist us in our endeavors.

Links mentioned in this episode:

Workshops

The Lean Into Art Season of Creative Challenges! Many of our workshops are only $10 for a limited time.
Spotlight on Jerzy's Lettering in Adobe Illustrator workshop, only $10 for a terrific session on the fundamentals of sound design.

People

Ryan Estrada and The Whole Story project
Shadowing Tronix
Mark Shuttleworth
Brandon Dayton

Reference (some affiliate links):

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

LIA Cast 64 - Visualizing Your Pacing

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 21:00:22 PST

We're back to live streaming video for the LIA Cast, and to celebrate we have a talk around the topic of visual pacing. How do we create rhythms on the page? How does shape, size, line, color, and negative space contribute to the pace at which the reader or viewer interprets the image?

Returning to our 10,000 Ft Up/On The Ground format, we explore the following concepts:

Negative Space = Positive Time
Line, Color, and Size = Relative Time
Image Density = Quantum Mechanics

Followed by a bevy of works to study in exploring this subject for yourself!

Links mentioned in this episode:

Ryan Estrada and The Whole Story project
Jonathan Rector
Robert Clemmons Jr

Reference (some affiliate links):

Akira

Same Difference

Spiral-Bound

Usagi Yojimbo, Book 1: The Ronin

Concrete Volume 1: Depths

Robot Dreams

JLA/Avengers

Invincible: The Ultimate Collection

Dr. Slump, Vol. 1

Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch Classic - Volume 1

Dororo

Kazu Kibuishi
Mummy Attack by Michael Dashow
The Lean Into Art Thinking About Design Series Pt 1 | Pt 2 | Pt 3
10 Ways Our Minds Warp Time
Karl Altstaetter's process videos

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

LIA Cast 63 - The Artist's Artist

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:36:40 PST

The only people reading webcomics are other webcomics creators.

– Lots of people

Though we sometimes feel this way, we know it's not entirely true. But the concern persists that in creating extra content for our project like how-to videos, process posts, and other behind-the-scenes materials, we're only creating material of interest to other creators. And while being dubbed "The Artist's Artist" comes with some clout, it's not always the best way to make the money.

But we don't stop there with this week's discussion. Together we try to dig at the goals of extra content in general and use that to come up with alternate approaches to making the extra stuff for the "superfans."

Thanks to Ashley for the email that inspired this episode!

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Workshops

The Lean Into Art Season of Creative Challenges! Many of our workshops are only $10 for a limited time.
Spotlight on Rob Stenzinger's Making Videogames From Comics workshop, only $10 for a terrific session on the fundamentals of game design.

Reference

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Rob's Guitar Fretter game for iOS and Android
RevMob
Homestar Runner
Trogdor
Strongbad Zone
Spark podcast discussion with Vivek Venkatesh on Heavy Metal Forums and Online Learning
Stack Overflow
Taz video game
Requiem Metal Podcast
Yngwie Malmsteen
Sugar Rush commercial
Ignite Ann Arbor
The Moth podcast
First Position (documentary)
The Escape Artist podcast

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

LIA Cast 62 - Our Voices in Conversation

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 10:56:21 PST

How do our voices and conversational styles change in various contexts? Is there a line between "keeping it real," and respecting the venue in which you're operating? And what about finding the difference between interacting with your peers and your constituency? In this audio-only episode we break with our usual format to have a casual conversation about a variety of topics that all add up to how creative pepole modulate their voices in conversation.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Workshops

The Lean Into Art Season of Creative Challenges! Many of our workshops are only $10 for a limited time.
Spotlight on Krishna Sadasivam's Creating Crazy Characters workshop, only $40 for 4 sessions on building memorable characters.

Reference

Matthew Inman's comic Some thoughts and musings about making things for the web and his Ignite talk How to Get 5 Million People to Read Your Website
Zapier
IFTTT
Yahoo Pipes
Oblique Strategies
Dawn Griffin's Ditching the Webcomics Model article

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

LIA Cast 61 - Mining the Medium of Manga

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 10:09:46 PST

We're joined by our second-ever guest on the Lean Into Art Cast for a talk about what makes the medium of manga so unique, and what we in the west can learn from it. Kasey Van Hise walks us through the ways manga artists establish pacing, explore the expressive potential of character design, and challenge the way we think of comics composition.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Workshops

The Lean Into Art Season of Creative Challenges! Many of our workshops are only $10 for a limited time.
And if you liked what Kasey had to say during this epsidoe, check out her Manga is a Medium, Not a Genre! workshop, also part of the Season of Creative Challenges event.

Reference (some affiliate links)

Naruto
Fruits Basket
Yotsuba&!
Fantagraphics Books
Bat-Manga!: The Secret History of Batman in Japan
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Emma
A Bride's Story
Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka
Astro Boy, Vol. 3
Sailor Moon
Drops of God
The Year 24 Group
To Terra...
Bakuman
Dororo
Captain Harlock
Rob's iOS and Android game Guitar Fretter

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

LIA Cast 60 - Storytelling to Make Your Presence Awesome

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 19:33:41 PST

Many of us visual storytellers choose this line because it affords us the ability to hold up in a studio, away from the public. But more and more it seems that being a professional artist means getting one's self "out there." Does this mean we should take diction classes, attend networking seminars, or sign up for coaching from social media gurus? What if we already have the skills necessary to engage with the public?

This week we borrow from Rob's Storytelling to Make Your Comic's UI Awesome workshop playbook and examine how we visual storytellers have all the tools at our disposal to engage with others; whether it's to lead a presentation, get involved in your local scene, or just engaging with others online.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Workshops

The Lean Into Art Season of Creative Challenges! Many of our workshops are only $10 for a limited time.

People

Reference

WTF Podcast
The Lean Into Art Thinking About Design Series Pt 1 | Pt 2 | Pt 3
LIA Cast 43 - Roadblocks to Sharing
Comics Are Great! 17 - Marketing is Just Talking to Dudes
The 30 Characters Challenge

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

LIA Cast 59 - On Finishing and Triage

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 10:10:55 PDT

This week we take on the topic of Finishing, using Rob's recent experience at 24 Hour Comics Day as a microcosm of the life cycle of a creative project. How do you create your Finishing Machine, and when do you know whether or not you've created a Failure Machine?

We respond to a couple of Leaner emails, first from Dee Juusan who offers us an answer to a curveball we proposed in an earlier episode. Then we further develop our thoughts on Finishing based on some thoughts sent to us by Brian Taylor.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Workshops

The Lean Into Art Season of Creative Challenges! Many of our workshops are only $10 for a limited time.

People

Events

Detroit Fanfare October 26-28 - Jerzy will be there!

Reference

24 Hour Comics Day
No Remorse River Horse - Rob's completed 24-Hour Comic

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

LIA Cast 58 - Conventioning UI Report with Ryan Estrada

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 09:13:56 PDT

We have our first-ever guest on the Lean Into Art Cast, and who better than Ryan Estrada? He joins us to share some of his experience tabling at Korean comics conventions and how he's implemented his own user experience strategies at the table. Ryan also shares some first-hand reflections on the differences between the Korean comics scene and that of North America.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Workshops

The Lean Into Art Season of Creative Challenges! Many of our workshops are only $10 for a limited time.

People

Audra Furuichi

Events

Detroit Fanfare October 26-28 - Jerzy will be there!
Busan Comic World (Korean website) - Ryan will be there!

Reference

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

LIA Cast 57 - Toward a Paperless Studio, Pt 2

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 09:51:16 PDT

In part two to our talk on leveraging digital to expedite and mobilize our art endeavors, we talk this week about some digital tools we use for inspiration, research, and speeding up production.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Workshops

Workshop Pick of the Week: Kim Holm's Digitally Organic Art

People

Events

Detroit Fanfare October 26-28 - Jerzy will be there!

Tools

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

LIA Cast 56 - Toward a Paperless Studio, Pt 1

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 08:21:08 PDT

Having found ourselves facing an increased need for mobility, we take the opportunity this week to share some of our thinking in regard to leveraging more digital in our workflows in order to be able to work effectively in more places. We conclude with a breakdown of some of the better drawing apps out there for both iOS and Android.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Workshops

Workshop Pick of the Week: Kim Holm's Digitally Organic Art

People

Arts and Media

Paperless by David Sparks (ebook)

Events

Fallcon October 6 - Rob will be there!
Detroit Fanfare October 26-28 - Jerzy will be there!

Tools (some affiliate links)

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

LIA Cast 55 - Starting can be Logical

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 07:53:26 PDT

Being a creative person often involves having too many options to choose from when evaluating which project to start next. How do you know which project has legs, or is the one that will generate the energy required to see it through to shipping it? You can't know if it's the right project for you until you dive in and try, right?

This week we walk around the notion of the Logic Model as a means to evaluate our developing creative endeavors. By asking ourselves what our objectives, audience needs, required activities, and projected outcomes are, we might be able to make some more informed decisions about which project to take on next.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Workshops

People

Arts and Media

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within (affiliate link)
Lean Into Art: Thinking About Design Series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Lean Into Art Cast 36 - Preparedness
Karl Altstaetter's sketch video

Events

Fallcon October 6 - Rob will be there!
Detroit Fanfare October 26-28 - Jerzy will be there!

Tools

References

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

LIACast 54 - Conventioning from a UI/UX Perspective

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 18:51:54 PDT

How does thinking about tabling at conventions in UI/UX terms change the way we think about our table setup/interactions?

In this episode of the Lean Into Art Cast, we kick things off with a wrapup of Jerzy's experience at SPX and the Ignatz Awards. We then explore the experience of tabling from user centric perspective and how that approach can inform laying out your table, presenting your books, and ultimately getting them into your reader's hands.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Workshops

People

References

AIDA (marketing) "AIDA (marketing) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia")
A/B Testing
Xerox Park "PARC (company) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia")
Steven Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think!
100 things every designer must know about people by Susan Weinschenk
The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

LIA Cast 53 - Self-Learning Skillset: Research

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 11:21:47 PDT

Why do we need to understand how to research? In this episode of the Lean Into Art Cast we work through the uses, reasons, and strategies of applied research for creative projects.

We get into tools we use for our writing, drawing, and interactive project research. We go way beyond: "Can’t we just Google it?"!

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Workshops

People

Arts and Media

Events

Tools

Pinterest
Evernote (a.k.a. brain-in-the-sky)
IFTTT (automate web-based apps)
Evernote Web Clipper
FreeMind (free mind mapping tool)
MindNode (Mac OSX mind mapping tool)
iThoughtsHD (iPad mind mapping tool)
Mac Journal
Day One (journal app)
Omnigraffle (diagramming, mapping, and design tool)
Visio (diagramming, mapping, and design tool)
Scribe (outlining tool)
OmniOutliner (outlining tool)
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1

References

Connect with Jerzy and Rob

LIA Cast 52 - What We Think When We Ink

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 07:00:49 PDT

Inking! It's an outmoded method of comics creation, right? Thanks to recent technological advancements, we can make print-ready comics out of any medium we wish. But doesn't that mean that using ink lines on our work becomes an even more artistic endeavor?

This week we talk a bit about the special affordances found when using ink in our illustration work. We explore how one can stumble upon technique, creating an "inking taxonomy," and how inking expresses inner realities while mimicking outer reality.

We close with some tool demonstrations and a few Stupid Helpy Tips!

Links mentioned in this episode:

Social Networking

LIA Cast 51 - Art Automation, Pt 2

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 08:29:04 PDT

20 episodes after our first talk on Art Automation, we return for another round of talking about why we shouldn't subject ourselves to repetitive tasks in our visual storytelling endeavors, and share a bunch of resources and tools we use to speed things up in the studio.

Links mentioned in this episode:

Social Networking

LIA Cast 50 - A Wacom-Enabled Tablet

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 09:54:54 PDT

So there's an Android tablet out there with a Wacom digitizer and a customized version of Photoshop installed. We spend a little time with this tablet, reporting the pros and cons, and speculating on why this device hasn't been talked about as an art creation tool. You may want to watch the video for this one first.

Links mentioned in this episode:

Social Networking

LIA Cast 49 - Authenticity

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 10:25:00 PDT

This week we take on what we find to be a slippery topic. How do we know when we're being authentic in our work? How do we think about honesty in our expressions? Can one remain honest while still attempting to manipulate an audience?

We land on four items of consideration that inform our own senses of how authenticity works:

Venue
Audience
Core Values/Mission
Context

Links mentioned in this episode:

Chris Rock on NPR's Fresh Air proclaims "You can only offend me if you mean something to me."
The WTF podcast
A Google search for a reprehensible WSJ article on Facebook and "bragging" (We're not going to directly link to it out of respect for you)
The word "Curation" no Longer Belongs to the Museum Crowd
100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People (Affiliate Link)
Our Thinking about Design series, Pt 1|Pt 2|Pt 3
The Front: Petty Dreadful

Social Networking

LIA Cast 48 - Roles v. Goals

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 10:31:47 PDT

Reflecting on tonight’s @leanintoart Cast, it was two topic adventures. We explored Keep On the Borderlands and Isle of Dread in one go.
— Rob Stenzinger (@RobStenzinger) August 8, 2012

This week we attempt to dig at the topic of Roles vs. Goals by asking ourselves where we fall between the two and bracing for the answer. Do we want to simply be a part of a tribe, or do we set our career sights on a measurable outcome? Are these two things mutually exclusive? Even if they aren't, how does our work change when we lean toward one or the other?

Social Networking

LIA Cast 47 - Does Artistic Evolution Diminish Service to an Audience?

leanintoart@gmail.com (Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger) — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 12:40:28 PDT

This episode is for the visual storytellers who might be mid-stream in a project or career and find themselves at what appears to be a crossroads: The desire to be playful and grow artistically versus providing what the audience has come to expect from you.