What Was Cool Weekly (Jan. 1-8)
Happy New Year!
Hope you’re having a good start to the 2022. I took a couple weeks off (of writing these) to enjoy the holidays with my family. Here are a few things I thought were cool this week and wanted to share.
1. Learning Journals
A few years ago I started keeping a notebook (in addition to my use of sketchbooks) just to put in things I was learning. I named them “Learning Journals” and they are simply notebooks that I try to catch all things interesting to me. 90% of my Learning Journals are notes from books, quotes, lists, and the other half is used as a sketchbook, or to glue in articles or any other neat stuff I find.
My favorite type of “Learning Journal” is probably the Moleskine classic notebook. As I just finished up my 2021 Learning Journal, I am starting 2022 trying out a new brand for me called Leuchtturm 1917 notebook which I’m excited to give a whirl. I like Leuchtturm’s motto:
“Details Make All The Difference”
The Leuchtturm motto reminds me of one of my ceramics professor in college who would often tell us:
“The magic is in the details”
2. Walt Stanchfield who?
Recently while reading a book I came across this Walt Stanchfield quote
“We all have 10,000 bad drawings in us, the sooner we get them out the better”
I had heard this quote before but I didn’t know who had said it and was curious as to who this Walt Stanchfield was and what else he had to say. Apparently there were two “Walts” in the Disney world. Of course Walt Disney, and Walt Stanchfield who was also influential as the mentor, instructor and coach of the Disney animation department.
I came across this archive of “class handouts” he would make for his drawing classes which can be found here. His handouts and notes were mostly his thoughts on the animation and drawing process but also contain many gems of insight into the creative life. For example, one of his handouts is all about “affirmations” - the practice of speaking positive results into your life and the ability to make them a reality. I
This video below gives a pretty good glimpse of who Walt Stanchfield was:
3. How to be an Artist
I finished reading “How to be an Artist” by Jerry Saltz. You know how some things you read have just a few nuggets of wisdom dropped here and there? This book was like a 200 count nugget meal deal super sized! I’m usually not too interested in art critics but Jerry Saltz had such great wisdom and advice on the creative life and how to be an artist. A few of my favorite nuggets of advice from the book dipped in that “Saltz special sauce” of insight:
#2 - Make your imagination your compass.
#13 - Start working (making art) when you get up - if you wait until later, it ain’t gonna happen.
#16 - Imitate, then separate.
#24 - There are no wasted days - even when you’re “not working,” you are progressing
#28 - Look - See - Absorb. Make yourself a seeing machine.
#34 - Be inconsistent - try new things - don’t cage your creative wild animal within
#46 - Bad art teaches just as much as good art - maybe even more
#61 - You are always learning; at the end of the day you know something you didn’t know at the beginning of the day.
One last one to leave you with (#27) - All art is subjective; a work of art never changes (Hamlet, Picasso’s Guernica, etc…) but at the same time is always changing & never stays the same as time passes. You - the viewer are always changing. Have you re- read a book you’ve read before or watched a movie you haven’t seen in several years and noticed the work of art has changed as you have changed?
4. Six Hundred
One of my goals in 2021 was to run regularly throughout the weeks. I set a goal of running 600 miles which required me to run 50 miles a month. I finished my final run on New Years Eve and made it exactly to 600 miles (my dog Mixie ran 275 of the miles with me!)
While running I would listen to music or nothing just to think and let my mind wander. Running is cheap therapy for me. It somehow clears my mind and helps me think through some things on my mind. I am thankful for my ability to run regularly which was waylaid at different times due to injury. Some people find running boring but the slow boredom of the process of running long distances is something I have come to enjoy.
*For context, I ran cross country in high school (my parents were the kind that made their children do things they didn’t really want to do - but actually were good for them in the long run - no pun intended.) I hated running cross country in high school and I have tons of funny stories of what my buddies and I would do to avoid running.
It’s weird to me how now I enjoy this thing called running. For 2022, I plan on still running regularly but be a little more low key and not worry so much on a specific amount of mileage. What exercise form helps you?
5. Bible in a Year
My wife recently shared with me that she had heard through a podcast about Father Mike Schmitz’s "Bible in a Year" podcast in which he (you guessed it!) reads through the Bible in a year.
At first I didn’t think too much about it but then I thought I’d give it a shot to start my 2022. So each day I have listened to the 15ish minute daily readings and brief commentary Fr. Mike Shmitz provides and it has quickly become one of the highlights of my day. I can’t exactly put my finger on what it is but it’s been fascinating to start this journey and I am only a few days in.
I have really enjoyed the context that is provided in what I thought were familiar stories and have helped me see them with a much richer focus.
*this can also be found on any other major podcast platform like Apple Podcasts, etc…
Thanks for reading and hope you have a great week! If you’d like to get these “What Was Cool Weekly” feel free to subscribe: