howtobecomeanartist

My guest is Dianne Gallagher, host of Rock the Cashbar, a podcast that takes deep dives into your favorite songs and lyrics. More than that she is a comedian from the old Laff Stop days here in Houston, and part of the very unique community that existed then. When I met her, she was Dianne Cupps, but now is the married mother and stay-at-home artist Dianne Gallagher.

We revisit some of those days in this episode, but also talk about how to balance an artistic life with our chaotic regular ones. I imagine this will be especially helpful for any of you who are still holding down civilian jobs while you try to get started. And of course, lots of the usual irreverence. We talk about Prince and The Secret, writing exercises, and Rage Against the Machine.

Please enjoy my conversation with this week’s guest, Dianne Gallagher.

Visit Rock the Cashbar: https://www.rockthecashbarpodcast.com/
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10UMvsoe59o
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0xwZ8u6LWp4u2d8GJXnyZ2?si=MJd3OIBTQnOKtrgnE7RxyA&nd=1

As mentioned in the show, you can get a free digital version by signing up for my twice-a-month newsletter full of all sorts of useful help: http://www.sladeham.com

Many thanks to Chicken running everything you can't see off screen.

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Comedian Paul Oddo is a stand up comedian and artist living in Austin, TX. He released his debut standup comedy album, “Lost In Thought” and his first book, “Nothing Too Fancy” which he wrote and illustrated. Paul has performed at The Boston Comedy Festival and Competition, which he won in 2012 taking home a prize of $10,000.

He has also been featured at SXSW, The Out Of Bounds Comedy Festival, Bridgetown Comedy Festival, NY Comedy Festival. He is a Featured Performer at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in NYC. He has been seen On “The Late Show With David Letterman”, “AXS Gotham Comedy Live” and “‘Best Of’ AXS Gotham Comedy Live”.

He is also an incredible visual artist whose paintings flex ebbing and flowing lines and haunting animal visuals. For more, please visit PaulOddo.com

Diego Jourdan Pereira is an author of puzzle and activity books, including the Giant Book of Games and Puzzles for Smart Kids, The Big Book of Brain-Boosting Puzzles, Bible Power Puzzles, and the Astonishing Bathroom Reader. With a background in illustration, comic books, and graphic design, his clientele has ranged from Dover Publications to The Topps Company.

In this episode:

In this week’s episode, Diego Jourdan Pereira walks us through how he went from a career as an illustrator working in licensing and completely reinvented himself as an author and book designer.  

Diego’s story is a fantastic model showing how clear goals and hard work pay off to break into a completely new market and create new opportunities. 

If you have been sitting on the fence, not knowing what to do or how to do it, just listen up because the clues are all right here and if you are willing to put in the work, it’s just a matter of continued effort and time before you’re well on your way towards your dream career where you get paid to be creative. 

In the last part of the episode we talk about the difference between dreams and goals, and Diego has a great way of looking at how to set and make your goals a reality.

Mitch Bowler is the Founder of Pencil Kings and the Co-founder of Evolve Artist. He has worked with countless companies, including Pixar, Marvel, Dungeons & Dragons, Activision, and more.

As a former 3D technical artist, Mitch has gone through the ups and downs of honing his craft, which is why he decided to revolutionize the way that art is taught.

Both of his companies offer professional instruction and hands-on support from real artists in order to help creatives around the world take their work to the next level.

Here's a glimpse of what you'll learn:

• How to ground your ideas of what a character designer does by looking at reference books
• Why not loving the character design process can be a huge red flag, and what to do if this is you.
• How to look for jobs and make your dream career more realistic.
• How and why to participate in online communities
• Putting together a portfolio based on your earlier research
• How to have an awesome creative career even if you realize that character design isn’t as fun as you thought it might be

In this episode:

In this week’s episode, Mitch Bowler from Pencil Kings breaks down a simple five-step process that he would use to break into having a career as a character designer. 

This talk skips right over technical skill development and gets right to the heart of the key steps any artist will need to take to land their dream job, even if they have no idea how to get started.  The cool thing about this plan is that you can get started right now, and when you put your mind to it and just follow the steps you could be landing your dream career as a character designer in the next 12 months.