Why artists should ditch their smart phones

Today on Willful, Toronto portrait artist Malinda Prud'homme shares:
• Her best advice for young artists
• Her thoughts on a beauty industry that profits from women’s low self-esteem
• Ditching her smart phone to increase her productivity

Prud’homme is a mixed media artist who believes in a broader definition of female beauty, regardless of age, size, ethnicity, or personal style. Check out her work at Malinda Prud'homme Art and malindaprudhomme.com

Jumpstart your day and get inspired by all of our Willful guests at WillfulProject.com. You'll make our day if you follow us here on Facebook. 

Our heartfelt thanks to Greg Garson for offering us our stage at The Merchant Taps & Tavern (181 University Ave. at Adelaide). If you drop by, Greg will hand-deliver to you his famous meat loaf. The guy does everything!

#Beauty #PortraitPainting #diversity #The6ix 
#WomenAndBeauty #RealBeauty #HyperRealism #SelfEsteem

Managing self-doubt

In Ep. 5, our last day with Mark Challen (*sniff*), Mark talks about:
• Rejecting academia and the fashion and design worlds in favour of work with more meaning and context
• Free time, the highs and lows of creative thinking, and managing self-doubt
• Restricting consumption of negative media (to protect your creativity)

Mark Challen is an illustrator, art and culture historian, and the creator and host of The Stylecooler Podcast on iTunes. Also look for his soon-to-be-launched website, StyleCooler.com.

Willful is the web series that tracks how artists and creative entrepreneurs work, thrive and survive. We interview one artist a week, then post five three-minute snack films from that interview on YouTube every day.

Follow us here or on our YouTube Channel and Facebook page for our entire archive of inspiring interviews.

Thank you, Greg Garson and The Merchant Taps & Tavern. We see you buzzing around in the background!

#Drawing #Prismacolor #Art #Culture #History #Style #PopCulture #DesignHistory#StyleCooler#ArtistProject #Nostalgia #MustSeeTV #HouseAndHome #BarbraStreisand @amyrrosen @Rosensbuns #SelfDoubt #Negativity #Freelancer #Startup

Career Pivot: from VP to Illustrator

If you are enjoying Mark Challen’s energy and pizzaz this week, watch today’s episode where he talks frankly about:
• Saving up his pennies for a career pivot
• Planning his start-up costs
• Becoming an illustrator for hire — first assignment: Barbra Streisand (no presh)

Mark is an illustrator, art and culture historian, and the creator and host of The Stylecooler Podcast on iTunes. Also look for his soon-to-be-launched website, StyleCooler.com.

Willful is the web series that tracks how artists and creative entrepreneurs work, thrive and survive. We interview one artist a week, then post five three-minute snack films from that interview on YouTube every day.

Follow us here or on our YouTube Channel and Facebook page our entire archive of inspiring interviews.

Thank you, Greg Garson and The Merchant Taps & Tavern for offering us a fantastic stage. The tavern also has the best #Meatloaf in town. Better than your mother's.

#Drawing #Prismacolor #Art #Culture #History #Style #PopCulture#DesignHistory  #StyleCooler  #ArtistProject #Nostalgia #MustSeeTV#HouseAndHome  #CareerPivot #StartUp #Financing#BarbraStreisand (cc. @amyrrosen,  Rosen's Cinnamon Buns)

The art of surprise

Up your Willfulness this week with Mark Challen. Mark is an illustrator, art and culture historian, and the creator and host of The Stylecooler Podcast on iTunes.. Also look for his soon-to-be-launched website, StyleCooler.com. In Ep. 3, Mark talks about:

• Surprising people and using their reaction as fuel

• His influences: The New Yorker, The New York Times, Jeopardy and Sesame Street

• Launching the Style Cooler Podcast (with Suzanne Dimma), and using his background as a spinning instructor to shape the episodes

Willful is the web series that tracks how artists and creative entrepreneurs work, thrive and survive. We interview one artist a week, then post five three-minute snack films from that interview on YouTube every day.

Follow us here or on our YouTube Channel and Facebook Page for our entire archive of inspiring interviews.

Thank you, Greg Garson, for your hospitality at The Merchant Taps & Tavern.

#Drawing #Prismacolor #Art #Culture #History #Style #PopCulture #DesignHistory #StyleCooler #ArtistProject #Nostalgia #MustSeeTV #HouseAndHome #Podcasting #Wikipedia

Leaving your job ... now what?

Mark Challen gets Willful this week. Mark is an illustrator, art and culture historian, and the creator and host of The Stylecooler Podcast on iTunes. Also look for his soon-to-be-launched website, Stylecooler.com. In Ep. 2, Mark talks about:

• How the world reveals itself to you after leaving your job
• Combatting feeling adrift by creating one thing day
• How creative ideas at birth are rarely perfect elevator pitches
• Creating Stylecooler.com, the Wikipedia of style (“Imagine if Wikipedia was fun!”)

Willful is the web series that tracks how artists and creative entrepreneurs work, thrive and survive. We interview one artist a week, then post five three-minute snack films from that interview on YouTube every day.

Follow us here or on our YouTube Channel and Facebook Page for our entire archive of inspiring interviews.

Thank you, Greg Garson, for your hospitality at The Merchant Taps & Tavern.