Giving Thanks

While we're not huge fans of the traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner (Monkey's vegan and Seal's vegetarian), we do appreciate the holiday as a chance to reflect on all the things that we have to be thankful for.

Whether it's a nice and cozy (although sometimes cluttered) Monkey + Seal cave to live/paint in, or the fact that we get paid to be creative, Monkey + Seal both have a lot to be thankful for. We're definitely thankful that we have the privilege of being able to keep up this blog, and that we have a super group of readers out there who support us. Thus, as a little thank you, we're going to offer 20% off everything in our Etsy store from today (Wednesday, 12am PST) to Friday the 26th, 11:59 PST. When you check out, use the coupon code: "tofurkey" to get your discount!

While Thanksgiving is a great time to reflect on all the things in life that we generally take for granted, we believe that there should be more Thanksgivings - maybe one every month! We find it's always a good idea to reflect once and a while to put things in perspective, especially when things are looking tough. Sure, we might not have that "perfect" art job, or we might be having a creative block where weren't not even making art, but at least we have a roof over our heads, food in our tummies, and the privilege of being able to connect to others via the internet.

So take the time to give thanks for all the awesomeness in your life, and we'd like to thank you, our readers, our customers, and our friends and family for supporting our creative endeavors and helping us thrive!

Let loose

Sometimes you just need to go ahead and draw whatever comes to mind. In our case, we decided to do some collaborative drawings one night and this came out. We were both drawing on the same sheet of bristol at the same time, and somehow this managed to come out. Monkey then digitally colored it, and here you go.

More importantly, we often hold these rigid rules in our head that dictate how/what/when we should draw, or paint, or do anything. Sometimes you need to just throw it all to the wind and let something weird come out.

If anything, you can tell that we had a lot of fun doing this piece, and we hope to do many more like this. We're not going to worry how the art comes out - as long as we're creating and having fun doing it, that's what it's all about. Keep loose and who knows, something awesome could come out!

Follow Your Instincts

In today's crazy over-exposed media-saturated world, we generally have so many competing voices in our head, it's a bit difficult to follow your own natural instincts. However, listening to your essential self and figuring out what you really want or need to do is key in developing your artistic voice.

While at times we might force ourselves to paint or draw because we think that we need to constantly paint or draw in order to advance our craft, or because you have an illustration due, or a gallery show coming up, but if at all possible, you should try to create when you want.

Monkey deals with this often, as he constantly waits until the last minute to suddenly have a burst of creative energy (usually out of desperation) that will burn him out. He will put the business aspect of making art first, and then two nights before he has to hang he'll be up both nights painting non-stop. Monkey definitely wants to get over this, so he can be more sustainable and not have these do-or-die situations (that generally aren't that fatal in the first place).

Sometimes it'll be late at night, and you'll really want to paint. Follow your instinct! Get up and paint even if it's late at night, or you're tired, or whatever whatever. Alternatively, if you think you really should be painting, but you don't really feel creative, or you just aren't in the mood, don't! Take a break! You don't want your art to be that dreaded, boring, painful thing that you HAVE to do. Ideally, if you set up a regular routine and create on a schedule, eventually you'll have enough time where you can take breaks even if you have deadlines.

All in all, make sure you do what you have to do to get your work done, but make sure that you're in touch with your inner self and follow your instincts!

Are You a First Generation Artist?

Are you a first-generation artist? What I mean is: have you had parents, grandparents, or a close relative who passed on to you the secrets to being a successful artist? If you were lucky, I hope you were able to answer “yes” to the above question. But for most of us, the truth is, we’re probably the first artists in our family/ community. That, in itself makes it difficult to pursue art. If “life was a race,” not only were you way behind the starting line, you also had a ball-and-chain on your leg.

When I told my high school counselor that I wanted to be an art director, she nearly laughed and said, “Well, we don’t really have a program for that kind of thing. . . Have you thought of a more sustainable occupation, like being a nurse? Or a mechanic? There are always jobs in that field.”

I grew up in small working town. My high school had electives for trade jobs, such as trainings for nurses and mechanics. The school offered one art class in 8^th grade, where you can learn how to doodle your name in bubble letters and cut out images from old National Geographic magazines for collages. However, if I wanted a profession in government, law, or science, they had special AP/ Honors courses and teachers were quick to point you in the direction of known schools for such endeavors: Berkeley, Yale, Columbia, etc. They might even offer to transfer you to a more aspiring prep school. But if I asked them, “How do I become an artist?” “What kind of training should I get” “Where should I go” they didn’t know what to tell me. It is difficult, even now, to find our tribe as artists. To find an environment in which you belong that fosters your success as an artist.

Our society already has its ideas about what it means to be an artist: Goals are measured by numbers and statistics. Academic intelligence is favored instead of creative ingenuity. Also, we have very conflicting views about what it means to be a successful artist. It is often labeled synonymously with “mainstream sellouts.” It’s no wonder, that we find it very hard to even begin pursuing art.

Let me describe to you the necessary components that make for a successful person. The following list below is paraphrased from author and motivational speaker, Barbara Sher, who has compiled a thorough list). It is important to uncover our early associations with art and success. Do any of the following apply to you?

1) Since birth, were you always treated as if you had creative ingenuity, a special and unique creative contribution?

2) Were you told you could be anything? (If you told them you wanted to be a janitor cleaning underneath the sewers of New York or become a burlesque Las Vegas dancer, were you encouraged? Supported? Helped? Did you get the message “you can be anything” directly or indirectly?

3) Were you encouraged to explore all aspects of your dreams? ALL of them. And if your dreams changed were you still supported without caution, or dissuasion? (This also applies along gender roles: if you were a “girl” and wanted to do contact “extreme” sports/construction work/president of the United States were you encouraged? Or if you were a “boy” and wanted to be a dancer/baker/fashion designer were you encouraged?)

4) Did you receive help? If they did not know how to help you, did they “look it up” or offered to find your other means of resources? (“let’s go to the library” “I know a friend who’s an artist, let me introduce you” etc.)

5) If you failed, how did they respond? Were you helped without reproach? Were you allowed to complain? Listened to without judgment? (Many women are often offered “help” with a condescending “don’t you worry you’re pretty little head” “you can just quit and come home, darling.” Or “there’s always marriage . . .” as if these were good helpful alternatives to your dreams.) (And many men are encouraged to bulldoze their way to success without complaints “pick yourself by your bootstraps, lads!” “don’t be a sissy and get out there!”)

6) When you were successful, were you celebrated? Congratulated? Were you surrounded by other successful winners who were pleased with you? Or were you met with jealously and or guilt?

7) Are your dreams in line with or different than what you feel is expected of you? Do you feel that you have met your family/ cultural/ national expectations?

8) Finally, are you the first generation of artists in your immediate family? If you have an “artistic problem to solve,” do you have someone you can come to unreserved?

Having truthfully answer all the questions above will give you a better insight as to the road that was paved for you since early childhood and explain why it may be difficult now as an adult to follow the path of an artist. I certainly hope that you are able to say yes to all of the above. But if you didn’t, it doesn’t make you less of an artist. It is very sad and unfair to not have received early encouragements to be an artist. No one told you or guided you on “how to get there.” Even if they wanted to help you, they didn’t know how. You probably lacked the resources, generational experience, and support. (If you had family members who were an alumni of UC Berkeley, you were probably, though not always, equipped with the knowledge of how to fill out the application, the expectations of the admissions jury, and were constantly reminded of the potential that it’s VERY possible for you. Which is why it is hard to be a successful artist. You are the first of your generation; you are the first to try something new. It’s not impossible; you just don’t have the right map. Forgive yourself.

It simply means, we need to find the right resources and recover your artist now! In order to unlock the ball and chain and send you running down the hill, you’ll need a big push. x Remember, the environment components that make up successful winners are also full of winners. We need to get you everything on that list NOW! Friends, family, mentors who are genuinely supportive of you, can help you find the resources you need, and help to buffer the generation gap of being the first artist in the family. If you don’t have physical people to help you, Seal has also taken on artist heroes, literary heroes . . . when she is creating, Miyazaki, Van Gogh, and James Dean are cheering her on. When she experiences failure, they comfort her and remind her that the path of an artist is a difficult one, but very worthwhile. If not heroes, she finds a community of artists by joining animation forums, sketch clubs, a gathering of her tribe who believe in her competence and creative endeavors.

If you haven’t had the support to become the artist you are meant to be, it is all the more reason to pursue it NOW. You are creative and what you create has meaning.

Revisions: It'll All Part of the Process! or You Don't Have to Do it Perfectly the First Time!

You need to do revisions, and that's that.

Most people don't like to hear this. We would rather imagine that creativity is done 1) quickly 2) effortlessly 3) painlessly 4) perfectly, without any second draft, revisions, stagnation, re-dos, or breaks.

Perhaps, we even have an image of the creative genius artist, living somewhere in a remote cabin, completely and utterly devoted to their art: who wakes up at 5am and pines away at the canvas for 10 hours, without food or break . . . the novel churns itself out. Some painter somewhere, perhaps your peers or rivals, are happily, elegantly, making the next best hit, while you are wrestling with the question: should I create today?

But the truth is, we all need revisions. There is no perfection! Sure, maybe, perhaps there is one out of the billion who has the genius to create at whim and have a perfect masterpiece painting, novel, or comic book inked on the first draft, without any decisions to include, exclude -- to delete, or add another sentence or brush stroke here . . . (although I very much doubt such artists exists.) But for most of us, the rest of us, we have to deal with sentences or brush strokes that we, yes, sometimes hate. You artwork can sometimes be painful, awkward, plodding ugly ducklings. But does that mean we should stop and put our brushes away? Call it a day or a year even, and take up an endeavor that comes more easily to us? Of course not.

"Yes, it is early; yes, this is a draft; yes, the beauty will appear in the revising" (Eric Maisel).

Revisions are part of the process. As a creative artist, you need to honor the process, the positive triumphs along with their ugly duckling stages. A great novel is created through countless of revisions. A great painting style is achieved through countless experimentation and thousands of sketches that very often, the public will never see. A great artist is built upon the continual committed encounters between yourself and the canvas every day, especially on the days that you want to run away most from your art.

This worrying, this fussing, and frustration - a change here, move this sentence here, or that color there - it's all part of the process.

And the truth is, even the "masters" we admire did revisions. Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Michelangelo, Raphael, even our contemporaries. Brahms, spent 14 years completing his Symphony no.1., in its entirety, it is a 45 minute piece,but when you listen to the music, not a second is wasted - the revisions were well- spent. In 2007, they found Michelangelo's sketches for the dome of St Peter's Basilica. Some of his tattered sketches of the Sistine Chapel also exist. Not surprisingly, some were carefully drawn, some re-drawn, there were some stray marks here and there. And the proportion on some of the figures - surprise! not perfect. He was notorious for burning his sketches. So of course, for a long time, we did not know that it was part of his process. Don't get me wrong, he was a very talented man and his artwork is absolutely masterful. But it is because he spent the process of revisions that the sketches became masterful.

Art is a process of becoming.

Will you honor the steps of creating? Will you face your art in all of its stages?

Building Momentum

Momentum in a project is always great. It helps pull you along, the fun and easy parts become even more fun and easy, and the hard parts seem no-so bad and they end up being a lot less painful than you initially thought. Riding the momentum feels great, but the problem always lies with finding that momentum in the first place.

In our experiences, momentum seems to come if we're lucky - most of the time you end up trudging along, and then sometimes things get better, sometimes they don't. However, we've found that the secret to constantly gaining momentum is by taking lots of little steps.

Even if what you're doing is sort of painful, like doing an illustration of something you hate for a client that's underpaying you, or having to design your great-aunt's business cards - for free, by taking lots of little steps, you'll eventually find that doing more and more little steps is easier and easier, and before you know it, you'll be done.

Breaking down steps into even smaller steps always helps, as the more tiny little tasks you finish, the more accomplished you feel, and the more momentum you'll build. The key is tiny, tiny tasks. The more painful the project, the smaller the tasks should be. If you're really struggling, you can make the tasks as simple as "get out sketchbook." Next task: "find pencil." Next task: "draw a monster for warm up." Take a break, make getting a beverage of your choice the next task. In this way, you can tell your brain "Hey look, I've already got four things done already! This is easy!"

Don't focus on what you have left to do, but what you've already done. When silk screening large orders of shirts, it's never fun to look at the huge pile of boxes and think, "Wow, I've still got 750 shirts to print." It's way more motivating to say "Wow, I've already printed 250 shirts, and it's still early!"

That said, if you're working on a project you like, still keep the steps in manageable portions. That way it won't go from "fun" to "overwhelming," which is how a lot of our projects can get if we don't make sure we're on top it.

So whether you're working on something you hate or you love, make sure to build momentum by taking small steps and you'll find that you'll finish quicker, have more fun, and you'll be (many) steps closer to taking over the world!

Invincible is Only a Word, The Best is Just a Title

Recently Monkey + Seal have really gotten into reading the manga Vagabond, by Inoue Takehiko. It follows the life story of Miyamoto Musashi, the legendary swordsman who wrote The Book of the Five Rings. It has influenced many of the current mangas (One Piece, Bleach) that we follow now.

Long story short, it's an awesome samurai story, with lots of samurai philosophy mixed in with crazy fight sequences. However, in collection 4, there's a very philosophical part where the protagonist is trying to wrap his head around the idea of the "invincible" swordsman. [Spoiler alert!!] If you're wondering what this has to do with art (besides being an awesome comic), keep reading, and we'll get to it.

So Musashi comes upon a super-tall mountain. He then climbs it barehanded because he "wants to see what's at the top." So while he's climbing this crazy mountain, he analyzes the recent events that have transpired, one of which is meeting an old, reportedly invincible swordsmaster whose sheer presence unnerved Musashi. As Musashi climbs, he tries to figure out what it means to be invincible.

When he finally reaches the peak of the mountain, he can't help but laugh as he finds that at this height he sees that there are many more mountains, and others that are taller than him. He realizes that no matter how high you climb, there are other mountains that are higher, and that "invincible" is just a word.

Some might call it fate, but just as Monkey was reading this, he was having an art crisis. Frustrated that he's not where he wanted to be in art, and that the hard work required was getting weary, Monkey wanted success and fame and to "be the best" immediately.

However, after reading the manga, Monkey realized something. No matter how big, no matter how famous, there's always someone on top. And when you are on the very, very top, there's still your own personal best to vanquish. So, instead of agonizing over "not being there yet," Monkey realized that the point of life is not to immediately and easily crush all competition. The point of life is to enjoy the ride and not to compare oneself or your accomplishments to others. Continue to strive for your own personal best and constantly hone your skill.

When the goal of becoming the world's greatest artist starts to overshadow the fun and wonder of creating art, that's when you need to take a step back and re-evaluate what you're doing. Yes, it's awesome and amazing and cool to get commissioned by a collector, or to land an awesome illustration account, or to win a gold award in the Society of Illustrator's annual. But, if you're not having fun creating the art, then really, what's the point? If the status or money is really what it's about you might as well be a software engineer (or some other high-paying profession) if you're going to hate your job anyway.

Titles are just that, titles. Really, at the end of the day, art should be fun, not a chore. Yes, it's hard work constantly creating, but we've found that studies and experimentation really helps break up the monotony and keeps the art from being a tedious trial to something invigorating and fun. "The Best" is just a title, so stop stressing over it and have some fun!