How to Make a Resolution That Sticks

With 2011 left with only 3 days left, we thought it would be timely for today's post to be about resolutions.

Often we hear of New Year's resolutions in the context of something that will be broken.  We hear about avoiding the gym in January as they'll be overcrowded, but in a month or so they'll be back to normal.  Part of this failure to commit to the New Year's resolutions is that we either tend to set goals either not thinking about what it'll take to get there, or we make a resolution that is too broad.  As we've said time and time again, it's all about specificity and prioritization.

In order to make a resolution sticky, you want to make sure that A) it's something that you honestly believe you can achieve, and B)you have a plan for.  

We always believe that people can do amazing things, but in order for people to achieve greatness, they also have to believe in themselves.  If you'd love to be an artist that works for a movie studio but don't really believe you could get a job at a movie studio, chances are, you're not going to work for a movie studio since you won't make working for a studio your priority. 

Sticking with our example, if you want to land that job at Dreamworks in the new year but fear that you aren't good enough to make it to Dreamworks, your resolutions shouldn't be to land a job there.  Your resolution should be to paint every day, or to do a sketch every morning or every day after you come home from work.  Maybe it's to take a few art classes or to download conceptart.org workshops.  It could also be to go to a counselor, or to read a book on self-confidence every month.  Either way, your focus should be on making a resolution that you can stick with.  Anyone can go to the library and get a book, or spend some time in a bookstore doing intense browsing through art books and magazines.  If you are reading this, chances are you have a pen or pencil to do a drawing daily, even if it's on grocery bags or the inside of envelopes.  Got junk mail or bills in the mail?  Then you've got something to draw on.  

If you have a large art goal as your resolution, think about breaking that large goal down into steps.  Instead of saying "I resolve to make $5,200 this year off selling my new comic," maybe think about saying "I'm going to make $100 per week off my comic sales," or "I'm going to submit my comics to a new comic store every week" or "I'm going to do one event every month that will bring in $434 in comic book sales."  

Figuring out what the actual goals needed to complete a resolution can also be very sobering, so don't be afraid to adjust your resolution.  If you hit your goal early, you can always ramp it up later in the year.  The key is to make sure that it's something that you honestly believe in your heart of hearts that you can do.  

The other part of sticking to a resolution is about making a plan.  Even if your resolution is something that you believe you can do like a resolution to sketch every day, you still need to  make a plan.  By providing yourself with a detailed plan of how you're going to achieve your goal, you'll make it easier to finish it all the way through.  

Even if you don't make a detailed plan, you should still think about your resolution to see if it really fits.  If not, revise your resolution to make sure it does.  Make a resolution to paint every day?  What about when you're flying to that wedding for a weekend?  Are you going to bring your oils on the flight?  Are you going to have time to do them on holidays?  Figure out the rules to your resolution - if you do two drawings a day, can you skip one?  What about seven, do you get to skip a week?  

Our point is not to drag you down with the nitty-gritty, but you do have to think about your resolution to make sure that not only is it feasible, but also easy.  If you only draw once a month and you want to go up to once a day, every day, for a full year (or beyond), is that something that you even have time for?  What are you going to change to make that happen?  

Maybe you could make sure that you go to sleep 15 minutes later to get that last sketch in before you go to bed.  If so, then what about also keeping a sketchbook and a pencil on your bedstand?  If you're only painting once a month, then instead of going for a daily painting, what about making a resolution to paint once a week?  Or if you want that daily thing, what about just making at least one brush stroke per day?  In that case, you want your painting to get set-up where you can easily access it, and you want to make sure that you have your paints and brushes and everything right where you'd need them to be in order to do your daily work.  

Part of making a plan can also involve getting someone to hold you accountable to your resolution.  Have a friend check up with you weekly - every time you miss your mark, you owe them $20.  Sign a contract to make it legally binding.  While this punishment principle might not work for everyone, it is a potential plan you can make if having the hordes nipping at your heels inspires you to get things done.  Alternatively, you could also give your resolution buddy a sum of money, or some rewards in advance, to give you every time they check in and you're on track.  If you need that Pavlonian training, we say go for it.  

So if you're looking to make a resolution (or ten) for 2012, make sure it's something you believe you can do and make sure you have a plan.  Knowledge is power, kids, and now that you know how to make some killer resolutions for next year, what are they going to be?

Monkey + Seal Recap 2011

Happy holidays everyone!

Today we just wanted to do a recap of our year, since now is as good a time as ever to start evaluating 2011 and to start planning for 2012.

Major Accomplishments for 2011

•Monkey took over partial ownership of Big Umbrella Studios (BUS) around this time last year!  He managed to help keep BUS alive and kicking.

•Monkey + friend Grant Gililand (aka The Gross Uncle) had a feature show, Beastiarum vocabulum, at BUS and made some nifty t-shirts.

•Seal made some new prints of her more recent paintings.

•We both updated our personal websites.

•We celebrated our 6 year anniversary together(!)

•Seal finished up work on her first animated feature (we can't tell you more than that yet!)

•Seal got a position at a video game company in Sausalito.

•Monkey built a site for The Lords of Print and started off finding new clients to print shirts for.

• We had a split show at OZ called "The Undiscovered." Seal's portion of the show was titled "New World," while Monkey's part was the interactive "Secret of Deadbrook."

•Monkey got his first wholesale client for his Ties of Awesomeness.

•Seal got a job working for Marza Animation Planet doing concept art.

•We tabled at the SF Zine Fest, where Monkey won a class at the SF Center for the Book.

•We took a trip to Indonesia with Seal's family.

•Seal started work as Production Designer for a short film directed by a senior animator at Pixar.

•Monkey quit his day job and runs his businesses full time.

•We tabled at the Alternative Press Expo.

•We signed up for our first out -of-town craft show, Spectrum Live! in Kansas City, MO (such a huge jump!)

•We broke our record for the highest gross total from a 2-day craft fair at this year's Bazaar Bizarre.

•We reorganized our apartment.

•Monkey continued to run the bi-monthly Artgasm Drink n' Draw.

•We held a successful presale for our new shirt - Cthulhu Fhtagn.

•Monkey took classes at City College and has learned about container gardening, Flash game programming, archery, and more!

Whew!  Well, those were all our big accomplishments for the year.  There were many smaller accomplishments, like finishing paintings, and getting over emotional hurdles and personal challenges.  There were meeting deadlines we didn't think we could meet and coming to terms with some of our own hang-ups regarding art and work.

We discovered and struggled and fought our Impostor Syndromes, and had to deal with the constant invasions of realtors as the building we rent in was being sold.  We had to solve difficult logistic and financial problems as well, and having to figure out time management as 2011 was our first year of both being self-employed.  

Another big challenge for us that we continue to work on is the decision to specialize in our creative fields.  Now that we both are doing art full-time, where do we go from here?  Does our future lie in video games, films, silkscreen printing?  As we trudge along these questions constantly plague us, but we also have to fight to keep in mind that as long as we're happy and manage to keep doing things we enjoy, perhaps the answers will be made clear to us.  Hopefully in 2012.  

Next year, we have a lot of plans for growth and new endeavors.  Monkey is working on a side project with a friend related to the wedding invitation industry.  We're planning to both release new books of our work in collected forms next year.  We're also working on developing a book/curriculum in the way of a instructional, inspirational "How To Become an Artist" class/book.  We have Spectrum Live to look forward to, and showing with such an amazing caliber of artists is a bit daunting and exciting.  We hope to vend at more craft fairs, and Monkey wants to hold a solo show complete with sculptures and more interactive storytelling.  Seal hopes to focus on sustainability while at the same time finding a more consistent nature of work.  We're both still trying to find our path in terms of what type of art/what style we really enjoy.  Seal hopes to complete a graphic novel based on her "Skyace Wasteland" painting series.  Monkey also hopes to release a book of illustrated stories in full color (including a re-release of The Drowning of Jun Wakayama).  

We are definitely looking to stepping up our game next year and pushing ourselves to more fully realize our artistic visions and growing even more.  If anything, we hope next year's theme to be "Sustainable Growth."  

We hope you'll share with us your accomplishments and your thoughts on what you're looking forward to achieving in 2012.  Let's take the world by storm!!

A List that Will Save Your Sanity

Sorry this post is so late, we're a bit hectic still dealing with the sale of the building we currently rent in, so many apologies.

Anyway, today we wanted to talk a bit about making lists - a certain list . Many of us probably have "to-do" lists, or lists of things we'd like to achieve in life, grocery lists, etc. etc. Some people probably live their life off lists, so the idea of making two more may seem daunting, but we got this tip from Naomi Dunford of IttyBiz, who is basically a super awesome person that helps people with their small businesses.  I highly suggest you go over there and pillage check out all her free resources, and buy some of her cool stuff.  No affiliate-backscratching either, we're just fans of what she has to say.

Sooo, enough about her, back to YOU.  So you have lots of lists already, why make more lists?  Well, the list we're asking you to make is a list that will boost your self-esteem and make you feel awesome.

Things You Did Today
The first list we want you to make is a list of things that you did today that furthered your progression towards making art.  For the professionals, it might be "emailed a client today" or "finished a commissioned piece."  For the beginners, it might be "watched a drawing video on YouTube" or "went to a gallery opening," or "doodled in my sketchbook." For everyone, it could be "worked on a painting," or "pulled reference for illustration," or "studied package design from cupcake box."

Whatever it is, if you took a step forward, no matter how small, record it.  While this may seem a bit pointless in the beginning (you could be making stuff with that time!), it really doesn't take a whole lot of time, and after a week or so, you'll notice that you really are making progress.

Try not to get too wordy with this one - go for line items, not full journal entires.  Keep it short and sweet, so it doesn't become this big time suck that distracts you from getting on with following your dreams.

If you didn't do a single thing towards art today (which is hard to do, see below), then write "recharging for tomorrow."  We can't all go full-bore 100% of the time, and by being accountable to doing something, not only will it remind you to do something towards your art, but it'll also show you how many little steps you've actually done.  If you're looking on pinterest for inspiration, or read a graphic novel, or browsed some t-shirt designs, or read this blog, or thumbed through a fashion magazine, realize that you're just broadening your visual vocabulary, and that counts as something too!

Even if you're tired from work and just want to lay in bed eating vegan ice cream, I'd say that counts towards recharging your batteries (and bonus points if you're also looking at the design of the little carton).  So keep a list of the stuff you've done today, and as long as the "recharging" entries don't beat out the action items, you're in a good spot.

So what did you do today?

Stay Strong!

Today we wanted to talk a bit about health, since in these chilly winter months, colds abound and it's not fun trying to paint with the flu. Believe us.

While we always talk about sustainability with creation, we do realize that there are times where everything else goes out the window in order to get a project done, or a proposal turned in, or a competition entry postmarked. Whether you're turning in an illustration for a client or having to send out product to your customers, it pays to be professional and as punctual as possible - and sometimes that means that you sacrifice sleep, eating, etc. to get it done.

So, while many of us are busily trying to finish holiday card illustrations (ARG!) or turn in finals or just get some work done in this busy busy busy time of the year, here are some tips to survive the winter.

1. Keep a glass of water close by. The bigger the better. For one, Monkey + Seal tend to work long hours at the computer, digitally painting or creating websites or whatever, and we tend not to get up for long stretches. Keeping hydrated in these dehydrating winter months is super important (even in non-winter months). If you have a big jug of water on hand, you're more likely to drink, and you're more likely to not run out of water before you take a break.

This also encourages bathroom breaks, where you're forced to get out of your chair and go do something else that doesn't involve a computer. Take the time on the way to the potty to do some stretching.

2. Take breaks. Please avoid repetitive stress injuries if at all possible. Too much time at the computer is never good, and if you take a break every hour or so you'll be more fit in the long run to keep on going. Powering through might seem like a good idea, but if you ever have week-long stretches where project after project is due, you can seriously injure yourself.

3. Stretch. It's a good thing to do on your breaks. Plus, the physical activity will help keep you awake in those 3am crunch-time sessions. Just remember - if you don't hold the stretch for 10 seconds, you're not really stretching anything. A good one that we do a lot is to hold out your arms parallel to the ground. Now try to raise your hands (not your arms) up - you should look like you're about to push a giant box. Now try to hold them there for at least ten seconds. Let your hands rest, then clench them into a fist and move your hands down, so it looks like you were trying to push a giant box with the top of your hands. Hold for ten seconds. Repeat over and over and stretch those hand tendons!

4. Avoid/Embrace stimulants. So Monkey doesn't drink coffee or tea or energy drinks, even when he does a 30 hours marathon of craziness (try to avoid these if at all possible, they aren't pretty). If he drinks a few red bulls, he gets shaky, he can't focus, and nothing really gets done besides poor-quality work and lots of twitching. Seal on the other hand, needs a nice warm low-caffeine coffee or tea with soy milk to keep going late at night, and she feels fine the next morning. Really, whether you use caffeine or sugar or whatever is fine, but if you don't normally use them to stay up, just be wary that it might make you weird. Also, cutting them out in an effort to cut back might also make you weird, so don't experiment when your work is on the line. Do what works!

5. Sleep. When you can, but do it as often as possible.

6. Eat healthy. We know, we know, it's hard to eat healthy when you're glued to your chair and working non-stop, but it really does make a difference. You'll find you have more energy and feel less lethargic eating lots of vegetables and carbs from grains rather than heavily fatty foods and chips. Monkey definitely has to watch this, as he'll eat a whole bag of pretzels for a meal, but try to get some healthy food. If ordering out is too pricey, see if maybe you can team up with another artist who is on a different schedule and you can bring each other meals. Collaboration and trades are always awesome!

7. Superfood. We're not paid to endorse Odwalla, but whether it's a psychosomatic effect or not, whenever we've started to feel sick and had to keep going, we've bought a few of the Superfood (the green one, not the berry one!) and pounded those and we've managed to fight off the cold at least until we didn't have any more work to do. Eating/drinking a crapload of vitamins (especially vit. C) or fruits and vegetables probably will do the trick as well (maybe just gallons of orange juice), but for whatever reason, if we can afford those little $4 bottles of juice they seem to do the trick.

8. Lemon/Ginger. So when you're already sort of sick, we grate some ginger and cut up a lemon and throw it in a pot of water and boil it for a while. We then take this crazy sour concoction of death and drink it. Monkey highly recommends using some Chrysanthemum tea (super sweet, buy it from your local Asian grocery store, looks like little sugar rocks in a packet), to kill the bitterness, but people can also use honey. Seriously, drink a few cups of these over a few days and you'll kill pretty much most colds. This stuff is hardcore.

So there you have it. The Monkey + Seal formula for staying healthy while burning that 3-4-5am oil. What tips and tricks do you recommend for surviving the winter?

Lessons from Indonesia, pt. 3 - Putting it All Together

Monkey here for round 3 of our "Lessons from Indonesia" series. So in Part 1, we talked about cutting out distractions and getting some important work done. In Part 2, we talked about being grateful for what we had. Today, I want to talk about mixing the two and getting some work done.

So last time I talked about how we need to be grateful for what we have. While this is very important in the way that it makes us happier and (I would say) better human beings, it also lends itself to giving us a call of duty.

While those with video game inclinations might think that gratitude is going to give you a high-quality first person shooter, the call of duty that I'm talking about is your call to action. Whether you want to be a firefighter or an artist, a lawyer or a designer, being grateful for what we have lends itself to you following your dreams.

Confused yet?

The connection between realizing how awesome we have it here in the United States compared to developing nations (or even first world countries ruled by despots) and following your dream is that the single greatest way you can express your gratitude is to succeed. Think about it: we have youtube to teach us practically anything, free or low-cost tools to create a business overnight. We have cell phones, hot, clean running water, sanitary food, large places to live, cars or buses, police who don't steal from you (although pepper spraying is another matter entirely) - we have it pretty good. With all these privileges, it is actually a huge slap in the face to everyone who lives in a shanty town and forges through garbage to survive if we don't live up to our potential. You see, we've got what they dream of: opportunity.

Say what you will about our crappy economy, we still have more opportunity for artists, writers, thinkers, developers, designers, creators, dancers, and game-changers than a vast majority of the world. While we're struggling to pay rent and making the tough decisions like canceling cable and choosing to bring our lunch rather than eat out, other people are dodging bullets daily and walking three miles every day just for water that is not completely toxic, just dirty. It is an insult for us not to do the work, to put in the hustle, to fight for our dreams.

Chances are, we never were maimed by land mines, or had our houses robbed by the police, or had to live in a dump. So for all those that have faced trials beyond our imagination and dream of computers and soft beds and four walls and running water, let us do our part by not feeling guilty and get down about the state of the world. We need to make use of our tools and what we've got to make ourselves the best we can be.

Eve and I both believe that we can change the world through art. It's our calling. Whether that means inspiring someone or building a business that incorporates giving a portion of the proceeds to charity, or making it "big" and being able to donate money to nonprofits, or teaching, or whatever, we believe that our path in life consists of not only creating art but positive change as well. We believe that you can change the world for the better by fighting your own fight, no matter what it is, and realizing your true potential.

We can't save anyone else unless we can save ourselves, so strap in and get your tools of the trade ready. It's time to get down to work and rise towards our dreams together - after all, as fortunate as we are, how can we not?

Lessons from Indonesia, pt. 2 - Gratitude

Happy Wednesday everyone! It's Monkey yet again with another post about some of the things we learned from Indonesia.

We thought it was a bit of perfect timing, since tomorrow is Thanksgiving (or Unthanksgiving, or National Day of Mourning, depending on which coast you live on and what your beliefs are about the settler's immigration to this continent). Regardless of whether you're frustrated or just happy to be eating tofurkey, I think it should most definitely be a time of reflection.

While it shouldn't have taken a trip to Indonesia for me to really grasp the sense of extreme poverty that many citizens of the world face (after all, I should just check out Detroit, or New Orleans, or even my hometown of Stockton, the most miserable city in the country), seeing that sort of poverty first-hand really tore me up.

While I don't want to take away from the Occupy Wall Street Movement (where I proudly stand as part of the 99%), just as we are fighting for our own well-being domestically, we also just need to be aware that we're most likely part of the 1% globally, just by living in the United States.

While I currently make enough money to register well under the poverty line, I'm also typing this right now on a mac, and I'm someplace warm, drinking some tap water. I'm not living in a cobbled together home made out of bricks, plaster, and some sheet metal for a roof. When it rains, it doesn't splatter into my home that doesn't have a front door. I don't have to buy bottled water everyday because tap water makes you sick (assuming I'd even be able to afford bottled water). I can be assured that my city inspects restaurants to ensure clean practices.

There isn't an actual war (with suicide bombings, ak-47's and the like) going on in my backyard like people in the Middle East and parts of Asia have to deal with. I don't have to worry that Eve is going to be kidnapped and sold into slavery (at best) like the women of Juarez, Mexico have to worry about.

While I don't want to belabor the tragedies and trials and horrors that our world has seen and continues to see, we do need to recognize these things. As Cal sociology professor Dan Brook has said about the massacre of the Native Americans by the Pilgrims and their successors: "We do not have to feel guilty, but we do need to feel something. At the very least, we need to reflect on how and what we feel."

If anything, I think that we should all feel extremely grateful to have what we do have. If you're reading this, chances are you're trying to pursue some sort of creative endeavor, and that is something to be extremely grateful for. Often times we (or at least I) get bogged down in how tough the struggle can be sometimes. Trying to find the energy and motivation, trying to find ways to survive as an artist, new clients, dealing with problem clients, trying to explain to your family what you do, dealing with your dayjob...it can be rough. However, what I try to focus on is the fact that by choosing to follow your dream, by choosing to work your butt off until you're exhausted for what YOU want to do (not what society tells us we should be doing), we're part of an even luckier .01% that does what WE want to do.

So however you want to celebrate this upcoming Thursday, whether it's with food and family or with friends or with your pencils and paints in your studio, or with strangers in an #occupy protest or whatever, know that you do have something to be grateful for. So as long as you're still breathing and doing what you need to do, be thankful for what you have, and make the most of this crazy little thing called life.

Lessons from Indonesia, pt. 1 - Cut out the Distractions

Monkey here.

After returning from Indonesia, I didn't really expect to experience any culture shock returning to San Francisco. I don't really culturally fit into the rigors of Indonesian communal culture, and finding food that was vegetarian (let alone vegan) was pretty difficult at times, especially since I didn't have access to a kitchen where I could cook things myself. On the plane ride home, I missed my iphone (had it switched off the whole trip), my email, digitally painting or working on websites and the such (we left our laptop and tablets at home), and painting (we just brought our sketchbook and cameras and a hand full of color pencils and pastels).

However, after recovering from some jetlag, I realized how distracted I got as soon as I got back online and jacked in. Emails to read and respond to, facebook posts, uploading photos from our trip, signing up for new artist websites, digital painting, video games, television shows, youtube, ohmygoshtherearesoooomanydistractions now!

While one might argue that it just takes some getting used to again, I was freaking out earlier today as I wasn't used to having to actually do anything. As a guest of a family that provided food and transportation constantly (which can be more frustrating than one might guess), I realized that I just sort of went with the flow and with the notion of choice taken out of things, I just went with it. It was literally like a dream, where you don't get much input, you just sort of go along for the ride most of the time.

Our privileged American life (and seriously, just the fact we can drink our tap water is pretty privileged) is full of distractions designed to keep us bouncing around and not doing our true life's work. We're supposed to stay sedated on great television and celebrity gossip and playing video games that really don't do much for us in life besides take our time away from doing real, meaningful work. I realized that often times we get caught up in the distractions and get manipulated into doing other things than getting down to business.

My point (finally!) is that it is easy for us to let life sort of take us wherever it wants us to go. It's easy to let it steer us from gatekeeper to gatekeeper, and just ride the tide and abandon all hope of taking control of our lives. It's easy to join the mass, it's hard to be yourself.

So my plea is for you to go out and do something today that will wrest the reins back into your own hands. In support of the #OWS movement, you could close your bank account and open an account at a credit union. You could start writing a business plan for that business you've always wanted to start. You could paint or sculpt or create something for yourself. Rebuild your website! Write a manifesto! Do something, anything (it doesn't have to be massive) to help cut out the clutter and find something that YOU want to do and focus on it. Turn off the music and close the Facebook tab, close your email and do something amazing, even if it's a simple as choosing to take a five minute break from work and mediating or walking outside. It's your life, so don't let the distractions overwhelm you! Get to it!