Driven Creatively Mad shares stories of creators who aspire to earn a living from their art. Most creators have a primary job at an office or in their home that fills the majority of their time everyday. Not all creators share the same struggles and hurdles, but they do have one thing in common—the passion to create. Subscribe to the podcast and listen to creators share their personal stories about pursuing and creating their art.
Khalid Birdsong is an American cartoonist. He spent two years in Japan teaching English which led to the idea of his first comic strip, Fried Chicken and Sushi. This comic strip was inspired by his experiences as a single black man living in Japan.
His comic strip has since transitioned to Little Fried Chicken and Sushi and is featured on GoComics.com (https://www.gocomics.com). You can read his comic along with many other famous comic strips like The Far Side, Crabgrass, The K Chronicles, and Calvin and Hobbes.
Khalid on the Web
Website
Khalid on Geoff Grogan’s podcast, Blockhead
Khalid and Ray Billingsley
Khalid Birdsong Part 1
Khalid Birdsong Part 2
Khalid’s Comics
Fried Chicken and Sushi
Little Fried Chicken and Sushi on GoComics.com
What Khalid Uses to Create Comics
Wacom Cintiq (he suggests buying used on eBay to save money)
Clip Studio Paint
Favorite Artists
Jeff Smith, creator of the comic book Bone
Keith Knight, “Gentleman Cartoonist” of The K Chronicles, co-creator of the Hulu television show, Woke
Book Recommendation
Tony Helms, better known as tonycartoonish on social media, is a cartoonist. He’ll tell you he’s a software engineer, but in truth, he loves to draw with a passion. Tony has a unrelenting fiery will to draw as much as possible with one goal—to get better.
Tony also genuinely loves to share and promote other artists on Instagram.
Tony on Social Media
Patreon
Websites Mentioned
Tony's Website
Adobe
Lightbox Expo
Projects
JulyFi Sci-Fi - JulyFi is an annual sci-fi themed 31 day drawing challenge hosted by @tonycartoonish. JulyFi starts each year on July 1st. Check out the hash tag #JulyFy on Instagram.
Other Creators Mentioned
Amanda MacFarlane - A character design artist that has worked with Hasbro, Elastic TV, Big League Chew, and Warner Bros. Follow Amanda on Instagram at @theanimatedlife
Mike Maihack, creator of Cleopatra in Space (see Tony's Favorite time wasting activities) comic book turned animated series. Find Mike on Twitter at @mikemaihack or check out his comics and other projects at his website.
Kyle Webster - Illustrator and Adobe Design Team Member. Most famous for his Photoshop brushes at kylebrush.com which are now a part of Adobe Creative Cloud.
Apps
Adobe Fresco - one of Tony's preferred drawing apps on iOS (but it's also on Windows 10 too.)
Adobe Illustrator for the iPad
Repost: for Instagram
Adobe Rush
Clip Studio Paint on iOS and Desktop
Favorite Time Wasting Activities
Drawing (yep, that was expected)
Tony loves watching animations, and highly recommends Cleopatra in Space and Green Lantern: The Animated Series.
Favorite Artist
Bruce Timm, most famous for his contributions to the 1990's hit Batman: The Animated Series. You can see all of Timm's accomplishments in television and film on IMDb.
Bob is the Associate Director of Visual Branding at the University of South Carolina. Bob labels himself as a designer, blogger, grad student, college instructor, husband and dad. He’s obsessed with typography, the creative process and tools we use to create.
Bob on Social Media
Micro.blog
Websites
Sketchbook B - personal website featuring his blog, fonts, and many projects
SketchBook B Store - Checkout his designs for his 52 Weeks of T-shirts project
Books
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Elements of Typographical Style by Robert Bringhurst
Apps
Notion for organizing
Ulysses for writing
Zotero for research
Rapid Fire Questions
Favorite Time Wasting Activity: Cleaning pens
Favorite Artist: Matthew Carter, type designer - created the fonts Verdana and Georgia
Inspiring Creator: Marius Valdes - Associate Professor in studio art concentrating on design and illustration at The University of South Carolina
Adam is a location sound mixer for film and corporate work and a post audio editor. Adam lives in Mauldin, South Carolina with his wife, Shawn, and their dog Ranger. Adam shares his journey from playing guitar in high school to his first real audio editing in college, to starting a podcast with a new group of friends in 2006 and his current passion for audio in the local indie film scene in upstate South Carolina.
Find Adam Online
Twitter @inmyownmind
Instagram @dollarbinproductions
Wandering Bard Meadery
Dollar Bin Comic Podcast
Adam Daughhetee on IMDB
Adam Daughhetee on LinkedIn
Audio Editing Software
Cubase - Adam’s preferred software for editing audio
Sound Forge
WaveLab
Audacity
Mic
Adam’s Recommended Film Education Resources
No Film School - community of filmmakers, video producers, and independent creatives.
Film Riot - a how-to trip through filmmaking from the hyper-active minds of the Connolly Brothers.
Kally Williams - Sound Mixer on Instagram
Rapid Fire Questions:
Favorite Time Wasting Activity: Scrolling through Instagram or playing guitar or drums
Guilty Pleasure: Wrestling
Favorite Artist: Bernie Wrightson
What people think Adam is great at, but he thinks he is not: Sound Design :(
Favorite Books
All Star Wars Novels
The Hobbit
There’s a Monster at the End of This Book
Hi, I’m Kris Black and you are listening to the trailer for Driven Creatively Mad, where I share stories of creators who aspire to earn a living from their art.
So Driven Creatively Mad actually started about three years ago in 2017. When I created the first... we can call it the first season of Driven Creatively Mad. And I recorded shows, by myself, just me talking to the listener, about my process of creating a children’s book, and I really enjoyed the process of recording the podcast, and I wanted to do more, but after that first season, I really didn’t want to record a podcast where I was the only one talking to the listener. I felt like that was a bit limited for what I was wanting to accomplish.
So I had the idea that I could interview other creators in a similar situation that I’m in, where I’ve got a primary job, that takes up the majority of my day. I’ve got family that I spend time with, but I also have these creative projects that I want to do on the side. And I know there, there are other people that are in that situation as well. And it’s tough. So I made a list of friends and colleagues that are in similar situation, reached out and said, “Hey, I want to interview you about your art and your life and how you manage and deal with all that.”
And surprisingly, the four people I messaged. Said, yes, they’d love to do it.
So I’ve got a great first episode lined up for you with a sound mixer in indie films, and I’m going to be interviewing designers and artists and musicians, and it’s going to be great.
If you’re interested in a podcast like this, please subscribe. You can do so in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google, or anywhere else you sign up for podcasts you like to listen to.
I’ve got a website, drivencreativelymad.com. Also have a Twitter, Instagram, and a Facebook page. So please subscribe, check out the site, sign up for the newsletter, and until next time keep creating.