In part one of our “Purple Cow” Case Study with AJ Nazzaro, we discussed how, despite getting a late start, his willingness to face any and every creative challenge is why he’s now working for Blizzard and Wizards Of The Coast – his dream clients.
In this episode, he paints a vivid picture of what it means to be committed to the craft…
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This was soo so great!!! I was literally painting with my legs crossed and my back hunched over as I was listening to this lol!
I’d always felt it was bad to stop in mid-painting because I was struggling, I felt I needed to keep going to get it done! After listening to this I’ve learned “No! It’s ok to take 8 hours to study a fedora for example!” If I’m struggling painting snow in my piece then I need to stop and just take a day to hone in on that.
And when I feel overwhelmed with the awesomeness of others work the fact that drawing circles and lines to get myself going can definitely help, or focusing in on a skill like drawing eye lids can help is a great direction to not stop learning.
Thanks for this guys!!! <3 P.S. Edge you are great at digging deeper with these questions!
I used to just turn on Netflix when I got overwhelmed and I'd come back to it later thinking I was just overthinking it, and now I realize it's that I'm not thinking/studying enough!
Hey Noemi!
Woohoo!! That is SO awesome to hear! Thanks for sharing this with us 😀 I’m really happy to hear that this has been so insightful for you! It’s been so important tfor me to realise that it’s not a waste of time to stop and improve an area that’s holding meback in what I’m trying to achieve ^__^ (whew that was a long sentence!)
And thank you for the kind words! I really appreciate that <3 😀
AJ’s attitude is so inspirational!
It really is! Interviewing him was such an amazingly motivating experience 😀
I’m happy you enjoyed it!
This guy is blowing my mind!!! Such intense focus and dedication. WOW! Thank you so much for doing this interview
P.S.: I can’t get over the fact that he sounds so much like Andy Samberg 😀
Oh, my!
I lay on the floor too, when I’m doing commissions but I didn’t have enough sleep. Weirdly, I found that it’s rather good from my back.
Personally, I really appreciated the bit about keeping healthy as I also have a fair few problems due to my previous, very sedentary job. I found a good balance that is slowly making me better by:
– Alternating sitting and standing: I have a Cintiq on an easel and it’s really good to be able to use my whole arm to do lineart in particular.
– I sit on an exercise ball rather than a chair: never been more comfortable. And I can bounce while I work! It’s important.
– Take a break for lunch break and do stretches and use a roller (I do stretches before I work, too and a hot shower helps immensely, too).
– Go for a walk any time I can, to get my vitamin D.
These things all helped a lot. I also see a massage therapist every now and then and she really sets me straight, and also gives me exercises for a previous knee injury that is now on the mend.