Trust is a funny thing in professional relationships. In my visual work, I’ve had all sorts of clients. All sorts of jobs. All sorts of engagements. Books (due out in November) Murals (rooftop) Massive corporate events (150 ft of artwork) Strategic planning sessions Live sketching for talks and podcasts And obviously, daily quotes You name it, I’ve drawn for it. (Not really, but it’s fun to say at least.) The point being, over the last six years, I’ve prided myself on being able to take on...
17 days ago • 2 min read
When I finish with a live sketching session, it stinks in there. I don’t mean the drawings stink. I mean that I physically smell not so amazing. I’ve been sweating for hours, holding lunges and squats in positions that let me reach every corner of those massive boards. Moving around on floors. Kneeling on marble stages. By the time I pack up my markers, I can smell myself. And I’m almost surprised every time it happens. This isn’t what people picture when they think about someone drawing cool...
24 days ago • 2 min read
Wildfires don’t just burn. They consume everything in their path. And when they really get going, it’s all hands on deck with everyone doing all they can to try to stop them or slow the fires down. Hero emergency responders. Evacuation coordinators. Transportation agencies. Hospital systems. Shelter managers. Power companies. The list goes on. Each group has its protocols, its expertise, its piece of the massive puzzle. But what happens when all those pieces need to work together at once?...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Before I start drawing, and especially when I’m live sketching for a client and in front of a crowd, there’s often a story in my head. Will it look right? What if I miss something important? Will it satisfy and honor the speakers and the client’s mission? What if the visual doesn’t capture what they’re trying to say? What if there is too much white space or my letters are crooked? This is all while the room fills, I’m arranging markers and testing a few lines on the corner of the paper. That...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Success is easy. Wake up today, do one thing every day for 10 years. And then let’s catch up on where we all end up. That sounds almost too simple. But the truth is becoming an “overnight success” can sometimes take about a decade to pull off. I’ve been drawing daily quotes for about seven years now. Started with simple sketches. One color plus some gray. Posting them daily on LinkedIn and Instagram. Nothing too fancy. Maybe they stopped the scroll a little? It’s hard to say. But it was...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
The Visual Sketch Artist field is a relatively small one. I feel like I know, or at least have heard of, almost all of the major names in this field. Probably not true, but the possibility that it could be true speaks a lot to the size of this relatively niche industry. I used to spend a ton of time looking at the work of others and feeling a very specific feeling. Jealousy (or Jelly, as the kids say). It was easy to get jealous every time I saw a clean layout, perfect proportions, and a...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
I walked into the room planning to draw a simple exercise. Basic prioritization task. Put your most important initiatives inside the circle, everything else outside. Clear instructions. Straightforward concept. This was a smart, capable, and experienced group. And it was a major struggle. Every single thing they had going at the moment stayed 100% and squarely inside the circle. Projects competing with each other. Initiatives requiring the same resources. Priorities that kind of weren’t...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
At the end of meetings or events, it’s normal to shake hands and smile about a good session. Obviously. We all do it. But there’s one kind of handshake that shakes out just a bit differently. It comes from leadership, and there’s something pressed into your palm during the grip. Something small and metallic that wasn’t there when the handshake started. If you’ve ever worked with the military (or have been in it yourself), you might know what I mean. You feel it immediately. The weight of it....
2 months ago • 3 min read
I start my day with murder. You read that correctly. Oh, not real murder. No, I mean in the literary sense. I love starting my days with John Sandford (and others) mystery novels when I am not reading nonfiction. Investigators chasing down leads. Plot twists. Running around with Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers. Stories that step into another world. Sure, my day includes lots and lots of sketching, but I’ve found one of the best ways to access my own thoughts is to first spend time in...
2 months ago • 2 min read