Origins: A Creative Journey

Being a full-time fine artist and illustrator is an aspirational dream for many, and is a reality for Steven Russell Black that he’s created for himself through discipline and mileage.  Steven Russell Black is a northern California-based painter who paints surreal figurative work that highlight the beauty in the horrific. He illustrates comic covers, books, and most notably, cards for Magic: the G...

Have you ever wondered what it takes to launch an independent brand and immediately get a collab with Johnny Cupcakes? Jordan Fuchs knows, as he’s literally done just that.  Jordan Fuchs is the frontman of Plastic Pizza, an art-driven brand with a focus on creativity, imagination, and community. After selling his extensive lego collection to raise money for his brand, in just a few short years he...

If you’ve ever wondered about the determination and confidence needed to come from humble beginnings and build a successful career in design, look no further than this conversation with Joseph Israel Raul Bullard.  Joseph Israel Raul Bullard has cut his teeth doing design work for companies like Hulu and Dell before building his own design studio where he focuses on branding and identity packages...

Have you ever wondered what it takes to break into the competitive world of visual development? Vis dev artist Diana Ling knows, as she’s been there and done just that.  With credits at studios like Marvel, Paramount, Warner Bros, and Hasbro, Diana Ling is a Los Angeles-based visual development artist who started out as a storyboard revisionist, then took it upon herself to develop the skills nece...

Do you know what MLB, Interstellar, and Avengers: Infinity War all have in common? They all have had fine artist, fabricator, concept artist, and illustrator Shane Stover work on them.  Shane Stover started out painting sports legends while still in high school until he graduated college, moved to LA, and then built a career in the film and entertainment industry doing concept art for films like S...

What does Philip Marlowe, Space Godzilla, and Jiujitsu all have in common? They’re all part of the wide lexicon that writer, painter, and toy producer Wes Allard brings into his world of crime and luchador masks. Wes Allard is one of the founders of Last Bastion Studios - a Los Angeles-based art and toy production house that brings comics, toys, and sculptures to life for cool people. Last Bastion...

It’s relatively quick to read a graphic novel, but it’s much more time-consuming and difficult to write, draw, ink, and publish one yourself. Howie Noel has done this numerous times, while also balancing a career as an illustrator and caricaturist for an impressive slate of clients.  Howie has run successful crowdfunding campaigns to self-publish his graphic novels, maintains a weekly social media...

The pervasive myth of the starving artist has scared many people into pursuing careers outside of art, and Julie Parrish was no different. But through tenacity, some strokes of good luck, and a mindset of possibility has led her back into a career in photography and illustration.  With a background in scientific illustration, Julie has built up a career spilling over into medical research, photogr...

Many people dream of leaving their dayjob to start a creative company. P-A Lesperance did exactly that, leaving decades of operations work behind to build House of Gog, a Montreal-based premium toy and collectable company that makes high-craftsmanship art statues from some of the world’s coolest artists.  An avid collector himself, P-A learned the ins and out of the figurine business running opera...

Many people strive hard to work their way up a career ladder - but what if it’s not the right career ladder for you? Our guests this week, Shih-Wen Lin and Kun-I Chang did just that, and then pivoted to building an independent art studio.  Shih-Wen and Kun-I are the artistic duo behind Space Rabbit Studios, a creative studio that brings illustration, animation, photography, and designer toys all u...

If you've ever been told "go get a real job," you’ll be familiar with how creatives are often devalued in the workforce and society at large. But it is still possible to be creative, have some fun, and have a career, and our guest this week, David Mould, is living proof of that. David has been living in Thailand for the last 20 years and his work has seen him work in many countries a...

With all the allures of fortune and fame, it can be tempting to try and chase trends and do things that will get you noticed. But what does it look like to build something completely for yourself?  Adam Griffin has done that with Thirsty Thursday Toys, a YouTube channel where he creates a cocktail in homage to a toy from his collection every Thursday. A teacher by day and a monster mixologist at n...

Generative AI image creation is everywhere, yet there’s still artists out there creating things by hand and building a brand around what they’re making.  8pm is one such artist. Known for his anime-inspired hyper-detailed illustrations and his runaway hit vinyl toy Jimmy, 8pm designs UX flows by day and creates his personal brand by night.   In this conversation, 8pm puts on all his various hats a...

Fan art is a convention staple, but some say it can stifle your creative voice. Pacho Abalos digs deep and dives into why he focuses now on his original characters and how that sets him apart from the masses. Pancho is an artist and streetwear designer known for his graffiti-inspired styles that blend traditional and digital mediums that bring to life his original characters that also reflect incr...

Have you always had an itch to make your own art, but didn’t know where to start? Award-winning independent comic artist and toy designer Ben Seto will tell you to just do it anyway.  Ben is the author and artist behind the Xeric-winning comic series “Usagi Jane and The Skullbunnies.” As an independent artist he produces his own resin figures, has run a successful crowdfunding campaign, and makes...

Do you know what Japanese soft vinyl, punk rock albums, and shoe catalogs all have in common? Brian Flynn, the founder of Super7 will let you in on the answer - it’s design.  From understanding the visual language of punk album covers to building his own design studio and working with clients like Nike, Apple, and The North Face to turning a magazine project into a thriving toy company, Brian Flyn...

Ever wonder what it takes to make a feature film? What about three of them, with a shoestring budget? Courtney Daniels, not only knows how but wrote a book on it titled Yes You Can - How to Make a Movie for Almost No Money. The writer and director of What Other Couples Do, Bedroom Story, and It’s Not You, It’s LA ( formerly titled This F%*king Town) , Courtney is an independent filmmaker living in...

Famous musicians can seem out of reach, but after years of promoting and managing artists in Australia, Trent Slingshot of Hip Hop Toyz has built relationships with legends like KRS-One and Wu-Tang.  Trent is a bona fide hustler in all the good ways, and he breaks down his knack for knocking on doors and establishing himself as the go-to-guy when hip hop acts want to visit Australia. While still p...

For many artists, having an immediate sell-out of a product would be amazing. It would be even more amazing to do it in high school. Connor McConnell of Abominable Toys has done just that.  Connor is the co-creator of the yeti characters Chomp and Chomper and the owner of Abominable Toys, which he runs full-time. With licensed collaborations with Bob Ross and Godzilla, toys in Hot Topic, Abominabl...

Many folks want to run their art business full-time, but have you run the numbers? In this interview with Brianna, the artist behind Onicake, she does a deep dive into the business side of running a kawaii art business and shares how she got started.  A full-time artist selling enamel pins, ita-bags, plush, and other accessories, Brianna runs Onicake from her home base in Dallas, Texas. You can fi...

Are you in love with Mondo’s toy releases as much as we are? Come check out what Mondo will be bringing to DesignerCon 2024 from the men who make it all happen, Hector Arce and Peter Santa-Maria aka ATTACKPETER. Hector Arce is the  Senior Creative Director of Collectibles and Design at Mondo who basically makes all the toys come to reality. Often taking part in the design, sculpting, and painting...

The goal for many fine artists is to do it full time, but what might be the argument for having a day job as well? Fine artist, video game art director, and animator, Sean Keeton explores the benefits of keeping the day job while making incredibly personal work.  A Los-Angeles based gallery artist at night and a video game art director and animator during the day, Sean Keeton regularly displays hi...

With the sea of social media hype, the pressures of capitalism, and unprocessed trauma, it’s difficult to not only find your authentic voice, but also make a living doing so. Skinner is a visual artist, writer, filmmaker, installation and muralist, and all-around super monster artist. With work featured on Adult Swim, murals and paintings in galleries across the world, and music videos for bands l...

Ever thought about starting your own creative business? Ever consider the ups and down and personal discipline needed? Elliot Garnett is the mastermind behind Centerpoint Studios, a full-time custom miniature and diorama studio.  Always a showstopper at various conventions around the country with large-scale, table-sized dioramas like Dex’s Diner, Elliot and Centerpoint is known for recreating you...

Ever wonder how DesignerCon grew into what it is today? Come meet Kevin Cao, the co-founder of DesignerCon and collector extraordinaire. In this special episode, Kevin shares his origin story as a collector and entrepreneur, as well as the lowdown on what to expect for this year's DesignerCon for it's first year in Vegas. From vendors to look out for, the Be@rbrick artist 5-pack making a return, a...