Learning From Cats, Learning from Pain, Snowy Backdrops + more

Hey Past-me,

Sometimes I can’t create.

I’ve got no energy. 

The special sauce bottle is empty and everything I’m eatin right now tastes…blah.

And when I go to the store to get a refill, the joint’s closed!!!

At least, that’s what it feels like.

So, how do we get our sauce back???

Here are some ideas that might help with that!

What’s in the stash today:

Story about a cat and a hat:

A hungry cat had his eyes set on a tasty hat.

But the hat proved to be too quick, even for the clever cat.

His tummy grumbled as he sat in defeat, licked his feet, and set his eyes back on his treat.

He’d wiggled his butt, sprung towards the hat, but he was out of luck.

He’d do it again and again and again…

Thinking to himself, "What the f—"

—But he was determined to eat and would not quit, so he’d save his energy with a well-deserved sit.

He’d keep his eyes on his prize and time it just right.

He knew all the hat’s moves by this point, all rested and ready to fight…

—CHOMP!

Finally, the cat ate his fill, and slept well through night.

(Was it really hat though? No it was definitely a pigeon or something.)

Tip to avoid burnout:

Sprint. Rest. Repeat. 

Think like the cat. 

Creating takes up valuable energy, and cats are masters at conserving energy. 

They laze about most of the day, but when they’re ready to eat, don’t get in their way.

If you hit a wall with your art, stop and re-energize.

Take a nap, go for a walk, grab a snack, draw for yourself, etc.

Whatever it is that can help you unwind and get back into action.

It doesn’t always have to be a neverending marathon (which can have diminishing returns anyway).

Focus and push a session as far as you can within an hour or two.

Then, when you run out of juice, give yourself the space to collect yourself.

Sprint. Rest. Repeat.

A-HA! Moment of the week

This one hit me yesterday on the importance of pain in our lives.

Basically, our most direct way to learn something… f*ck around and find out. 

Scrollstoppers on my feeds

1. Jason Scheier shares some of the beautiful production design work for Blue Eye Samurai. You can’t help but oogle at every detail.

2. Shannon Tindle shared the first teaser for ULTRAMAN: RISING. Looks incredible, really digging the character designs, and the story looks super fun. Can’t wait to see their take on the classic hero.

3. Eduardo Quintana released DRAGON BALL SAISEN: The Animated Manga over on YouTube the other day. He spent 14 months in his spare time working on this piece. You can feel the love for Dragon Ball in every frame!

Highlight of the Week

I’ve just caught up with Scavenger’s Reign and it is a treat.

It’s beautifully terrifying, silly and sophisticated, all around awe-inspiring.

The world they build feels alive, told through experience, not exposition.

By the time you read this, the last three episodes will have dropped, and I’m itchin to see where this story ends up.

Bravo to the team.

Hope you found something to inspire you and help refill your secret sauce bottle.

Go eat that hat.

Talk to you soon,

—Future-you

Hey! How was this week’s newsletter? Hit reply and lemme know 😬

Just a heads up, I’m working on a few things that could be helpful:

• Join the waitlist for YouTube Hidden Art School. I’ve collected 100+ YouTube channels and specific videos that have helped me fill in knowledge gaps (from my underwhelming art school experience 😭). I’ll also be including a curriculum to help

• Join the waitlist for Production-Ready Artist. Coming out of art school, I felt underprepared for a fast-paced production environment. After working on 100s of episodes of Action Animation cartoons, I’ve learned tools and processes to help me keep up and keep my head on straight. I’m building a course to teach you everything I learned.

• Looking for a community of artists to grow alongside? Fill out this form and I’ll send you an invite to our Discord server!