491 - Determining Your Current Creative Stage and Shifting Focus with Illustrator Chris Piascik

Summary

Creative Pep Talk Episode 491: Determining Your Current Creative Stage and Shifting Focus with Illustrator Chris Piasek

Release Date: February 5, 2025

In Episode 491 of Creative Pep Talk, host Ryan Reynolds engages in an insightful conversation with illustrator Chris Piasek. The discussion delves into understanding one's current creative stage, the challenges of shifting focus, and strategies to maintain a thriving creative practice. Here's a detailed summary of their engaging dialogue.

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1. Understanding Your Creative Season

Ryan Reynolds opens the episode by challenging the traditional questions about creative focus—whether to prioritize grinding out work or to let creativity flow organically. Instead, he introduces a pivotal concept:

Chris Piasek [00:48]: "Everybody has different opinions and I would say they're all wrong because it's the wrong question. It's not about what is the most important thing to focus on in your creative practice. There's a question before that, which is what season are you in?"

Chris emphasizes that recognizing one's current "season" or stage is crucial in determining where to focus efforts. Different stages require different priorities, making this self-awareness the foundation for a balanced creative practice.

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2. From Daily Drawings to YouTube: Chris Piasek's Journey

Chris Piasek shares his transition from a rigorous daily drawing project to a more curated YouTube presence. This shift was partly influenced by personal life changes, including becoming a parent:

Chris Piasek [32:40]: "I stopped the daily drawings like three years ago when my kid was like six months old because I was just, if you've ever had a baby, there's a lot to do."

Despite the challenges, Chris found that this transition didn't hinder his creative output but rather opened new avenues for growth and community engagement.

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3. Balancing Strategic and Exploratory Creativity

A significant portion of the conversation revolves around balancing structured (strategic) creativity with improvisational (exploratory) approaches:

Ryan Reynolds [10:00]: "I think the more I learned about the strategy side and I got better at that, then I had to really force myself to go back to doing it the way you just described, which I would think more of as the improv improvisational."

Chris adds to this by highlighting the pitfalls of diving into projects without adequate planning:

Chris Piasek [10:42]: "I start changing it, and then it gets so complicated and takes so long and I have no idea what's happening."

They agree that while strategic creativity sets clear goals, exploratory creativity fosters innovation and personal connection to the work.

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4. The Influence of ADHD on Creative Practices

Both Ryan and Chris discuss how ADHD can both challenge and enhance creativity:

Ryan Reynolds [09:07]: "ADHD people are naturally creative because they get bored. So they have a natural thing of, like, looking over, like, I wonder, what's that? Like, let me go that way."

Chris Piasek [09:12]: "You hyper focus so you take it more seriously. You don't just dabble in all these different things."

This dialogue underscores the importance of leveraging ADHD traits, such as hyperfocus, to deepen creative engagement and productivity.

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5. Time Management and Embracing "Wasted Time"

A recurring theme is the concept of "wasting time" and its paradoxical role in creativity:

Ryan Reynolds [12:05]: "Wasting time is one of the most essential parts of creative practice."

Chris Piasek [13:05]: "I fully believe it's still so hard to not get the feeling like I'm wasting time, even though I know I am."

They discuss the societal pressures against idleness and advocate for creating pockets of time dedicated to exploratory activities, which can lead to unexpected creative breakthroughs.

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6. Building Community Through YouTube

Chris elaborates on how transitioning to YouTube has enriched his creative journey by fostering a strong community:

Chris Piasek [39:21]: "The community that I found on YouTube has just been amazing and it's just been incredible."

He highlights the benefits of deeper connections formed through video content, which go beyond the superficial interactions typical of other social media platforms.

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7. Transitioning Stages: Challenges and Growth

The discussion touches on the difficulty of shifting creative stages, especially when leaving behind long-standing practices:

Ryan Reynolds [34:19]: "You're the hero of this episode."

Chris Piasek [35:03]: "I don't think I would have left otherwise."

They explore how external factors, like economic changes or personal life events, can force transitions, leading to growth and new opportunities.

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8. Embracing Personal Interests to Stand Out

Chris advocates for creating work aligned with personal passions rather than conforming to market demands:

Chris Piasek [18:56]: "I started drawing and illustrating and making stuff about stuff that I was interested in... it would appeal to a broader audience."

This approach not only enhances personal satisfaction but also attracts diverse audiences who share similar interests, as exemplified by his work on bicycles and cars.

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9. The Magic of Creative Evolution

Both speakers reflect on how consistent creative practice transforms individuals over time:

Ryan Reynolds [38:11]: "If I wasn't making that podcast, I might be that person today."

Chris Piasek [31:48]: "I have this idea for a video where it's like redoing old drawings to prove that you've gotten better."

They acknowledge that creative endeavors shape their identities and lead to continuous personal and professional development.

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10. Practical Tips for Creatives

Towards the episode's end, Chris shares valuable tips for aspiring creatives:

• Draw What You Like: Focus on subjects that genuinely interest you rather than what you think will get you hired.

  Chris Piasek [20:00]: "Do what you love. Just draw stuff you like."

• Revisit and Redraw Past Works: This practice not only showcases improvement but also deepens your connection to your work.

  Chris Piasek [30:00]: "Redraw what you like, go back to a drawing that you like, but you feel like, you know, if I did this again, I'd do it in a totally different style."

• Engage with the Community: Utilize platforms like YouTube and Discord to build and interact with a supportive creative community.

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Conclusion and Call to Adventure

Ryan concludes the episode by encouraging listeners to assess their current creative stage and choose an appropriate action:

• For Early Stages: "Draw what you like. Do what you love." Engaging in personal projects can help you connect with like-minded individuals and open unexpected opportunities.

• For Later Stages: "Redraw what you like." Revisiting past works can reinforce your skills and inspire new creative directions.

He wraps up with heartfelt thanks to Chris Piasek and the Creative Pep Talk team, emphasizing the importance of continual growth and adaptation in one's creative journey.

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Notable Quotes:

• Chris Piasek [00:48]: "There's a question before that, which is what season are you in?"

• Ryan Reynolds [10:00]: "Strategic creativity sets clear goals, exploratory creativity fosters innovation."

• Ryan Reynolds [12:05]: "Wasting time is one of the most essential parts of creative practice."

• Chris Piasek [18:56]: "Drawing what you love attracts a broader audience."

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Final Thoughts

Episode 491 of Creative Pep Talk offers a deep dive into the fluid nature of creative stages and the importance of self-awareness in nurturing one's artistic journey. Through Chris Piasek's experiences and Ryan Reynolds' thoughtful inquiries, listeners gain valuable insights into balancing discipline with exploration, leveraging personal interests, and building meaningful creative communities.

For more inspiration and strategies to enhance your creative practice, visit Creative Pep Talk and explore Andy's work.

Transcript

[Chris Piasek]

On the creative journey, it's easy to.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Get lost, but don't worry, you'll lift off. Sometimes you just need a creative pep talk. What is the most important thing to focus on in your creative practice? Is it about just grinding and trying as hard as you can to push it forward, forward? Or is it more about letting it go and letting it flow? Do you need to focus on quantity and just pumping out as much stuff as you humanly possibly can? Or is it about holding back, curating the quality of each decision and each launch and what you put out there in the world? What is the most important thing to focus on? Everybody has different opinions and I would say they're all wrong because it's the wrong question. It's not about what is the most important thing to focus on in your creative practice. It there's a question before that, which is what season are you in? What stage are you in? Because all of these things are important to be a top priority at different times in your creative process. And the difficult part or the most, the most top priority that you have is to make sure you know what stage are you in? Discern what is the most important by figuring out the season you're in, because that determines what your focus needs to be. And that's a pretty big challenge. Now today on the show we have Chris Piasek. He is a buddy of mine. He's a podcast guest that we had on just like seven years ago. He's an illustrator I've known for a long time. He's also ADHD cut from a similar cloth in some ways and then in a totally different fabric as well. I always have a great time chatting with them. For that reason, Chris did a super long daily drawing project where he was posting a new thing every weekday for a long, long time. And then he since moved on to posting YouTube videos and really a more curated release that is a little more sporadic. And last time he was on the show, we had a big chat about his daily drawing practice. This time we talk about moving from that stage into this current stage that he's in, how he knew it was time to switch, where his focus has shifted since. And I think that there is a lot in this conversation that can help you figure out where you are right now, where your energy maybe needs to be focused and how to shift that when the time comes. Had a ton of fun catching up with my buddy Chris and I hope you really enjoy the episode. There's a lot of stuff that inspired me and Sophie as we were going back and Working through it. Stick to the very end. For our cta, every single episode of the show, we try to give you something to do with the ideas. Not just to feel good, but to do something with them. And usually the cta, it's a call to adventure, a creative call to adventure. This time's a little bit different. It's a call. No, it's not a call. It's a choose. Choose your own adventure. It's choose the adventure. And we're going to give you two prompts, and they are going to be determined by which stage you're in. So if you're in an earlier stage of your creative practice, you might do the first one. If you're in a later stage, you might do the second one. And hopefully it will get you thinking about and acting with the priority of the season that you're in. All right, let's get into it. I'm a believer in the idea of dressing for the job you want, not the job you have. And I have applied this to my creative practice, too, which means if you want professional results, you need to present online like a pro. And that means going beyond social media and having a professional website that reflects your style and looks legit. I rebuilt my site this year with Squarespace's Fluid engine and was so happy with how easily I could build my vision without coding, that when they approached me to support the show, I jumped at the chance because I love and use this product. So go check it out. Squarespace.com peptalk to test it out for yourself. And when you're ready to launch your site, use promo code peptalk all one word, all caps for 10% off your first purchase. Thanks goes out to Squarespace for supporting the show and supporting creators all over the world.

[Chris Piasek]

Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with.

[Ryan Reynolds]

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[Chris Piasek]

No judgments.

[Ryan Reynolds]

But that's weird.

[Chris Piasek]

Okay, one judgment. Anyway, give it a try.

[Ryan Reynolds]

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[Chris Piasek]

See full [e-mail].

[Ryan Reynolds]

I was watching a bunch of your videos and.

[Chris Piasek]

Oh, thanks.

[Ryan Reynolds]

One of the things. And they're great. I mean, I love it. I love what you're doing. It's awesome.

[Chris Piasek]

Thank you. I really appreciate that.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And it must have been an old video. And you were just talking about getting. Or maybe. No, it wasn't. Maybe it was. I listened to the podcast episode we did years ago.

[Chris Piasek]

Oh yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Talking about getting up at 9 or 10am drawn on the couch with your dogs and I thought, I bet you're not doing that. Yeah, I thought, oh man, those days.

[Chris Piasek]

9, 9 or 10 o'clock. Feels like 3 o'clock in the afternoon at this point.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, I figured, I figured that was true.

[Chris Piasek]

Yeah, man, totally. Like I'm still trying to adapt my lifestyle because it, it was just so wildly different.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, it's hard. It's a hard shift. I mean, we had the benefit of never having been adults without kids, really.

[Chris Piasek]

Yeah. I did it a long time.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. So also, you know, makes us less prepared parents so that there's definitely pros and cons to that. But we didn't get used to a lifestyle we like. You know what I mean?

[Chris Piasek]

Yeah, that was the hardest thing for me.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's tough. It's actually kind of related to the main thing I want to talk to you about. But we'll get, we'll get to that bit later. One thing is I was, before I go here, how's things in general other than being sick and, and being.

[Chris Piasek]

Actually things have been good. They feel crazy right now just because there's been so many non workable days because like I can't do anything when my kid's home.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Chris Piasek]

So, you know, I just feel like I'm very behind on a lot of things. But aside from that, you know, things are, things are great. I feel like throughout my entire life, like career life.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Chris Piasek]

I keep accidentally doing things that help me because like with the growth of like my YouTube channel and like everything that goes with that, it's really like making up for client work being slower than it has been in the past. And you know, that's not. I didn't intend for that to happen. It just. I just have stumbled into these things over and over again throughout my career.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And, and you know, I mean one of the things you talk about a lot that I completely relate to is just trusting your curiosity and that ends up kind of carrying you a lot of the way. There have been, there definitely been some times where I needed to like step back, really rethink some things or take some strategic action or I had us, you know, a lightning bolt of insight that helped me make a shift. But a lot the, the majority is the thing, that curiosity thing of just making sure. That's why I think ADHD people are Naturally creative is just because they get bored. So they have a natural thing of, like, looking over, like, I wonder, what's that? Like, let me go that way.

[Chris Piasek]

And I think on top of that too, it's like that you hyper focus so you take it more seriously.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Chris Piasek]

So, like, you don't just, like, dabble in all these different things. You, like, lock in on some things and you just like, focus on it and give it like all this extra attention. And it's, you know, when you put a lot of effort into something, you.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Know, there's so many good, good and bad things about that. I've thought about how many, like, little tangents I went on and thought, like, what if you were able to just put that into a master's degree or a PhD? What if you could have just lined up that sauce alongside doing anything other than just you read 10 books on that topic and then you never wanted to think about it ever again?

[Chris Piasek]

You're like, yeah, yeah, there's that. That's true.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Um, but in the creative practice, if you can channel it in there, it can be a pretty powerful thing.

[Chris Piasek]

Yeah. I feel like the. For me, it seems like the times where it takes me off on a tangent, it's usually like smaller problems than, like, longer scale things. Like, what do you mean with making videos for YouTube? I'll be like, behind, and I'll be like, oh, I need to record a video or something like that. And I'm still learning that I need to plan out better, but I'll be like, oh, this is something I can do quickly. And then I start changing it, and then it gets so complicated and takes so long and I have no idea what's happening. And I'm like, well, if I just thought about this for more than five minutes, I would have known. But I just went all in without planning.

[Ryan Reynolds]

But it's. Yes. And I get. I mean, that's the way I do most things. But I also think that the more I learned about, like, I think about these two ways of being creative. Like puzzle strategy. Strategy. I was gonna say strategic. Strategic creativity. That's much more like create with the end in mind, where it's like a mystery. And then there's like the exploratory, improvisational. You're. You're. You don't know what's happening. The more I learned about the strategy side and I got better at that. Then I had to really force myself to go back to doing it the way you just described, which I would think more of as the improv improvisational. Because when I would write long form and really not let not control it. Interesting things. What the most interesting things would happen from. No. So much of it is a waste of time.

[Chris Piasek]

Yes, yes, for sure. And it's tricky because like I struggle with that whenever it's something's like feels like. I don't know. One of the things that feels like the hardest thing for me is time and like it just going away all the time. So when I spend time doing something that doesn't relate to, like doesn't benefit it, it just feels like I get so frustrated. But you know, those kind of things are necessary because helps you come up with new things.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's one of the reasons why diversifying your creative practice in a few different ways I think is so essential because wasting time, and I really believe this and I, I think there's all the evidence in the world to support that. Wasting time is the, one of the most essential parts of creative practice. And yet if you live in a society like we do and, and we, and you're a parent and you have, and this is your job, everything is against you. Wasting time. Which like the, the researchers call it playing with the problem rather than trying to solve it. Playing with the problem is messing around. Like yeah, you have. And so I, I'm like obsessed with getting into that space figuring how do I get into that space in pockets that I have that I will create for it. Because everything else is trying to get me to do the opposite of that. It's really hard.

[Chris Piasek]

Yeah, I feel like I feel that in so many different like I fully believe and it's still so hard to not get. Feel like I'm wasting time. Like even though I know I am, but like it's important. I also find that I get into this weird mindset where like I'm like, oh, I can't do my creative drawing stuff right now because I have to do important business stuff. And I'm like, but that's what you do. So that's the, that's the important part. I'm like, I can't do this. I gotta send some emails or like, you know, do something else. It's like for what? The making stuff is what I do. Otherwise I'm just a secretary.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. And the funny thing is there's the, the you have this, this myth as you're coming up that when you go full time then you can like guilt free waste time making stuff.

[Chris Piasek]

No, no, that's what you can do when you have a job.

[Ryan Reynolds]

True, exactly. Again, goes back to why it's good to have a few different ways that you make money. And the more consistent, the better. And actually, I'm actually going to do. I think I'm going to do an episode about going part time, like that being the goal and it. And there's a bunch of different reasons of what or how I mean that. I don't even mean, like, doing anything different than what I'm doing right now, but, like, what is the thing I'm creating space for that is for me only, because I always had that when I was like, trying to level up my creative practice and trying to get paid to do things that nobody was paying me for. And I always had that for a long time. I had this blip of time where, oh, all the things I wanted to do are part of my job now. And now I don't have anything that I'm like, oh, I'm doing this because I want to do it. Ooh, that's bad. That feels bad because you lose, like, you really lose why you're doing it, you know?

[Chris Piasek]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Chris Piasek]

I mean, that's sort of why I started the daily drawing project a million years ago.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Really?

[Chris Piasek]

Yeah. Cause like, my whole, you know, childhood in like, high school and college was like, just getting to this point of I want to be a graphic designer and I want to do all this stuff and then like, getting that job and like, realizing after a couple years that like, the only drawing I was doing was just like sketches for projects. I was like, wait a second, I'm not doing this anymore. I need to draw more. And that's not enough for me to actually commit to something. I have to, like, I need to put in structure or rules or I need to hyperfocus on it or it's not going to happen at all.

[Ryan Reynolds]

So, yep, I to. I totally get that. And yeah, so I love. One of the things I wanted to talk to you about was I love this stage that you're in. It's very fun to Having been peers and. And friend friendly friends online friendly friends for long. It's just cool, you know, this is a complete aside, but I just want to say I just had a sense of as we're watching so many things get automated and I. I saw this like, long list of comments from illustrators that I've known for a long time and I just thought, man, I. Even if even ones that I'm not like a particular fan of, I have a sense of who they are because they make this work and they've like, crystallized a thing and they have an identity and I just love it. I just love. It's so cool. I don't know, I had a weird step back moment. I was like, it's so cool. If I think about this person, that person that, like, I have this sense of they've been practicing for a decade and they have this, like, this is who they are. And it's. And knowing you for a long time, I have the benefit of, like, watching that and you being in this new stage where you've been doing YouTube and all that has just been so cool to watch.

[Chris Piasek]

Oh, thank you.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, I. I just think it's awesome.

[Chris Piasek]

I mean, it's mainly your fault too. You're the one who told me that I should do it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I don't even remember saying that. I swear to you.

[Chris Piasek]

You said, you know, you really need to try to get yourself in front of the camera more. And like, I don't even remember the context. I think about it all the time.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Chris Piasek]

I think I'm like, how did he know? Because, like. Yeah, I don't.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, I don't. I don't remember saying that specifically.

[Chris Piasek]

It was on Instagram. We could probably find it. It was in a dm.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Was it? Yeah, I remember. The only thing I can remember is I'm guessing it was something about maybe skillshare videos or like your skillshare promo or something. And I just. I just thought your editing was good, it was funny, it was dry, and it just complemented your work well. And it was something that maybe I knew from being around you, but if you just followed you, you wouldn't have seen. You wouldn't have known that. And it just kind of made it feel more three dimensional to me. But, yeah, I mean, I. You, you know, you've done even crazier things and cooler things than I would have imagined.

[Chris Piasek]

Well, I appreciate the push.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. One of your. One of your recent videos, I believe you're talking about kickstarting your illustration practice. And one of the things I wanted to see if you just talk about a little bit was the. You called it draw stuff you like, and I want. Could you. Do you remember what you said about that?

[Chris Piasek]

Yeah, about that.

[Ryan Reynolds]

A little bit. Because I. I just think there's some. It's deceptively simple.

[Chris Piasek]

Yeah. Really, it's true.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Powerful.

[Chris Piasek]

Well, so I think, you know, for me and I think a lot of other people, when they're like, starting out and you're like, how do I start getting work? How do I get hired to do illustration work? You start looking at People who do illustration work and who are successful. And then you start to think, like, okay, well, I need to make this kind of work, or I need to think about what someone's going to hire me to make, and then you just start trying to just make stuff based on that. And that's not a very creative place to make things from. It's like, yeah, like, you see also, too, like, the assignments that sometimes you see that even great illustrators do. Generally, the art director saw something else that they made, and they just sort of wanted to adapt it to this new thing. So maybe that original thing was more interesting and it was maybe about something else entirely. But for me, the biggest thing in realizing this was, you know, the stuff that I made thinking that it would get me hired or people would see, like, didn't really get much attention. And when I started drawing and, like, illustrating and making stuff about stuff that I was interested in, not only did I have more fun doing it, so I'd, like, spend more time on it, and I would enjoy it, and it would just. I would also have this, like, deep knowledge about what I was making, too. And that allows you to, like, make it even more interesting because you can like, put in all these other special things or, like, maybe little inside jokes or just. Just lots of little things that make it unique and special. And then when you put that stuff out there, it's going to appeal to a broader. You're not just, like, making something that you think an art director is going to like. You're making something that you like, and then other people who like that are really going to resonate with it. And if it's great illustration, those are, you know, people who might hire you will see it, but then it's going to get in front of people who maybe don't even care about illustration, but they care about that thing, and then that's going to spread it out. Yeah, I mean, it's a good example of. This is a long time ago, I drew, like, every bike that I've ever had. And people who weren't into illustration but are into cycling were like, oh, I remember I had the same bike, and I love this. And telling me their stories about it, and it just, like, resonates on a deeper level. And then it end up, you know, getting picked up by Bicycling magazine and then just, you know, led to a bunch of work within the bicycling industry because. And I feel like if I tried to, like, make something for an art director to see, that's, like, it Would have never thought to do that.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And you, you know, if you thought, oh, it looks like there's tons of good jobs in the sneaker head world, I'm going to start drawing sneakers. But you don't actually give a shit. It's not going to. Yeah, people's BS detectors are finally attuned. And it kind of reminds of how, you know, sci fi books like the Martian or Three Body Problem are written from these people that have. Are their scientists science back that are really knowledgeable. And then, you know, it doesn't. I don't know anything. But as I'm reading it, I can tell that this stuff sounds. Right. It sounds, yeah, yeah. Now. And there's just something about the way that you're drawing the bikes or when you did the cars. Did you mention that one in the video? I did, yeah. What was that one?

[Chris Piasek]

So one of the other things that I've always been interested in is like, cars. Like I do track and autocross racing stuff and I just like weird old quirky cars. So I was drawing a whole bunch of different cars and an art director at Hot Wheels saw them a while back and was like, oh, I really love these. Maybe we can work on something in the future. And a couple of years later they did this series of these, like exaggerated features cars that look sort of like the ones that I did. And they asked me to do the packaging for this limited edition set. So it's like a perfect little circle.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I remember seeing Draplin in my early days talking about this kind of idea of he would just be making stuff that was to do with just kind of random things that he liked, like estate sales and mustard and just weird things. And initially thinking, like, I don't even know how you train your brain to think like that, even notice the kind of things that you like like that or why that would matter. And then later I kind of realized that, oh, people really need something to grab onto, like a noun. Like artists talk about their work in adjectives, you know, whimsical, colorful, that kind of stuff. But people think about nouns. Like they.

[Chris Piasek]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

So for me, like when I did the Dream Journal, I did that because I just love dreams. And I never thought, I never thought, oh, this is going to turn into a getting hired to do a picture book for someone who's a dream. You know, it's a dream picture book and these editorials and all this stuff. And I realized, like, it's much easier to be the, to, to stand out, not in the drawing world or the illustration world. As like the best, easier to be like the best drawing illustrator in the dream world or in the podcasting space or you know, it. There's, it's a different way to differentiate yourself too.

[Chris Piasek]

That's also two things you said that are super important to the, the whole drawing what you like thing is like standing out and differentiating yourself. And if you're someone starting out and you're trying to like, you want to like you said, break into the sneaker world or something like that, you're looking at this stuff and trying to make your version of that kind of thing. And one, you know, that person was hired because they, they're, they've mastered it, you know what I mean? And you're just making like a bad version of it or like, okay version, but like it just, it's just not going to stand out. It's going to look like that thing.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And even if that, even if it doesn't turn into work, we still, it helps people have a three dimensional picture of you. Like when, you know, when we talk about, if I, if I was talking about when Waxahachie had this album out that I loved, it's easy to be like, oh, that was the like sober one. It was like the one where she got sober and you know, something to like grapple, to like hold handles for this thing. Need that as an artist. So even if it doesn't turn to a job about cars or bikes or whatever, you still, people need things to be like, oh, it's this, this and this. That's that person.

[Chris Piasek]

Yeah. And I also think that's important too in like with all the AI stuff, like the thing that makes us unique as humans is like us being humans and like that interaction. And you know, the people who are hiring illustrators are also people and they, you know, if they're looking at a lot of different work and one of these illustrators share similar interests and seems like someone that they'd want to work with, you know, that's going to really play a heavy part in the selection.

[Ryan Reynolds]

What I want to say, I don't believe is dicey, but it's just slightly.

[Chris Piasek]

Here it comes.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It says after that is dicey. It's not really, but it, it just made me think like, you know, I don't. The most like woo woo version of manifesting. I don't get down with that. Okay, that's not my jam at all. But I also am trying to be sensitive to people that do that. So I'm trying to be sensitive to that. However, this is an interesting. This is like an active, creative version of that that has work behind it, that has like action and just energy behind it. And that's by. You're actually making something. So you're, you're taking those things that you love and, and you know, not stopping there, but you're doing stuff with it and it's turning into things in the real world and it has like a creative generative thing. So I'm not saying that it's, I'm not saying it's woo woo, but I am saying that it's like, it's a way to take some of those vision impulses and do something with them by like making this work about stuff that you love. Or you know, there's like an active creating your life energy to like also like all those cars you don't own. I mean like there's like a, there's just a weird. Does that make sense?

[Chris Piasek]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think so.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And anybody. Okay, I'm sorry, I'm not, look, I'm.

[Chris Piasek]

Not against which, which part of this was offensive. I'm just trying to pull that out.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Look, look, I, you know, people are super down with man fat manifesting woo woo stuff. Other people are like, you know, like, like, let's get those guys. And I'm just saying that this feels like an interesting marriage of letting yourself hope and dream and aspire and that actually leading to something powerful and active and creative. And does that make sense?

[Chris Piasek]

Yeah, it does. And it also sort of. I feel like there's a trick being played on me or something because right before this I was like dealing with a whole bunch of spam messages on my newest video where it was like about manifesting manifestation and like manifesting. But it was all like plugging like I was doing this until I watched this video by this person and it manifested this. But there was like all these accounts with this like very same similar message. Yeah, I'm like trying to delete them all. And then I got on this call and you're talking about manifestation, destiny.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I'm sorry, I'm sorry. And it's just to me, it's like, I think.

[Chris Piasek]

Were you leaving those comments?

[Ryan Reynolds]

It was me. I was actually a generative robot that was doing create some fake sense of synchronicity. But I just think, I think I'm interested in when, when researchers talk about these kind of things that the people that are actually well within the evidence, they'll talk about how sports players, athletes, some people call them, well, gladiators if you will. You know, Using. What's it called, the vision. Something where they're not just envisioning the outcomes, they're doing that, but they're also envisioning the work that it would take. Like the. They're thinking about them exercising, they're thinking about them, how they're going to exercise, what their form is going to be. They do all that stuff, and it improves their results. And so I'm, you know, I'm interested in things like where we get attracted to an idea, but we miss the point. And so I think that's what interests me about that.

[Chris Piasek]

Isn't it just sort of like planning and thinking about it?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, just like dreaming and then. Yeah. Doing something.

[Chris Piasek]

Hmm. Yes.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I just. I just thought it was cool because I thought, like, this is something where you're just like. I did a thing last year too, where in. As I was leading up to the new year, I thought, I'm going to start. I'm going to do a painting of everything that I want to be happening in the new year. And actually didn't even share it. I just put it. I. You. I made it my wallpaper on my phone for, like a month. Just kind of like this. It was just one step further than goal setting. It was. It was like, I'm gonna create something that starts to make this real, you know, and I'm gonna spend the whole time I'm making this thing, I'm meditating on these things, you know, and it's just like, that's what your. That little YouTube segment reminded me of. It was just like, this is like, you just kind of like creating these worlds and these realities. Like, you're. That's what's cool about it is that you're doing all this stuff, and then two years later, it's what you're doing. So there's almost a magic to it, I guess, even if it's completely material, you know?

[Chris Piasek]

Yeah, it does. You know, it seems like that from the outside. I feel like there's a video I did a while back where I talk about, like, my career path, and there'll be, like, lots of comments about it. Just like, so, so lucky. And I'm like, yeah, sort of. But I also posted a new drawing online every day for 14 years.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yes. The. The other thing I wanted to talk to you about was. The main thing was, how did you manage that transition in terms of stopping a thing you've done for 14 years is, I have to imagine, incredibly difficult decision to make. And so I wondered if you could talk about how did you. How. What, how did you decide to do that? What things contributed to feeling like, yeah, I'm ready to do something different?

[Chris Piasek]

Yeah. Well, I mean, I stopped the daily drawings like three years ago when my kid was like six months old because I was just, if you've ever had a baby, there's a lot to do. And I was just not sleeping. And I was also changing from this life of doing whatever I wanted at any moment to like, realizing that because I had such freedom, I would like, stretch things out or just like I was very willy nilly. I didn't realize how little structure I had. And then I'd like, have to force myself to like, get all of my work done in a very short amount of time. So I couldn't just like, not do the client work because, you know, have to pay the bills. So I tried to keep doing the daily drawings and then I just. I couldn't. I physically couldn't do them anymore. So I stopped and it sucked. But then I was like, all right, well, everything's fine so far and nothing fell apart. But so like that, that I was forced, forced to stop doing the daily drawings pretty much just like I was forced to go full time freelance as an illustrator when the economy crashed and the design studio is at kind of employed.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I love that. What were you going to say?

[Chris Piasek]

No, that was it. It's just like I kind of get forced into these decisions accidentally.

[Ryan Reynolds]

What that reminds me of is in like story structure, usually most heroes are forced on the journey. They're the real.

[Chris Piasek]

And I'm definitely a hero.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You are definitely a hero. And guess what? You said that in the last one when I mentioned the hero.

[Chris Piasek]

Oh my God. Oh, geez.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I love it. I love, I love when somebody's individualism is just like coded into them. Like you.

[Chris Piasek]

So worst.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's so funny. But it just. For now, you are the hero. You're the hero of this episode.

[Chris Piasek]

Absolutely.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And. And I want you to.

[Chris Piasek]

No question.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And the. But the, the hero is usually the reluctant hero forced to go on the journey. Very rarely is a character like, yeah, I'm going to go do something hard and challenging that's going to wreck my status quo. Like, so I like that. So the first thing is pain. Unbearable pain. Unbearable frustration. And impossible. Impossible to carry on like that.

[Chris Piasek]

Nobody could do it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's. But, but it's true. Like, just like you said, like these were scenarios where it was like, that stage is no longer happening. It. I've hit the wall on that stage. But the reason I think that's worth mentioning is when something's worked, that's fine. Like, this is one of my. This is one of my difficulties right now as I'm trying to navigate a different stage, is that when you are forced out of a job that you're not crazy about, that's an easy stage shift. So, like, a lot. A lot of the early stage shifts that I had in my creative practice were like that, because every stage I wanted, I wanted to go to the next one. Like. But when something's really worked on some level, even if it's not working the same way that you wanted it to, or even if it. Whatever, it's harder to move to the next stage.

[Chris Piasek]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I don't think I would have left otherwise.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Chris Piasek]

Because it was, like, what I spent my whole childhood thinking was my dream job.

[Ryan Reynolds]

How do you think it changed you?

[Chris Piasek]

It made me think about things that I never imagined. For example, someone commented on my last video saying, al Bundy makes art. And I had never thought that I had gotten to that level of old yet or that I even looked like Al Bundy. But now that's something that's in my head forever.

[Ryan Reynolds]

What a change. That's. That's. That's big. That's huge.

[Chris Piasek]

I know that's not the right answer, but I honestly, I don't know how to. I don't know how I've changed.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Maybe you don't.

[Chris Piasek]

I don't know.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's. I'm just curious. I just. I just wanted to see if anything else was there. But it's just. It's a fascinating. I love the way that creative work, creative practice, especially creative habit, changes you. Like, when I went back to our episode from years ago, episode 181, I was like, I. It's. I can barely. I mean, I hate listening to myself.

[Chris Piasek]

And I, like, my early videos are.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh, my God. And I. But I'm interested in. Well, if you. What if I wasn't making that podcast, I might be that person today.

[Chris Piasek]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

There's a way in which it changes you.

[Chris Piasek]

Yeah. I mean, it's sort of similar. I have this idea for a video where it's, like, redoing, like, old drawings to, like. Like, proof that you've gotten better. And you, like, so, like, looking at it differently and how you do it. And it's like. Like, you can be like, oh, this is. This is literally how much better I've gotten. Cause it's hard to know when you're doing it, like, every day. And, man, just looking at Some I was looking at, like, old drawings. I'm like, this is trash. Like, I posted this online thinking, look at me, I'm an illustrator who wants to hire me. And like, they're just. Wow.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Chris Piasek]

Wow. So bad.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, I can relate big time. What. Do you have any YouTube tips? We started posting there. I'm not as invested as you are because it's in kind of an extension of the podcast. But I love, I. I love YouTube. And it's a place where a lot of people I like and relate to make stuff. And a lot of people that listen probably have been curious about it too. What can you tell us?

[Chris Piasek]

Well, so I never thought, like, I assumed, I don't know, I had like preconceived notions about YouTube and like, was like, oh, I would like, kind of like the idea of a YouTuber being like a joke to me or whatever.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Chris Piasek]

But I think it's just because it's so big you can like find those stereotypes. But it's. I don't know, like, the community that I found on YouTube has just been amazing and it's just been incredible and like, just like interacting with people who are like watching all the time. And like, I don't know, I think because you know, when you're making. When you're watching someone in a video for, you know, 20 minutes or whatever, like you start to feel like you know them a little bit more than just seeing a picture or scrolling through other social media.

[Ryan Reynolds]

The community aspect, did that come from just the nature of. One of the great things about YouTube is its organic reach just based on topic. Is that kind of how that came about? Just like this community found you?

[Chris Piasek]

Yeah. And there's like all different kinds of things. Like there I did a video early on about like, like adhd, things that I deal with as an illustrator. And like, it's not a top performer for me, but like, it's. There's so many like people who are like, oh my God, you know this. You know, this is the. The most seen video I've ever, like the most thing I've ever related to or blah, blah, blah. So there's like a lot of people there. And then just like, I. I just feel like it comes from lots of different areas of people who have found my videos. But yeah, and then there's like a discord with the channel and like, I'm bad about going on there often. Cause I never really used discord before this, so. But there's just like people sharing work and talking all the time on there. And I'm like, that's crazy. That's awesome. But, yeah, and like, I, you know, I do live streams every Friday and there's, like, always very familiar faces, but then there's new ones. And. Yeah, it's just. It's really cool. It sort of feels like. Like when I'm doing the live stream, it feels like I'm hanging out with these people that, like, you know, I comment back and forth with all the time, but I don't even know what I'm answering right now.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I don't know either. But I enjoyed it and I think it's interesting too, the stages. For me, there's another layer there where at first you're kind of just like, creating. This is the work. This is kind of the product or something. And then you're moving into. Now you have this deeper relationship with people and it's. You're. You're going deeper. You have. Yeah, more of a connection, and there's maybe even more meaningful to you as a creator on some levels. That's what I'm hearing.

[Chris Piasek]

Yeah. I mean, which is, I would assume the same as like a podcast because you're like, person's whispering into your ear for an hour.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. It's kind of weird. Um. Well, that's awesome, man. Dude, I'm. I'm really happy for you. And it looks like it is just gone really well. I know it's gotta be a ton of work, but it seems like it's paying off.

[Chris Piasek]

Yeah, I mean, it's. It's fun and I enjoy doing them. This was awesome getting to chat with you again. It doesn't feel like it was that long ago that we did that episode, but it was. How many years ago was it?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I don't know, but probably at least five or six.

[Chris Piasek]

Oh, my God. I was a totally different person. Never. If I was sure that I would never have a kid.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, yeah. You promised me in that episode, I will never, ever have a child. You said that.

[Chris Piasek]

I meant it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Well, dude, thanks for. Thanks for doing this. I'm glad we got to catch up. I hope we get to hang out in person sometime soon. How do people find your YouTube and what you're doing?

[Chris Piasek]

It's just Chris P ASIC everywhere. The P I A S C I K. So but if you just spell wrong I. I have the clout on YouTube that you'll probably see it anyway.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Absolutely. You could put all kinds of weird P words in there and you'll find.

[Chris Piasek]

Chris, any P word you want.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I wouldn't go that Far. I'm back. I'm back to give you a call to adventure. Well, choose your adventure. Choose the adventure today as the cta. First of all, thanks to Chris for making the time to chat. It was great hanging out with you, bud, and I hope we get to do it again soon. Hope to see you in real life sometime, man. You go check out Chris Piasek on YouTube now. You hear he's got great stuff on there. He's. He's making all kinds of interesting stuff about Adobe Fresco. A lot of, like, drawing on the iPad kind of thing. Also sharing his stories and insights. And some. I don't. Some really interesting drawing challenges. Just tons of fun too. He edited, edits them well with all kinds of bells and whistles. He just does great, great stuff. So I appreciate. I appreciate you, man. And I'm back with the creative. Choose the adventure and you've got two choices, depending on the stage that you're at. If you're just starting out in your practice, I recommend you do the CTA that we talked about at the start of the episode. Draw what you like. You've heard. Do what you love. But what about just what you like, man? What's the stuff that you're just like, into? Just draw those things. You know, there's a lot of times where if I just trust that, like, man, I've been enjoying drawing snakes lately or drawing skulls or drawing swords, whatever S word you want to draw that stuff. Just trust it. And then you can editorialize it, then you can frame it. You know, it's that kind of like sudio. Another S word. Phil Collins, I believe he's like making that song in the studio, doing Sue Studio just says some random stuff and then rolls with it. It's like, you know what? Let's just keep it. Sometimes you just keep it. Then sometimes you mold it into actual lyrics. Phil Collins. Hello. Come on, man. Go the extra mile. Actually, that song's great, but just draw stuff you like. And the more that you do that, the more you're going to connect with people that like that stuff. And lots of interesting things can happen when you do that. You know, I. I did a bunch of series on this show about video games because I got really into video games in my old age, again in my 30s, I got back into video games. Z, Zelda Elden Ring. Zeldin Ring. That's not a thing. But that'd be cool. Cool mashup. And I've done all this stuff on video games and I got a job doing stuff for Xbox because of that, because I vocalized it, because I put it out there into the world. So if that's you, if you haven't really done a lot of that exploring that, maybe you're late in your career too, but you never really let yourself like anything and just make something, do it, try it. Or if you feel like you know what I've done that I've done a lot of that. Maybe you can do the second one which Chris brought up, which was redraw what you like, go back to a drawing that you like, but you feel like, you know, if I did this again, I'd do it in a totally different style. One of the ways I've done this is when I have went to make something I really like that I did in gouache, traditional painted thing, and I wanted to turn it into something that had flat color for a sticker or a shirt or something. Then I would be using this other technique that I use. And some of the stuff that I've made that used to be paintings and now they're these flat color things are like some of my all time favorite things that I've made. And also I learned interesting things from that. I actually have a piece that I did for a magazine that I've been wanting to redo, not because I don't like it, but because I want to remember what it feels like to make that piece. And I think this is an interesting thing that happens. I imagine if you're a musician and you have to go relearn old songs, that it actually might unlock some things that you've left in the past and forgot about. So maybe you're in a later stage, need to do that. But ultimately I hope that you reflect a little bit on what stage you're in, what things that you need to let go of, what things you need to bring forward. And maybe revisiting some old stuff will help you do that. That massive thanks to Chris Piasek for coming on the show, having a chat. Huge thanks. Just an equally huge thanks to Sophie Miller who helped me craft this episode, editor on the show, co producer on the show. Huge thanks to Connor Jones for audio and video edits and sound design. Thanks to Yoni Wolf and the band wife for the theme music and the glorious soundtrack. And it. Until we speak again. Well, while we're speaking now, might as well. Thank you for listening. And until we speak again, stay Peptide.