THE INSPIRATION PLACE PODCAST
Miriam Schulman:
In this episode, you’re going to discover why building a regular art practice is nourishing for the soul. You’re also going to get ideas for things that you think paint, and tips to make sketching daily easier. Before I introduce our guest, I wanted to tell you about today’s freebie. Since we’re talking all about daily sketching, and I know that so many of you complained that you get stuck with where to start, either because you don’t know what to paint or you just have too many ideas, I put together a one page PDF to get your creative juices flowing. It’s called 10 Sketching Ideas, and includes some things that we’re going to talk about today to get you started. So to get your hands on that freebie, just head on over to schulmanart.com/27.
Okay, so let me introduce today’s guest. She’s an artist, an illustrator, and an author known for her daily sketchbook paintings which she’s been doing for over five years. She paints for up to 30 minutes for personal satisfaction the things that inspire and surround her. She has worked with clients such as Anthropologie, Abrams Books, Chronicle Books, Flow Magazine, Kate Spade, and many more. Please welcome to the Inspiration Place, Jennifer Orkin Lewis. Hey Jennifer, welcome to the show.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Hi Miriam. Thank you for having me. I’m so happy to be here. I just have a couple questions that has nothing really to do with what we’re going to talk about, but what made you start this, and why are you… I’m just curious.
Miriam Schulman:
Oh, sure. No, we can definitely talk about this. Well I started writing for Professional Artist Magazine, and I was so amazed at how being part of the press gave me access to talk to interesting people that I wouldn’t have had necessarily access to or an incentive to get to know them, and I really enjoy that. So it’s my opportunity to ask… I mean we can go out to lunch and be friends too, but for lots of people it’s an opportunity for me to ask them questions. People I never would have had the opportunity to get to know. And it’s doing a great service to my audience. They really are enjoying the people I’m getting to know. It’s way better than writing blog posts. I used to write blog posts and I found that I wasn’t interested in writing blog posts anymore and people weren’t as interested in reading them. So this serves that function of providing my audience with free content while also-
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
That’s interesting.
Miriam Schulman:
Is there more than one part to that question?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
No, I just was curious how you started and what made you do that, so…
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah, I decided I wanted to do it sometime last year. And then I set myself a goal that I would have the podcast up before my youngest son went off to college.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
That’s impressive because it’s hard to follow through on those goals.
Miriam Schulman:
Well, how do you follow through on your goals?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Some of them I do and some of them I don’t. I’ve been able to have the sketchbook one.
Miriam Schulman:
I mean, you’ve written a lot of books. You have somebody who pushes you to write those books?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
I do have an agent, but she doesn’t push me to do that. I mean, she helps me make the deal, let’s just say.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay. Well I’m so excited to have you. So first of all, I wanted to talk about your studio, which I’ve been to. So Jennifer’s art studio is in the attic space of this charming home in the suburbs of New York, and you have a place in the city as well.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Yeah, I’m renting a small apartment that we go to during the week often, so there I have just a desk to paint on.
Miriam Schulman:
Are you more creative in one place versus the other, or you’re able to do your work just as much there?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
I’ve been able to adapt there. I have much less supplies and much less paper and everything, and space, but I was able to adapt. I really like it. It’s good having a different perspective.
Miriam Schulman:
Do you bring your supplies outside of the apartment to work in the city?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
I have paints there and paint brushes there and I bring my favorite things back and forth, but I have enough there that I can-
Miriam Schulman:
But do you do all your work in the apartment or do you go out to, I don’t know…
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Oh, to the park and paint or something?
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah, it sounds so romantic, but.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
You know what, I have to say, that is one of my goals is to go out and work in the wild, let’s just say, but I’m terrible at it. I just get awkward. I never am happy with my supplies. I don’t know where to place my sketchbook and things fall on the ground. I’m not there yet, so I do most of my work in a studio or on a table somewhere.
Miriam Schulman:
I’m the same way. I also don’t like when people come over and look over my shoulder.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Yeah. That too.
Miriam Schulman:
It’s too much pressure.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Exactly.
Miriam Schulman:
I mean, I can do it when there is… I do it for the video camera, but somehow I can just forget that people are there, they’re not asking me questions at the same time, so they kind of are looking over my shoulder, I suppose.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
It’s different. It’s different. It’s something that I want to figure out how to do in a simple way, but I haven’t figured that out yet.
Miriam Schulman:
Actually what I have done, but I do a different kind of art when I’ve done it. So the museums, I don’t know if you’ve done this, but at the Frick and also the Metropolitan Museum of Art, they have these drop-in drawing nights where they actually provide you with paper, charcoal, pencils, a stool, everything. Everything you need.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
No, I haven’t done that, but I’m going to. That sounds great.
Miriam Schulman:
Oh, it’s a lot of fun. At the Met it’s Friday nights and they basically… I think it’s only either once or twice a month they do it, and it’s in a different art gallery. So when I’ve gone, it’s been, let’s say the African masks. So I’m not doing the kind of art that I would necessarily do for sale or for anything else. But it’s more for my own… Not that I didn’t go on… I monetize everything. Not that I haven’t sold things from that, but it was really freeing, and then they had the little docent… Not to be demeaning like that, but the docents will walk around and actually sharpen your pencils for you.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Oh my gosh.
Miriam Schulman:
And the reason they do that is because they don’t want you bringing supplies and making a mess. So that’s why they provide the supplies that they think are okay. That’s why they sharpen your pencils. And then they even will give you wipes for your hands when you’re done and a little baggy to put your art in when you’re done. It’s full service.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
I’m surprised they even let you have charcoal in there. It seems…
Miriam Schulman:
Well it’s charcoal pencil. And then they give you a stool. They give you even a board to lean on. They give you pastel paper at the Frick. But usually at the Frick… Yeah, the Frick they’ve done it both in that that little atrium area. They’ve done it there, but they’ve also done it inside the galleries as well.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
I think if I didn’t feel inspired about whatever gallery I was in, I would paint other people. I would just draw the other people because there’s always something to paint, draw.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah. I find the Frick less inspiring because the atrium, it’s not really well lit, and then there’s not much… Like you said, the people are good to draw, but then… I don’t know, what am I going to do, copy a Rembrandt? But I really enjoyed…
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Although I find that it’s really fun to look at old paintings and draw… I mean, you can just get the movement of the people and you just take it into your own style or something, but it’s really interesting to do that. Just take out one person, and they’re eating, so you’re getting good movement and good figure shapes. It’s helpful.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah. But I found fun, the Met that I told you, we did the African… There was the African masks. Actually the mask what I ended up drawing, they were African sculpture, so I just figured I would just do the face of all of them. And then another one I liked was the Japanese.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Oh yeah, that would be nice.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah. And again, it was like you said, you just pull out a little piece. It’s not like you’re copying things. Then the other one that I liked was in the rugs, they have a whole wing of Middle Eastern art and doing the different rugs and looking for patterns [crosstalk 00:09:28].
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. I’m looking that up. I’m going to go.
Miriam Schulman:
I’ll go with you.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Okay. Sounds good.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah, so that’s like… Anyway, I don’t know how we got there. We were talking about sketching. So you started this regular art practice five years ago. Were you already a licensed artist at that point?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
I was just beginning. So I maybe had a few greeting cards and I had not much… That’s not exactly true because for many years I was a textile designer. So I did textiles within the industry for many, many years. It wasn’t always my own artwork, though, because at a certain point I was buying the artwork and putting it together, giving it to other artists to put and repeat and do that kind of thing. But I was around that for a long, long time.
Miriam Schulman:
So you really understood the whole process in the industry before you started working as an artist yourself in that world?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Yeah.
Miriam Schulman:
Oh, wow. That must’ve been really helpful to them too.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
I knew what I wanted. Because I think when I went into the textile industry, I didn’t really know what I wanted and I just did whatever came along, and the direction didn’t really go the way I wanted it to, which is why I eventually got out of it.
Miriam Schulman:
You mean got out of it from working on that side of the industry.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
And then becoming sort of more of an illustrator.
Miriam Schulman:
So what made you decide five years ago that you were going to paint 30 minutes every day? Or how did that evolve? How did that decision evolve?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
So I had seen other people do something a day projects on Instagram. Instagram, it was really more at the beginning, so it was some on Instagram, but I think there were blogs, there was someone who did a little oil painting a day, and someone else who did… There, weren’t millions… Now there’s millions of people who do that, but then there were a few and they stood out. And I really enjoyed that concept, but of course I had no idea what I would do. I could paint a rock every day or… It could be anything you wanted it to be. Or it could be collecting something every day. One day, somehow or another, I just said, “Wait a minute, I love to paint. Why wouldn’t I just do a sketch book painting every day?” It just really dawned on me somehow.
Miriam Schulman:
It’s so funny how the most obvious things are hard to come to.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Exactly. And it took me a long time. It wasn’t just a few weeks. It was probably a year or so. But anyway, I think I started and I did one month, but I didn’t put the time limit on it, and it was too much. I spent half the day. I said, “Well, this isn’t going to work.” And then I did it again and I limited my subject matter to just food, I think. And that was really boring to me too. So I went through those two months and then I finally decided, “Okay, now I know what I want to do. I’m just going to paint every day, whatever I want to do, but the limit is going to be the time, the 30 minutes.”
Miriam Schulman:
So how many pages does it end up being sometimes? There’s a one page, two pages…
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Oh no, it’s always just one. There’s one painting.
Miriam Schulman:
So it’s always one page in your sketchbook or one painting.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Right. For up to 30 minutes. Now I’ll have to say in the last year I’ve stopped timing myself because I sort of feel the rhythm of how long that is, but I think it sometimes goes to 40 minutes… It goes a little bit over, but it never goes really long.
Miriam Schulman:
And do you do this first in the morning, so it’s part of a habit, or is it like, “Oh my gosh, it’s 9:30 and I haven’t done it yet. I better get out my watercolors.”
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
So it’s anytime of the day, but it’s usually before 5:00, because by nighttime, I’m like, “I don’t want to paint anymore.”
Miriam Schulman:
Right. That’s like exercise for me if it doesn’t happen. Forget it. That was my bedtime.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
I do it whenever. Sometimes I’m on a roll and it’s every morning first thing it’s out of the way, and then I’m not in the mood and I have other commission work I want to do or I can’t figure out what I want to paint and put it off, put it off, put it off until, “Okay, now it’s time. I need a break.” So then it’s a good break because I could not think about what I was working on before on my commission work and just do whatever the hell I wanted to do.
Miriam Schulman:
So you even do this on a day when you’re working on your commission?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Oh yeah. I pretty much have commission work most of the time. But it’s not that long. It’s only 30 minutes. So I can do that. Instead of scrolling through Instagram, I can do a painting.
Miriam Schulman:
Well my phone now keeps track of how [crosstalk 00:14:01]-
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Oh I have that too. It’s the best thing ever. [crosstalk 00:14:04]. It’s scary to see how much you’re on there.
Miriam Schulman:
I want my four hours back.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
I know. I’m about four also.
Miriam Schulman:
Well then I found out that it counts email, a podcast. When you’re not engaged in your phone, but like maybe you’re listening to podcasts and you’re sleeping, they’re counting that too.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Which makes it a little bit better.
Miriam Schulman:
That’s a good rationalization. Exactly. Right.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
I found out that last week, I got a notice that I was on 6% less last week than the week before, so I was like, “Oh, all right.”
Miriam Schulman:
They only just rolled this feature out. By the way, we’re recording member, and I think this podcast doesn’t air… We didn’t talk about this before we started recording. This podcast won’t air until the new year. Which actually I think will be good for our listeners and for you, because it’ll be right before your new book comes out.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
That’s March 5th is the new book.
Miriam Schulman:
This will come out in February and will they be able to pre-order on Amazon?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Yeah, they already can. Now.
Miriam Schulman:
Perfect. So I will make sure… We’ll talk more about your books in a moment, but make sure everything they can get their hands on. And I do have your books too, because… So what do you do when you get stuck? So when I get stuck, I open a book like yours. What do you do when you get stuck for an idea?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
You know what, I scroll Pinterest and just try to feel inspired or…
Miriam Schulman:
And that works for you? I get sucked into the phone.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Yeah, it sort of maybe will just focus me on, “Today I feel like painting fruit,” or whatever the thing is, because sometimes I get mixed up or just busy, there’s too much going on, and I say, “I’m going to paint fruit. No, I’m going to paint people. No, I’m going to paint a Buddha. No, whatever.” And I’ll go on and on and on and nothing feels like the thing I want to paint. And that’s when it goes further into the day. I just wait until the thing comes that says, “All right, that feels like I could do it today.” I have to say, I don’t like every single thing I paint. A lot of them are mistakes or messy and… But it’s very satisfying to just have done it.
Miriam Schulman:
And you share everything that you paint on Instagram or not?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
I pretty much share everything that I do as a sketchbook page that I intend to do as that. I don’t share everything I do. But when I sit down to do my sketchbook, whatever it looks like, I share it. So I don’t just rip it out or say I can’t. I’m laid bare.
Miriam Schulman:
Now, let’s say you decide you’re going to paint fruit, how’s that process look for you. Do you go into your kitchen and get an apple? What do you do? Do you draw from your imagination?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
I usually will either get something real if I have it, or otherwise I’ll look on Google. But I don’t just look at one thing and copy that thing. I’ll look at a million squash and say, “All right, this is what they look like. These are the different shapes. These are the colors they can be.” And then I just go from there. But I like to have a sense of the real thing so that I’m not just completely making it up.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay. And then I know that sometimes your pages look more like patterns and sometimes they look more like a painting. So how do you decide which direction you’re going to go with that?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
It’s all that mood. It’s just how I feel I want to do it that day. I mean, patterns come naturally for me because I was a textile designer for so long. Even if I say I’m going to do cats, I tend to do a whole lot of cats all over the page. So sometimes I’ll look at my own cat, I’m painting her, and then she’s in a scene. Or I’m doing my selfie and there I am in the landscape. Or today I’ve painted from a vintage photograph. I have piles of them, and I was just going through and something attracted me with a whole bunch of people, and I picked a few of them out and painted them around a table. So then it’s more of a scene.
Miriam Schulman:
I saw that during my [crosstalk 00:18:13].
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Oh you saw that?
Miriam Schulman:
Yes I did. They know that I like you, so they show you.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Right. A little weird.
Miriam Schulman:
I know, right? I wish I could get rid of Instagram and Facebook.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
I know. It’s a double-edged sword, right?
Miriam Schulman:
Totally.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Yeah. So it’s 100% like a diary almost. It’s just what do I feel like today? And I can’t really describe what that is and or how I do that. It’s just the thing that comes out. I try not to make my sketchbook pages… I don’t worry about, am I going to sell this or is it commercial enough or is it on trend or anything like that? I just paint it. And because I liked doing flowers so much, and I like painting animals, they end up being commercial-ish sometimes, and I can sell them. But I don’t do it like, “Oh my God, I heard that llamas are really big right now. I’m going to do a llama because then I’ll be able to sell it to this greeting card company.” I don’t do it. I don’t do that. It wouldn’t make me happy.
Miriam Schulman:
Sloths are bigger.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Sloths are bigger, whatever. Yeah. And I do paint them, but it might be one day that I feel like painting a sloth, so then I’ll do it.
Miriam Schulman:
Very nice. So I have collected for my listeners, I don’t know if you remember, I have your gorilla.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Right. I remember.
Miriam Schulman:
Yes. I have the original. And then you also… When I went to your open studio, there was a tea towel with a gorilla printed on it, so I bought that as well. So the gorilla hangs in my kitchen and every time I look at it just makes me so happy. I really love it.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
The company that did that also put it onto a ceramic mug, like a tall one.
Miriam Schulman:
I’m getting it.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
It’s super heavy though.
Miriam Schulman:
You’ll have to tell me how I can get that. Well also Koko the gorilla passed away, so it’s [crosstalk 00:20:12] story. Wasn’t that this year in 2018? The gorilla.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
I think you’re right, yeah.
Miriam Schulman:
I don’t know why the gorilla spoke to me. Who knows. I just liked going up into your studio. It’s so charming.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Thank you. Yeah, it’s very cozy up here and it’s all mine, so people don’t walk through. I can put whatever I want up here. It’s nice.
Miriam Schulman:
So what tips do you have for people who are listening to make daily sketching easier? What are some of the struggles you had in the beginning maybe that you overcome?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
So one thing I would say is for sure time limit helps, because then you’re not going to be on it all day long. That’s huge. And you can make it a 15 minute time limit. Really. It could be anything. At the beginning, at least when you’re trying to start the practice, if it doesn’t feel overwhelming, it’ll make you do it more. So the time limit. And then I told myself when I started that if I really can’t do it, I don’t feel well, I don’t have time, all the excuses, that I would start by just making a mark on the page and just by getting the paint out and making that mark, most of the time, you can build that out and do more because you started, you’re up there, you’re standing there, it’s in front of you. And it really helps.
Miriam Schulman:
You don’t draw with pencil first before you start painting?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Sometimes I do. Sometimes I do. But sometimes I’ll just go at it. But I don’t put detailed pencil sketches down. I’ll put really rough placement sketches so that I know where I want to be and so I don’t forget what I’m doing as I’m going along.
Miriam Schulman:
Like the plan, the design.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
The plan, exactly. The plan.
Miriam Schulman:
Perfect. I love that. Yeah. And you work in gouache or watercolor?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
I work in primarily gouache, but also water color, and then also colored pencil or pencil and… But not on its own. It’s always paint with a little bit of some other media in there. So I might take a marker or just for the fun of it for a different texture.
Miriam Schulman:
For your commercial work, is it the same thing [crosstalk 00:22:14]?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Yeah, I’ll do the same.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay. All right. So let’s talk now about your books. So I have, as soon as it came out, I got your 100 Daily Sketch… What’s the exact title of the book?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
It’s called 100 Days of Drawing.
Miriam Schulman:
Perfect. So anyone who wants a daily sketch practice, I recommend it. love the way that you have the theme, like the wreath and then the evolution of the wreath, and that worked out for another week. So that was a fun… And tell us a little bit more about your other books, which I think also came out of your daily sketch books, right?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Yeah, so the first book was called Draw Every Day, Draw Every Way, and it looks the same, it has the same cover with different colors and things. So they’re both journals that you can work in. And the first one has prompts with places for you to do the drawing in, and I’m suggesting what materials to use for each month. So each month is a different technique and theme and it’s fun. And then this one though, the 100 Days of Drawing, there’s more of my artwork in there that you’ll maybe draw on or complete, and then there’s also blank. So it’s a little more interactive, I would say, rather than just following a prompt.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay. And then tell us about your next book. The one that’s coming out in March. I already know what it is. Tell everybody else.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
So it’s called All Hail the Queen, and it’s with Chronicle Books, and it is a book about 20 different queens throughout history, so monarchs, women, strong, powerful women who made it to the top of the heap in their countries and they ruled. They’re from different time periods in different cultures, so it’s not all English and French Queens or anything. It’s some unknown ones, Egyptian ones, Swedish. So it’s heavily illustrated. There’s an essay at the beginning of each chapter and then a portrait of the queen and then two full spreads about things that happened in their lives or things they accomplished. But it’s illustrated in my style, which is really bright and colorful and fun. So it’s beautiful. I’m really excited about… I should be getting my advanced copy any minute.
Miriam Schulman:
So Jennifer, did you write the book as well?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
It’s my book. I pitched it and I got it going, but we hired a writer because it’s not my strong point to research… I researched each queen to paint them and to figure out… To find them and then to paint them, but the writer did a great job at just writing it out beautifully that I couldn’t have done that.
Miriam Schulman:
This is so empowering. I’m getting a copy for my daughter and my niece, because we definitely need images of strong women [crosstalk 00:24:53].
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
And these women had to overcome some… I mean, they were concubines and they were beat up and raped when they were young or they came from very difficult circumstances, but they clawed their way to the top. A lot of times they were murderers or they were… I mean you know the story of queens, it’s always these insane, crazy stories. So it’s really interesting.
Miriam Schulman:
What gave you the idea to do this book?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
This was another thing that just popped in my head. I had met the editor at Chronicle Books and we were talking and it just like popped in my head, and she said, “That’s a great idea. I want you to do a pitch.” So I did that. I was very lucky. But I did the pitch. I came back, I did a pitch on Marie Antoinette and I sent it to them and they acquired it.
Miriam Schulman:
But not just lucky. Did Chronicle Books already publish one of your other books? I mean, you had a relationship.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
They knew me because I had illustrated a different book with them. The drawing books I did are with Abrams.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay. And then what book did you illustrate with Chronicle?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
It’s called Love Found. It’s a book of classic love poems. It’s a really lovely little book.
Miriam Schulman:
Oh my goodness.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
So it’s Love Found… I don’t remember who the… I think Leslie Jonath was one of the editors putting it together.
Miriam Schulman:
Like it’s an anthology of poets?
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Yeah, that kind of thing. So they did know me, yes.
Miriam Schulman:
That’s great. Okay. So I guess this is time to wrap it up. Do you have any last words for my listeners before we call this podcast complete? [crosstalk 00:26:28] meant to be like a college interview.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
I know, like all of a sudden I have to answer really hard questions.
Miriam Schulman:
What kind of tree would you be? I’m just kidding.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Sorry, I totally blanked on what else I could say. There’s probably a thousand things, but I was like, “I don’t know.”
Miriam Schulman:
[crosstalk 00:26:50] just edit it, it’s amazing. I think people are really going to like this episode because it’s definitely something that my audience who… They’re mostly…
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Yes, your audience are people that follow your blog and and how did you get them? You’ve been doing it for a long time or…
Miriam Schulman:
How long have I been teaching online? I think it’s five years now, so I’ve a pretty good size email list. Teaching online classes. I don’t have as big of an Instagram following as you, but I have a pretty good size email list. It’s about seven or 8,000 people.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Oh yeah, that’s a lot.
Miriam Schulman:
And a lot of them are women who are about our demographic, maybe… Our demographic meaning our age, but not necessarily people who are working in the profession, so either they have another job and-
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
But they’re really creative and want to make things.
Miriam Schulman:
Yes. A lot of them have put their creativity on the back burner, so it’s something they’ve always wanted to do, and either they’ve reached a milestone birthday or something has happened though, like they’re an empty-nester or they’re about to retire or somebody passed away. So something happens that triggers them. They finally are going to be able to commit to themselves and start working on their creativity. So getting a daily sketch thing, it’s certainly something that’s going to appeal to a lot of people hearing about your story.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
I would say those are the same people that come to my workshops and…
Miriam Schulman:
Exactly, exactly. So the people online, you would think, this is what I thought when I first started, that, “Oh, they’re going to be millennials now.” It’s the same people who show up in person to these things are the ones who show up online. Maybe not the same exact people, but the same profile. They’re maybe hipper with their iPads.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
So what are you working on now?
Miriam Schulman:
I have a dog portrait commission and then I have a launch happening in December that I do every year for art journaling. So I have to get that together and I’m kind of changing things up a little bit this year.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
I love how you have all these things going on and it’s great.
Miriam Schulman:
I meant it about going with you to the museum. I’d be happy to do that [crosstalk 00:29:14]-
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Yeah, that. would be great.
Miriam Schulman:
I’ll look up information when the next time is and I’ll [crosstalk 00:29:18].
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Yeah. That sounds like a lot of fun.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay. All right, well thank you so much again for spending this time with me. I really appreciate it.
Jennifer Orkin Lewis:
Yeah, no problem. Thanks for having me.
Miriam Schulman:
Perfect. So we are going to include all the links to Jennifer Orkin Lewis, also known as August Wren. Links to her website, links to watch her daily progress on Instagram, as well as all the books, including the new one, those will all be in the show notes. And don’t forget, you can grab today’s freebie, which will give you 10 sketching ideas. So while you’re waiting to get Jennifer’s books in the mail, you can get started with your painting success so you won’t be staring at a blank page. And if you are sharing your daily sketching on Instagram, be sure you tag me, you can use the hashtag #theinspirationplace and tag @SchulmanArt because I would love to see your daily sketching. All right, so for all those links, they’re in the show notes, and you can find them schulmanart.com/27. Okay, friends. Thank you so much for being with me here today. I will see you same time, same place next week. Make it a great week and have an amazing and inspirational day. Bye everyone.
Thank you for listening to the Inspiration Place podcast. Connect with us on Facebook at facebook.com/schulmanart, on Instagram @SchulmanArt, and of course on schulmanart.com.
Miriam Schulman:
Hey there, if you enjoyed this podcast, you have to check out the Inspired Insiders Club. It’s my monthly membership program, where you get inspiration from me. Every month I share with you techniques that I use in my own art for drawing and painting in both watercolor and mixed media. Plus each month we meet live. We talk about inspiration and ideas for how to make the art in your own style, and you get to ask me questions or even get critiqued on your art. If you’re feeling stuck in your art and your goal for 2019 is to unleash greater creativity or to spend more time painting, but you need a little help creating that habit, then the Inspired Insiders Club will help you get there. Come join me over schulmanart.com. That’s schulmanart.com/join. I’d love to have you join me in the Inspired Insider Club. See you there.
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