Author, artist, and designer George McCalman speaks about making his award-winning book (Illustrated Black History: Honoring the Iconic and the Unseen) at the intersection of twin curiosities - to learn more about black history, and to find out if he could be an artist. This is a conversation about curiosity, the importance of following your own compass, and the need for every artist to be a work-in-progress. 💡 For all the links and ideas from this conversation, read the show notes. 📲 Follow George’s work on Instagram 📚 Learn more about his art/design work and buy the book! 💌 Join 7000+ readers, add SneakyArt to your inbox. ✍🏼 Follow SneakyArt on IG, Twitter, and TikTok. ☕ Like this episode? Buy me a coffee. (and say hello!) 🔥 Love the show? Become a SneakyArt Insider. (and support my work!)

San Francisco based artist, naturalist and educator John Muir Laws talks about nature-journaling and the many benefits of paying deep attention to our natural environment. (00:13:50) Sketching in the wild (00:43:21) Ways to keep a nature journal. (00:59:23) John’s lifelong obsession with field guides and nature conservancy. (01:24:13) They read poems to each other. Aww. (1:34:40) BREAK (1:44:21) How to draw a bird (2:28:55) Nature stewardship, the role of the amateur, and the Wild Wonder Foundation 💡 For all the links and ideas from this conversation, read the show notes. 📲 Follow John’s work on Instagram, visit his website, and learn more about the Wild Wonder Foundation. ✍🏼 Follow SneakyArt on IG, Twitter, and TikTok. ☕ Like this episode? Buy me a coffee. (and say hello!) 🔥 Love the show? Become a SneakyArt Insider. (and support my work!)

The SneakyArt Podcast returns for a new season. Host Nishant Jain speaks about his recent art residency aboard the TransLink, Vancouver’s public transit system. What can be learned from drawing on trains? Nishant speaks about pushing outside his comfort zone, engaging with the public, and facing his fears. ✍🏼 Read about his experience and see all the drawings. 📺 Catch his TV segment on CBC Vancouver Evening News 📻 Listen to his radio spot on CBC Early Morning Edition with Stephen Quinn. ☕️ Like this episode? Buy Nishant a coffee! ❤️ Love his work? Become a SneakyArt Insider!

Seattle-based artist and traveller Sunil Shinde speaks about retracing the 1839 expedition of British artist David Roberts through the biblical Holy Land. This conversation is at the intersection of travel, history, and art. In this respect, it is really about three distinct journeys - Sunil’s journey through the Middle East, the 1839 expedition of David Roberts, and Sunil’s effort to combine his words and lines into an excellent book - “From Cairo to Beirut”. 📚 BUY THE BOOK, “From Cairo to Beirut” - (Amazon US) (Amazon CA) 🔍 (5:05) The first journey - the origins of Sunil’s curiosities - how history led to travel, and how both led to sketching. 🔍 (33:55) The second journey - retracing an expedition nearly 200 years ago, noting what has changed and what has stayed the same. 🔍 (1:53:40)The third journey - writing the book, approaching agents and publishers. 💡 For more detailed notes (with timestamps) and the best ideas from this conversation, read the show notes. 🙌🏽 Follow Sunil Shinde on Instagram. ✍🏼 Follow SneakyArt on IG, Twitter, and TikTok. ☕ Like this episode? Buy me a coffee. (and say hello!) 🔥 Love the show? Become a SneakyArt Insider. (and support my work!)

This conversation was recorded immediately after the recordings for Episodes 38 and 39 in April 2022. Sandi and Nishant draw portraits of one another while tying up some loose ends from their epic conversation. Nishant asks how he can build and sustain a YouTube channel. Sandi has some excellent ideas. ✍🏼 To check out their portraits, a summary of the ideas in this episode, and links to other previously paywalled content, visit The SneakyArt Post. 📹 Check out Sandi’s amazing YouTube channel and visit her website. ✍🏼 Follow SneakyArt on IG, Twitter, and TikTok. ☕ Like this episode? Buy me a coffee (and say hello!) 🔥 Love the show? Become a SneakyArt Insider (to support my work!)

Best-selling author Amy Stewart (”Flower Confidential”, “Drunken Botanist”, “Girl Waits with Gun”) talks about her disinclination to pick a lane, the ideas that have helped her navigate a successful writing career, and the role of art in her creative practice. This conversation addresses several dichotomies of the creative life - instant vs delayed gratification, processes vs results, art vs writing, and sticking to a lane vs sticking to one’s convictions. It is about understanding how Amy gets so many things done. It is a conversation about many things and then some more - cocktails, 19th century feminism, gardening, poisons, the global flower industry, and people who collect trees. It is an episode about “one and a half things.” Catch all the best ideas in the show notes. 🔍 Last week I completed Book 1 of the Kopp Sisters’ stories - Girl Waits with Gun. I highly recommend it! 🙌🏽 Check out Amy’s other books, her art, and her online classes on her website. Sign up to her Substack newsletter. ✍🏼 Follow SneakyArt on IG, Twitter, and TikTok. 📭 Read the show notes to follow the threads, rabbitholes and best ideas from this episode. ☕ Like this episode? Buy me a coffee. (and say hello!) 🔥 Love the show? Become a SneakyArt Insider. (and support my work!)

New York-based artist, educator, and author Samantha Dion Baker shares the profound impact a daily sketchbook practice had on her creative journey. She explains her brave decision to go freelance, and discusses what it means to follow one’s own compass. Is art a solitary pursuit? Would you make art on a deserted island? Why or why not? This conversation has some good answers. ******** 🙌🏽 Follow Sam on Instagram and visit her website to follow her other work. ✍🏼 Follow SneakyArt on IG, Twitter, and TikTok. 📭 Check out the show notes and best ideas from this episode. ☕ Like this episode? Buy me a coffee. (and say hello!) 🔥 Love the show? Become a SneakyArt Insider. (to support my work!)

We’re back! After a refreshing summer hiatus, the SneakyArt Podcast returns with a conversation with Amsterdam-based artist and YouTuber Koosje Koene. They speak about her book “Life is Better when you Draw (it)” and the experience of self-publishing from raw concept to finished product and beyond! 📚 Buy the book! Also find Koosje’s work on IG, and YouTube. 🎙 Listen to our previous conversation, Ep 29 - Doing What’s Fun with Koosje Koene. Also catch the bonus Post-Script segment, about self-publishing and being creative entrepreneurs. ⛳️ Follow SneakyArt as it happens on IG, Twitter, and TikTok. 📭 Find all the links and best ideas from this episode. Share your thoughts too! ☕ Like this episode? Buy me a coffee. (and say hi!) 🔥 Love the show? Become a SneakyArt Insider. (and support my work!)

The SneakyArt Podcast is currently on summer break. During this period, host Nishant Jain offers a second listen to underrated gems from the archives. *** (Originally aired: July 16, 2021) Mumbai-based artist Zainab Tambawalla speaks about her sketch-reportage project to document the lives of various artisans in Mumbai (India) during the first wave of the pandemic. Her project urges us to notice the lives of other people and pay closer attention to the humanity that constitutes our urban landscape. *** 👍🏼 Follow Zainab's work on Instagram. ⛳️ Follow SneakyArt on IG, Twitter, and TikTok. ☕ Liked the conversation? Buy Nishant a coffee! 🔥 Love the show? Become a SneakyArt Insider! 📭 For the best ideas from the show, add SneakyArt to your inbox: The SneakyArt Post.

The SneakyArt Podcast is currently on summer break. During this period, host Nishant Jain offers a second listen to underrated gems from the archives. *** (Originally aired: May 7, 2021) Roisin Cure, an urban sketcher and illustrator in Galway (Ireland), talks about learning to draw from comic books and the ways that urban sketching has transformed her art and approach to life. *** ⛳️ Follow SneakyArt on IG, Twitter, and TikTok. 📭 Add SneakyArt to your inbox: The SneakyArt Post. ☕ Liked the conversation? Buy Nishant a coffee! 🔥 Love the show? Become a SneakyArt Insider!