What Am I Making #013 - Chris Piascik on drawing daily, and work begetting work

What Am I Making is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Chris Piascik’s inner teacher was what drew me to his YouTube channel. I’d first found Chris as I was beginning to learn the Adobe tablet drawing program, Fresco. Chris’ informal style, conversational tone, and incredible illustration skills had me hooked fat the outset.As I dove deeper into the tools available in Fresco, I learned more about Chris’ work and life with each successive video explaining some feature of the program, As I learned ways to achiever better results as an illustrator through this program, I also became aware that Chris, much like me, had been diagnosed well into adulthood with ADHD. Many of his videos focus on systems or even tools that Chris uses to manage his ADHD symptoms and triggers. Seeing this laid out so plainly was a huge boost to my admiration for Chris’ work and channel, but also made me feel validated as an independent creative struggling to manage ADHD, depression, and anxiety.This chat with Chris is a great first window into his background and how he got this point in his career. At the center of his success is working every single day. His daily drawing project has spanned more than 14 years and has led him to work with high profile clients like McDonalds, Nike, Nickelodeon, Converse, Cartoon Network, Google and many more. His work is filled with a playful humor, and lively energy. I especially love his hand lettering work. His videos are not only entertaining and enlightening, but they’re often funny and self-deprecating. Chris is a teacher at heart, in my view. His artistic talent and skills are myriad too, but the teacher is what spoke to me first. Listening back to this interview I realized I dropped Chris in a bit blind with no intro or context at all. It’s a part of my show that I would like to improve. Chris handled things admirably and we headed off for a very nice chat about imposter syndrome, being good vs. being an artist, and how recreating the Danzig logo can create an entire style for a young artist. Much like Chris, I am here churning out this work every day and every week. I am thrilled to have had the chance to talk with another artist who believes so deeply in the power of important work and has enough independent success to prove the effort can be worth it. Learn more about Chris at the links below. Cheers,Matty CChris Piascik websitePortfolioYouTube ChannelInstagramFacebookSociety 6 Shop Get full access to What Am I Making at whatamimaking.substack.com/subscribe