Ottawa-based artist, urban sketcher, and designer Genine Carvalheira shares sketching adventures from drawing penguins in Chile to a 21-day adventure beyond the Arctic Circle in Norway. A few years ago, when her partner offered Genine the chance to preview retirement, she leapt at the opportunity. How did this transform her art and her sketchbook practice? How does she feel about going back to work again? This is a conversation about belonging - to a country, to a group, even something as simple as a local community of sketchers. 🤳🏼 [Follow] Genine on Instagram 💻 [Watch] Genine’s live workshop with Art Toolkit on Oct 4 🎨 [Join] Genine’s in-person, week-long art-retreat in Italy in 2026 ✍🏼 [Read] Nishant’s newsletter of secretly drawn art of the world + share your thoughts about this episode. 📚 [Buy] Nishant’s book - Make (Sneaky) Art: and other ideas to build your sketchbook habit. 🎟️ [Join] the Sneaky Book Tour! Nishant goes on the road to share his sketching experiences, the funny business of writing a book, and why you need a sketchbook habit. Next stop: Oct 13 in New York.
If the modern world runs on the attention economy, are we simply fuel for its fires? If the modern world runs on the attention economy, can we win by reclaiming our attention spans? In this episode, Nishant recounts his experience at the prestigious Aspen Ideas Festival, where he shared his Big Idea to save the world - a cheap sketchbook and a pen. 📚 Make (Sneaky) Art is now out in bookstores and available online. Grab your copy: https://geni.us/makesneakyart. 🎟️ Find Nishant on the SneakyArt Book Tour: https://www.sneakyartist.com/book-tour ✍🏼 [Read] How to Break out of Social Media Prison ✍🏼 [Read] Impressions from Aspen Ideas Festival ✍🏼 [Read] Working with a publisher when you only like working alone ✍🏼 [Read] On pub day, a mild existential crisis appears.
New York-based artist and author Samantha Dion Baker introduces her latest book - Draw your Adventures. What are good ways to think of the word ‘adventure’? Does it always need to be an exotic, foreign location? Sam and Nishant discuss ways to craft a personal definition of adventure, free of other people (plus social media) opinions. Then big questions creep in! If all knowledge already exists on YouTube, what really is the job of the how-to book? If artists are self-driven, why do we benefit so much from community? Also, are disembodied hands easier to draw than hands attached to their people? BONUS: Sam offers advice for first-time authors (like Nishant!) to deal with the anxiety of expectations. 📚 Buy Draw your Adventures by Samantha Dion Baker 🎨 Check out Sam’s exciting new “Write and Draw” workshop in Brooklyn 📚 Buy Make (Sneaky) Art by Nishant 🎟️ Meet Nishant on the SneakyArt Book Tour 🎙️ Listen to Sam & Nishant’s first conversation in Ep 52 of the show
After a near 2-year hiatus, the SneakyArt Podcast is BACK with fresh ideas, new perspectives, and the same opening music. (Yay!) In this quick update: Why Nishant stopped and three reasons he decided to resume the show How podcasts are a special thing in the wasteland of the dead internet The show remains the same … but also not? Two book recommendations - Ways of Seeing by John Berger, The Story of Art without Men by Katy Hessel. In lieu of optimized monetization funnels, directly support Nishant’s crazy/stupid path of independent art: Buy Me a Coffee Buy Nishant’s book - Make (Sneaky) Art. Old listeners, new listeners, and super listeners, share what you like about the show - nishant[at]sneakyartist[dot]com.
New York-based cartoonist and comedian Jason Chatfield talks about how the business of being an artist has changed over the last two decades. This episode is full of essential advice and our best ideas about sustaining an independent creative career. It is the conclusion of the conversation from Ep 67. 💡 Follow the good ideas and my mind-map from this episode. 📚 Buy Jason’s book, You’re not a Real Parent until… 📲 Check out Jason’s website to learn about all his work and sign up to his Substack. ☕ Like this episode? Buy me a coffee. 🔥 Love the show? Support it by becoming a SneakyArt Insider. ✍🏼 Follow SneakyArt on IG, Twitter, and TikTok.
New York-based cartoonist and comedian Jason Chatfield speaks about taking over Australia’s iconic daily comic strip, Ginger Meggs, at the tender age of 23, and how he sees the path ahead for syndicated comic strips and the newspaper industry. Other topics include - the evolution of humour over time, not doing political comedy, Derrida, and people-watching at the MoMA. Big stuff. Also, the difference between meme-ification and mummification. This is the first episode of a two-part conversation. 💡 For all the good links and ideas from this episode, to see the cheatsheet of this conversation, check out the shownotes. 📚 Buy Jason’s book, You’re not a Real Parent until… 📲 Check out Jason’s website to learn about all his work. 📪 Sign up to Jason’s Substack. ☕ Like this episode? Buy me a coffee. 🔥 Love the show? Support it by becoming a SneakyArt Insider. ✍🏼 Follow SneakyArt on IG, Twitter, and TikTok.
London-based educator, artist and author Jeff Schmidt, speaks about his book “Heart Attack - Finding hope, joy and inspiration in adversity”. This conversation is about the big and small things that can transform our life in unexpected ways, and Jeff’s resolution to live inspired - by making room for the things that bring joy to his life. 📚 Buy Jeff’s book, Heart Attack - Finding hope, joy and inspiration in adversity. ☕ Like this episode? Buy me a coffee. 🔥 Love the show? Take the summer deal to become a SneakyArt Insider. 💡 For all the good ideas from this episode, join thousands of readers of the SneakyArt Post. 📲 Follow Jeff Schmidt on Instagram and check out his website. ✍🏼 Follow SneakyArt on IG, Twitter, and TikTok.
California-based illustrator Nina Khashchina shares the experience of daily video calls with her parents in Kharkiv, after Ukraine was invaded and the bombs fell everyday. She speaks about recommitting to the Ukrainian language as part of her war effort. A wild book list appears. This is the second of a two-part conversation. 🎙 Listen to the first part, Ep 64 Growing up in Ukraine w Nina Khaschina. ☕ Like this episode? Buy me a coffee. 🔥 Love the show? Become a SneakyArt Insider (and get a special listener discount!) 💡 For all the good ideas from this episode, read the show notes. 📲 Follow Nina Khashchina on Instagram and check out her Substack newsletter. ✍🏼 Follow SneakyArt on IG, Twitter, and TikTok.
California-based illustrator Nina Khashchina speaks about her childhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, growing up in the former USSR, her lifelong journey with art, and how she documents her life through sketchbooks. . This is the first of a two-part conversation. ☕ Like this episode? Buy me a coffee. 🔥 Love the show? Become a SneakyArt Insider (grab the summer discount!) 💡 For all the good ideas from this episode, join 9000+ people and become a reader of the SneakyArt Post. 📲 Follow Nina Khashchina on Instagram and check out her Substack newsletter. ✍🏼 Follow SneakyArt on IG, Twitter, and TikTok.
Cincinatti-based Christina Wald speaks about how to live and thrive as an independent artist and illustrator. They discuss Kickstarter, Patreon, and ways to keep the creative process at the heart of your practice, and the creator in the economy. This episode is the second part of the conversation from Ep 62. ☕ Like this episode? Buy me a coffee. 🔥 Love the show? Become a SneakyArt Insider. 💡 For all the good ideas from this podcast, join 8000+ people to become a reader of the SneakyArt Post. 📲 Follow Christina Wald on Instagram and check out her linktree for the latest projects. ✅ Catch the Kickstarter discussion supercut ✍🏼 Follow SneakyArt on IG, Twitter, and TikTok.
Cincinatti-based Christina Wald speaks about how to live as, and making a living from, being an independent artist and illustrator. This is a conversation about how to work for yourself while meeting client expectations. It is about Christina’s multiple successful Kickstarter projects, including her latest book (link below). This episode is for anyone eager to chart their own path as an independent creator. Lots of practical advice, listen carefully! 💡 For all the good ideas from this conversation, become a reader and join 8000+ readers of the SneakyArt Post. 📲 Follow Christina Wald on Instagram and check out her linktree for the latest projects. 📚 Buy Sketching Here & Everywhere: My Sketching Obsession by Christina Wald. ✍🏼 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 join the Kickstarter discussion next week!)
Utrecht-based sketcher, illustrator and educator Ellen Vesters speaks about the design-thinking approach to life and all the things she does. After practicing as a psychologist, and getting an MA in Illustration, Ellen founded the Venster Academy to teach art and illustration. Nishant also shares the story of how he accidentally became an artist while trying to become a writer after quitting his PhD program in Neuroscience. If you have wondered about taking a big leap in your life, this conversation will give you some ideas! 💡 For all the links and ideas from this conversation, read the show notes. 📲 Follow Ellen’s work on Instagram and check out her website. 🏫 Visit the Venster Academy. 🎙 Listen to Ellen and Nishant’s conversation while sketching in Utrecht, Netherlands. 💌 Join 8000+ 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!)
Host Nishant Jain presents the idea that writing and drawing are literally the same thing. If you can do one, you can also do the other. This episode was recorded for paid subscribers of SneakyArt. ❤️ Love this show? Become a SneakyArt Insider to support it! More good ideas: 💻 Read The Role of Art in the Age of AI. 📖 Learn why Nishant self-published his first book of art 🔁 Play Finite v Infinite Games and take the Long Path to success 💻 Watch the latest Zoom demo for SneakyArt Insiders 📚 Celebrate Little Free Library Week ✍🏼 For more good ideas every week, add SneakyArt to your inbox.
Host Nishant Jain takes a look at Goodhart’s Law, originally coined to describe monetary policy, but applies it instead to the business of being an artist today. No matter how successful (or unsuccessful) you are at social media, here are some good reasons to never look at the numbers. "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a useful measure." - Goodhart's Law. ❤️ Love this episode? Become a SneakyArt Insider and get future Insider episodes directly in your inbox. 👂 Listen to the latest episode shared with Insiders! 🎙 Listen to Ep 43 with Jim Richards 🎯 Read Nishant's plans for an ambitious 2023 without setting any goals ✍🏼 Read the show notes, best ideas, and tangents from the episode.
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!)