The Yellow Ochre Newsletter
A weekly curation of encouragement and practical wisdom to turn your art from a hobby into a purposeful blessing for your community and culture.
Weekly Round Up - Art Quotes
Explore insights on illustration, storytelling, composition, gesture, and creativity from masters like Walt Disney and Stanchfield. Learn how to illuminate ideas, craft compelling narratives, and bring your art to life
On Illustration:
The word illustration come with the same root word: illuminate.
It means to shine light onto something other than itself.
Illustration is to serve something outside of itself
Marshall Vandruff, Developing An Illustration
On Stories:
A good movie starts with a good idea for a good story…
Good stories also have a good clear theme, like “don’t judge a book by its cover” in Beauty and the Beast…
Along with theme, good stories also have at their core a very basic action:
Lion King: “Go home.”
The Little Mermaid and Cinderella: “Get the prince.”
101 Dalmatians: “Find the puppies.”
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves: “Stop the wicked witch.”
Beauty and the Beast: “Break the spell.”
Don Hahn
Animation Magic, 10-11.
On Hard Work:
The nucleus of artists from forty or fifty years ago was no more talented than this class. They had to go to art school to learn to draw, they had to read, study, and search; they had to discover for themselves what they had to offer.
Walt Disney & Walt Stanchfield
Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes, Vol 1, page 57.
On Mental and Physical Preparation:
You must create. The injunction of life is to create or perish…I have a formula: “Impression minus expression equals depression.”
Walt Disney & Walt Stanchfield
Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes, Vol 1, page 47.
On Composition
People can be very forgiving if the composition speaks. A composition can grab people across the room. (Nathan Fowkes)
On Anatomy vs. Gesture:
Our interest is in the gesture, which is the vehicle used in fitting a character into the role it is called upon to act out…
So to approach a model with the idea of copying a human figure plus its clothing could be called a waste of time. Our interest is in seeing the differences in each personality and their individualistic gestures and, like a good caricaturist, capture the essence of those differences…
There are really only a few principles of drawing but an infinite number of personality traits and gestures. To “hole in” after learning the body structures is to miss the excitement and the satisfaction of using that information to tell the story of life through the nuances of gesture…
We cannot back off from our emotions—if we do the result will be a mere anatomical reproduction…
A drawing or a scene is not final when a material representation has been made; it is final when a sensitive depiction of an emotion has been made…Yes, there is anatomy, form, construction, model, and two or three lines of etceteras, but only as far as those things are expressive of the story.
Walt Disney & Walt Stanchfield
Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes, Vol 1, page 45.
More On Gesture:
If we go at drawing from the standpoint of anatomy or model we are less likely to achieve the expression we are after, whereas if we work out some symbols for squash and stretch and apply them to anatomy, we can achieve our sought after gesture.
Walt Disney & Walt Stanchfield
Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes, Vol 1, page 26.
Walt Disney & Walt Stanchfield’s 7 Reasons for Drawing Consistently (page 34)
Interest in life will grow.
Ability to solve drawing problems will be sharpened.
Creative juices will surge.
Healing fluids will flow throughout your body.
An eagerness for life and experience and growth will crowd out all feelings of ennui and disinterest.
If you go on a trip, whether long or short, let your sketchbook take preference over your camera. You’ll find yourself looking and seeing more than ever before. You will find yourself searching out new things to see, new places to visit, and more varieties of people to “capture” in your sketchbook.
Your sketchbook will become your diary. Think of it as a graphic autobiography.
On Seeing Reality:
Seeing into the realities—beyond the surfaces of the subject.
Robert Henri
Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes, Vol 1, page 45.
What a horrible fate—to be just a drawing.Walt Disney & Walt Stanchfield
Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes, Vol 1, page 29.
Bruce McIntyre’s 6 Rules of Perspective:
Re: Meditation
Eastern meditation, says Tim Keller, is emptying your mind of all rational thought.
Christian meditation, he goes on, is the exact opposite. It is filling our mind with God’s word and speaking to your heart about that truth.
I came across this a few weeks ago and can’t stop thinking about how helpful it is.
Eastern meditation, says Keller, is emptying your mind of all rational thought.
Christian meditation, he goes on, is the exact opposite. It is filling our mind with God’s word and speaking to your heart about that truth.
His quote from Martin Lloyd Jones hits the sweet spot:
Have you realized that so much of your unhappiness in your life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself rather than talking?
Los Angeles Painting
My brother lives in Los Angeles. During my visit a few years ago, he took me to one of his favorite surfing spots. He taught me to surf here at this beach.
My brother lives in Los Angeles. During my visit a few years ago, he took me to one of his favorite surfing spots. He taught me to surf here at this beach.
This spot happens to be right off the road of the Palisades fires.
I snapped this photo of him then did a digital painting of it.
Sketchbook
The Blessing Of Exposure to Other Cultures
Traveling around the world does something to a person.
Seeing church done in other cultures stretches our paradigms.
Traveling around the world does something to a person.
Seeing church done in other cultures stretches our paradigms.
“It’s not wrong…it’s just different” is a common phrase in the missions world.
This post captures this idea wonderfully.
When our ideas are not challenged and sifted through the filter of Scripture, we can become numb to what is “biblical” and what is merely from our culture.
An Homage to the Bluey Theme Song
Bluey’s theme song might be one of my all-time favorites.
Bluey’s theme song might be one of my all-time favorites.
Our family has been a little late to the show’s bandwagon. But here is my curation of my favorite theme song variations.
Aside from these beauties, I enjoyed seeing this time signature, a guitar cover, and this dance.
Cheers (mate)
4 Reasons to Sing When You’re Depressed
William Plumer on Psalm 89
William Plumer on Psalm 89:
Whatever our own state, or that of public affairs may be, les us sing of God’s glorious attributes. No darkness in our sky can excuse us from making known his perfections (Ps 89:1, 2, 14, 24, 28, 33, 49).
Here are his 4 reasons why “We greatly wrong our own souls when we decline the religious use of song”:
1. This is the fittest way to express joy for anything.
2. It will be best inculcated in this way.
3. It will be more easily remembered.
4. It will be more easily delivered to others, in order to be remembered.
Many a sorrowing child of God has had his gloom, like the evil spirit of Saul, quite removed by the hard of David.
When you think you should pencil…
I’m a detail-hog. A perfectionistic pamperer. A resident in the trees. Details are my happy place. Don’t even ask how many tabs (nestled into how many Chrome browsers) are idly waiting my return.
I’m a detail-hog. A perfectionistic pamperer. A resident in the trees.
Details are my happy place. Don’t even ask how many tabs (nestled into how many Chrome browsers) are idly waiting my return.
For many years, this gift (trait, strength,…curse?!) drove my art-making. If you look at my corpus of lifeworks, you’ll see many hyperrealistic pencil portraits. But something felt wrong.
I didn’t realize how imprisoning perfection-seeking would make me.
In the last 5 years, I’ve returned to what originally drew me to art in the first place: play and joy. The fundamentals excite me again. The beauty of the rudiments enliven me. This season of parenting littles forces creativity within the limitations of interruptible 20 minute restraints.
For this reason, James Gurney’s advise has been a lifeline: learn to sketch by painting.
Instead of forcing the details of trees, live in the forest. Hang out in the bigger picture of life. Preach to my heart from the cliff rather than listen to it from the weeds.
Enjoy Mr. Gurney at work:
Year in Review 2024
What made me a better culture-making this year? Here are some of the most memorable things I learned, enjoyed or came across in 2024.
What made me a better culture-making this year? Here are some of the most memorable things I learned, enjoyed or came across in 2024.
1. Constraining Your Curiosity - I learned about this from Jack Butcher from his interview with David Perrell. Even though I learned this in 2023, I found myself implementing it in 2024.
Jack Butcher
2. Start a business is all about serving a community and finding the gap where you can help.
3. “We do not rise to the level of our goals. We fall to the level of our systems.” (James Clear)
4. Five lessons from Space X launches.
PJ Milani
6. Creator flywheels.
7. Take my health more seriously as I get closer to 40.
8. Viewing life as series of projects rather than different jobs: Seth Godin 40 years of projects.
9. Thinking about death. Lost someone close and people I love are getting more sick. Wisdom comes from thinking about it.
10. 1 Year of Chat GPT. 2024 was my first full year of using ChatGPT and other AI tools more intentionally. Here were some takeaways.
11. Learned a new rhythm this year: how to work from home more.
12. Dad Awesome - The Intentional 40. Jeff Zaugg, host of the Dad Awesome podcast, shares this idea of 40 different experiences to mark turning 40.
13. Screwtape on prayer: "Of course, at the precise moment of terror, bereavement, or physical pain, you may catch your man when his reason is temporarily suspended. But even then, if he applies to Enemy headquarters, I have found that the post is nearly always defended."
14. Tim Keller's parenting advice. This talk was fantastic. Keller cites a specific study finding: Kids who believed their parents understood the real world and understood what they, as kids, were going through were much more likely to follow their parents beliefs.
15. So many warnings and illustrations about Christians fighting and quarreling.
16. Memorable reads: Power of Moments. Art and Lit. (Seerveld). Show Your Work. Love and Logic Parenting. The War of Art. The Abolition of Man (C.S. Lewis). The Four Loves (C.S. Lewis).
17. Enjoy AI as play. Photoshop’s generative fill feature. I took Kevin Kelly’s advise and have enjoyed it as an assistant.
18. Biz resources: Seth Godin, Chris Do, Kit, Daniel Priestly, friends.
20. Learning about the “creator economy”
21. Show Your Work by Austin Kleon
22. Kevin Kelly’s 1,000 True Fans
23. Rumination - perpetuating depression by dwelling on sorrows. (Joe Rogan, Abigail Shrier)
24. How to be thankful (How to remember the Lord).
25. Review your corpus.
26. The power of converting my goals into SMART goals.
27. In today’s world, people are not aiming to be good, they’re aiming to be true to themselves. The focus of life is to find it, not give it. But the key apologetic for today is this: life is found in giving it up (Steve Leston). This is similar to a lot of what Tim Keller talked about.
28. Paul Miller- asking, “where is Jesus?” Miller says you can find him in the hiddenness of the world. Look for humility, lowliness, apologies, cheerfulness, forgiveness, integrity, obedience, etc.
29. Jon Tyson’s advise on how to give life to your wife.
30. I read “The Intentional Father” in 2023 but have felt the impact already in 2024.
31. What setting goals is like…
32. Daniel Priestley on discovering value: something others perceive as valuable, something I enjoy doing, and something commercially viable.
33. Permission Marketing concepts from Seth Godin.
34. Unleashing the Ideavirus ideas also from Seth Godin. 1) Consumer wins status for sharing + 2) Recipient benefits because the idea changing their life + 3) Creator wins.
35. To solidify family identity, create mascots for each family member.
36. More Seth Godin goodness: when making a product, fill this out: My product is for ___________. I will focus on people who want _____________. And I promise that engaging with what I make will help you get ____________.
37. Donald Miller’s Storybrand Storyscript.
38. Gary Vee on if your family died next week.
39. “We have trained them to think of the Future as a promised land which favoured heroes attain—not as something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minustes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.” Put in my own words: The future is the result of who I am and what I choose to do in the next 60 minutes (Screwtape, 139)
40. The Japanese concept of Ikigai - Finding your life and worth.
41. Sketching out a personal brand.
42. Finishing a 1,000 piece Van Gogh puzzle (that we’d had rolled up for nearly ten years).
43. Learning how to use Notion.
44. Learning website, Etsy, Patreon, Shopify, DBA taxes.
45. The mission is the point.
46. I boiled down my advise for songwriting.
47. The power of the bee as a symbol.
48. Why Yellow Ochre is a fitting title I am using.
49. What is the mission of learning a thing?
50. Releasing Off the Bench: 33 Ways artists interface with God’s mission.
51. C.S. Lewis on four types of humor.
52. Ted Lasso and mental health.
53. Raising kids is like nurturing pecans, not strawberries.
54. Considering the Christian life: From Eustace to Useful.
55. The most convincing reason for sketchbooking I’ve ever come across. Just last week, I started doing a daily illustration.
56. I learned that complaining is a symptom. My job is to discover and address the root of the complaints.
57. Discover your Family ID and the Incredible Parent assessments.
58. Derek Sivers book notes.
59. My wife and I loved this cooking show 24 in 24: The Last Chef Standing. We’ve also enjoyed watching The Good Doctor this year.
60. The Psalms took most of my Bible intake this year. I leaned into Spurgeon, Boice, and Wilson for supplemental devotional reading.
61. Using Notion for notekeeping.
62. Getting an espresso machine (my wife found a killer deal on Burlington’s, wh-what). We’re still klunky, but enjoying homemade lattes.
63. Embracing the good friendships in life.
64. Refreshing staff retreat.
65. Enjoying our “lasts” as a family living in South Texas before moving up north.
66. Had lots of great conversations with friends from our church about the Sabbath, family culture building, multi-generational investments. Took some notes from Jewish Shabbot for creating a system for the week/weekend.
67. The ESV Psalms journal has been wonderful to use.
68. This talk by Patreon found, Jack Conte, on the future of creativity on the web.
69. Found comfort having the system of working out rather than the goal.
70. Committed to my first marathon in 2025 with some good friends.
71. Streaming jazz music in the background at home (our family likes the Disney jazz playlists).
72. I jumped on the Friends bandwagon way late in life. It was sometime this year or last year my wife and I finished the series.
73. Clarified my personal mission: I love making resources. But I love even more making useful resources.
74. I’ve been building a small collection of written books—each in various stages of completion. One book on 2 Corinthians and mission helpers is in the final edit phase. One book is a series of parenting reflections on Deuteronomy. Another is a collection of observations and takeaways from my journey in the Young, Restless, and Reformed movement.
75. Around this time last year, our daughters created their own little farmer-market business: Sea Shell Sisters.
76. I made and gave away some surprise paintings to friends and family.
77. I create a whole bunch of designs to test the waters of print on demand.
78. Read through A Praying Life…again.
79. Last, but certainly not least, my wife and I celebrated 10 years of marriage this last year!