Blanche Ellis and the chance encounter that sparked a career in graphic recording - S16/E05

In this episode, Blanche Ellis shares how dyslexia led her to discover graphic recording through a chance encounter. With a background in literature, music, and art, her work focuses on capturing the emotional essence of ideas and stories to build connections and understanding.Sponsored by ConceptsThe Concepts Sketchnote Workshop video — a unique, FREE, hands-on workshop video where I show you how I use the Concepts app to create sketchnotes on an iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil.In this one-hour, eighteen-minute video, I cover:The Infinite Canvas as a sketchnoting power featureHow vectors give you complete control of brushes and sizing as you create sketchnotes andHow vector elements let you size and repurpose your drawings for ultimate flexibility.The workshop video includes answers to common questions about Concepts.Watch the workshop video for FREE at:https://rohdesign.com/conceptsBe sure to download the Concepts app at concepts.app and follow along with me during the workshop!Buy me a coffee!If you enjoy this episode of the Sketchnote Army Podcast, you can buy me a coffee at sketchnotearmy.com/buymeacoffeeRunning OrderIntroWelcomeWho is Blanche EllisOrigin StoryBlanche's current workSponsor: ConceptsTipsToolsWhere to find Blanche EllisOutroLinksAmazon affiliate links support the Sketchnote Army Podcast.WORK Blanche's website LinkedIn InstagramPERSONAL Instagram Spotify YoutubeToolsAmazon affiliate links support the Sketchnote Army Podcast.Strathmore 400 sketchbooksWatercolorsSoft pencilsTextured paperNeuland MarkersMolotow MarkersiPadProcreateAdobeTipsTry different ways into the same activity.Keep experimenting to find your style.Keep a Sketchbook with you always.Only show the kind of work you want to do.Don't underestimate the background of being an entrepreneur as an artist.Appreciate the part that you do well.Drawing on public transport.CreditsProducer: Alec PulianasShownotes and transcripts: Esther OdoroTheme music: Jon SchiedermayerSubscribe to the Sketchnote Army PodcastYou can subscribe to the podcast through iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube or your favorite podcast listening source.Support the PodcastTo support the creation, production, and hosting of the Sketchnote Army Podcast, buy one of Mike Rohde’s bestselling books. Use code ROHDE40 at Peachpit.com for 40% off!Episode TranscriptMike Rohde: Hey everyone, it's Mike, and I'm here with Blanche Ellis. Blanche, welcome to the show. It's so good to have you.Blanche Ellis: Thank you, Mike. No, really nice to be here, and I'm looking forward to our conversation.MR: Yes, me as well. We've run across each other I think on LinkedIn. I saw some of your graphic recording work. I thought it was really unique and interesting. Wanted to have you on the show. So, let's just begin right at the beginning. Tell us who you are and what you do.BE: Okay. I am a multidisciplinary artist. I've always done quite a number of things, often at once which I think happens a lot to creative people. I'm a visual artist. I had my own practice of painting and drawing, and then I use graphics to facilitate the flow of ideas for other people and with organizations and workshops. Mostly with graphic recording, also a little bit with animation, a little bit with—or quite a lot with behind-the-scenes graphics. So not live, but working from conversations, documentation of sorts. And then I'm also a musician, and I'm a songwriter, so I spent quite a lot of years doing that in multiple forms as well.MR: Wow.BE: It all kind of wraps in and, you know, a bit of poetry, a bit of dance, a little bit of anything you can think of really is on my name.MR: Wow, that's really fascinating. So, I'm curious, you touched on a musician. Are there certain instruments that you like to play? Are you more of a vocal artist? Tell me a little bit about that. I'm just kind of curious.BE: Yeah, no, the voice is definitely my home. The voice is my first instrument. Singing harmonies is possibly the best feeling that I know in the world. Instruments, yes, I don't consider myself a great instrumentalist, but I play guitar, I play banjo. I used those, you know, to do songwriting and I perform with that. I even used to be in a band for a few years playing the washboard. Doing harmonies and playing the washboard.MR: Really?BE: Yeah.MR: Wow.BE: But mostly it's guitar and banjo.MR: Interesting. It sounds a little bit like Americana or bluegrass or something along those lines is the style I think of when I hear those instruments.BE: Mm. Yeah. Well, quite folk. So, I think—MR: Folk music, yeah, that's the word I was looking for, folk.BE: Poets with guitars, I think, is a good description. A lot of the music that I love, you know, Jenny Mitchell and Annie Cohen.MR: Yeah, of course.BE: That whole crew and the Ballad writers. So, storytelling for me is a large part of it. Like the music in itself and the rhythm and the physicality of that that goes beyond words, but then also the ...