James Durno on Art, Innovation, and Lifelong Creativity - S16/E07

In this episode, James Durno shares how growing up around art-focused environments shaped his creativity. He delves into developing diverse artistic skills, mastering spatial thinking, and examines the potential impact of AI on future generations.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 James DurnoOrigin StoryJames Durno's current workSponsor: ConceptsTipsToolsWhere to find James DurnoOutroLinksAmazon affiliate links support the Sketchnote Army Podcast.James Durno's websiteJames Durno on LinkedInJames Durno on InstagramToolsAmazon affiliate links support the Sketchnote Army Podcast.One-millimeter B lead PencilsPolymer EraserNeuland markersCopic MarkersFabriano paperPaintTipsSlow down to speed up.Abandon the idea of perfection. Practice, but practice makes proficient, not perfect.Learning the rules, principles, and elements of what makes a good art.Listening to understand.A drawing is not just what we intend it to be but also how it's understood. Make sure that we get it right in terms of what we pack into a drawing.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: Everyone, it's Mike Rohde, and I'm here with James Durno from down in South Africa. Well, I guess it depends on your perspective, right, James? You might be up and maybe us in the Northern Hemisphere, maybe we're down, right? If you think about the way space works. Welcome to the show.James Durno: Good to be here.MR: James, tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do.JD: I'm an artist. I call myself a visual communicator because I communicate visually. I'm a visual thinker, but I come from a fine art background and illustration, cartoon, and commercial art background. I think that what defines my work largely is the fact that because of all of the different influences, I've kind of developed an offering and a way of working that's at the intersection of all of those different disciplines. My focus is largely on the kind of interdisciplinary osmosis that happens between fine art, drawing, painting different mediums, and then drawing those into the graphic recording and the visual communication space.I don't define myself as a graphic recorder as such although that's what I do. I think in terms of visual language and disciplines and a range of mediums and how I can pull those all together into something that's exciting and different from the norm. Then what comes me beyond that is actually, I'm a husband and a dad.MR: Excellent.JD: And a human being, you know, beyond and before that.MR: Always important to remember that. I think that's the most important thing we can offer, for sure. The word that struck me when you started to describe what you do is almost like a conductor of a symphony. So you're the one, you know, telling the symphony how to represent this piece of music in a sense except that it's your different disciplines kind of all coming together in this one pursuit of capturing what's happening in that moment. Would that be a fair way to describe it?JD: I think it's a fair metaphor. Also, I think if you think more in terms of jazz than say classical music or popular music, it's about on-the-spot kind of being able to reinvent oneself in real time. It's kind of also like cooking as well. It's about a range of ingredients and not really working according to rules at a certain point. Like, the master chef doesn't work according to a recipe, but understands the principles of flavor and texture and color and the harmony of the dish and what works.I think that goes for art as well. There's certain principles that we have. I mean, we're jumping straight beyond origin story and all of the stuff that would kind of be at the beginning of this conversation, you know, ...