Inspiration from The Extra Mile
I don't usually post 'articles' here but I've received a few emails recently asking for advice on how I 'keep motivated' while working on creative projects... not sure if I have an answer but I thought I share what keeps me motivated. so let me share something about my students from The Extra Mile course... (if you don't know about the TEM course, check this link for the context of what I refer to in this article).
I have the privilege to witness the progress of my students through the interaction we have and the 'WIPs' they share in our private community. This is something that has personally helped me to?keep the motivation levels up (especially?during this extremely long Melbourne?lockdown)?and seeing the student progress and the work they are doing has also inspired me to?keep working on my own projects, so I just wanted to share with you a bit more of the awesome work from the 'Extramilers' that I think is very inspiring and to hopefully motivate you to keep doing what you're doing (whatever it might be)!
Take a look at this awesome alien/character with some 'Starwars' vives created by Hilario Ramirez Romero following the workflow described in the course:
Or this vibrant and colourful composition from Ric Pastor's 'Cihuatatayota' to celebrate the 'Dia de Los Muertos' in Mexico:
What I think is really cool is that there are students that have spent months on a project and others that are in their third or fourth project already, but?regardless of the 'speed', the production quality just keeps going up!?and again, this is a huge incentive for me to keep sharing my workflows.?I also get to see the various stages of a project. The TEM community is very engaging and the students are constantly updating projects so it is really cool to see all the WIPs they produce to get an insight into their creative process.
I not only get to see the work that students produce over the TEM program but because we have to build a really helpful community I can also get to see the amazing progress they have made since they joined the course... to the point that it feels weird referring to them as 'students'. Here is a snapshot of Breki Thor's work, one of the first students to join the TEM course back in 2019 when I launched it... (he is now teaching his own workflows) just as a quick example of what hard work and dedication get you:
It is also super encouraging for me to see that the Extramilers continue to get recognised for the work they do. For those of you who are familiar with ZBrush, you might be aware of what the ZBrushCentral TOP ROW is and how much of a big deal it is... Well, here are some awesome works that got featured in the TOP ROW of ZBrushCentral from the TEM students:
One of the most rewarding things for me about THE EXTRA MILE, is to see that all the work I've put into developing the course is actually?helping the students to do exactly what they want to do?and not just follow a particular style or character... they are applying the systematic approach to a wide range of themes and styles, from 'creepy' and 'sci-fi' creatures, to 'cute' and 'fantasy' characters and everything in between:
So as I mentioned at the beginning, I don't really have a straight answer about what to do to keep motivated during a creative project, I just find that sharing my workflows online gives me accountability and the reward is simply to see my students benefiting from it. So I'd say, aim to be of service and help someone else, you'll get an instant boost of motivation for your own work.
For more practical advice, I'd recommend reading The Practice: Shipping Creative Work by Seth Godin (or if you are 'new to Seth Godin', check out The Dip first)
I'll leave you with this quote...
“To Be of Service Isn’t that what we’re here to do? To do work we’re proud of. To put ourselves on the hook. To find the contribution we’re capable of. The only way to be on this journey is to begin. But there isn’t a guarantee. In fact, most of what we seek to do will not work. But our intent—the intent of being of service, of making things better, of building something that matters—is an essential part of the pattern. Because most of us, most of the time, act without intent.”
―?Seth Godin,?The Practice: Shipping Creative Work
I hope this inspires you and that it hopefully gives you an incentive to keep pushing yourself and learning new skills to take your works to the next level!
Cheers,
Pablo M.
PS: If you are interested in the course I mentioned in this brief article, you can learn more from this link:?The Extra Mile Course?(we are in the middle of enrolment week).