War with Art

What happens when the drive to create something great becomes the very thing that stops you from making anything at all? In this random-show episode of The War with Art, we talk about the post-TennoCon crash, the pressure to always be productive, and what happens when optimizing creativity starts to kill the joy of creating. From reading physical books and rediscovering old musical tastes to experimenting with the opposite of our usual habits, we explore the value of curiosity, rest, and making things simply for the fun of it. Maybe getting unstuck doesn't mean working harder. Maybe it means making mistakes, following unexpected interests, and remembering how to play. In This Episode00:00 — The post-TennoCon comedown and the creative void that follows a big project. 03:30 — Books, dreams, and giving your brain room to wander. 06:00 — The surprising satisfaction of making things away from a computer. 09:00 — Curiosity, wonder, and trusting the creative process. 12:00 — The Shining and the dangers of all work and no play. 14:30 — An experiment in doing the opposite of your usual habits. 19:00 — When productivity becomes the enemy of creativity. 22:00 — Why mistakes and detours aren't necessarily wasted time. 24:00 — Remembering how to play without worrying about the outcome. Books and Ideas MentionedWind, Sand and Stars — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Acid for the Children — Flea Big Magic — Elizabeth Gilbert Tao Te Ching The Shining Thanks for listening to The War with Art, where we talk about the messy, frustrating, occasionally ridiculous business of trying to make things.

George, Eric, and Sheldon draw another prompt from Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt’s iconic Oblique Strategies deck. This episode’s pull delivers a simple yet provocative constraint: "Use an unacceptable color." From out-of-key "blue notes" in jazz and microtonal progressive rock to structural leaps in Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, we explore how breaking established rules creates lasting friction. We dive into visual art history with Hans Holbein’s 1533 painting The Ambassadors—and its jarring 3D anamorphic skull—while sharing personal anecdotes on using deliberate oddities to unstick graphic novels, music production, and newsletters. The conversation closes on a reassuring truth: leaning into "unacceptable" creative choices isn't just a trick to surprise an audience—it's often the precise spark required to entertain yourself and jumpstart stalled momentum. Timestamps 00:24 — Wilderness edition in Kincardine and Oblique Strategies intro 02:04 — Pulling the card: "Use an unacceptable color" 02:46 — Breaking key signatures: Out-of-bounds notes in music 05:54 — Graphic novels and structural contrast in Aardehn 07:48 — Mold-breakers and unexpected choral shifts 08:54 — Dostoevsky, Moby Dick, and jarring tonal shifts in literature 11:45 — Visual contrast and the anamorphic skull in The Ambassadors 13:28 — Blue notes, microtonal guitars, and playing between the frets 18:24 — Secret themes and using weird constraints to unstick writing 20:38 — How absurd prompts kickstart creative momentum

A small victory in the War with Art. In this episode What it actually feels like to finish a major creative project The strange emptiness that can follow years of focused work Why finishing something can feel a little like grieving Learning to accept that a work is finished—even when you can still see things you'd change The transition from making a project to letting other people experience it The long journey of Aardehn: Awakening Returning to Fan Expo, where the Kickstarter began Finally getting a physical copy of the book in our hands Why it's important to celebrate the wins, even in an endless War with Art And, of course, Sheldon and Eric want to give a huge thanks to everyone who's been listening, backed, and following along on the journey.

Creative work always comes with expectations—but whose expectations are they? Recorded from a cottage on the shores of Lake Huron, we unpack the pressure of following up previous work, the fear of disappointing an audience, and the challenge of finally releasing something you've spent years creating. From music albums and novels to Kickstarter campaigns, we explore how expectations can motivate us—or quietly keep us from finishing at all. The conversation ends with a simple reminder: your next project only exists if you let this one go. Timestamps00:17 — Cottage edition and setting the scene 01:42 — The hidden weight of creative expectations 07:10 — Sequels, second albums, and following successful work 12:42 — Kickstarter pressure and disappointing supporters 17:32 — Using expectations as motivation instead of fear 21:44 — Stop waiting for perfect—release the work 24:20 — Turning expectations into a creative advantage

In this episode, we pull another card from Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt’s legendary Oblique Strategies deck — this time landing on the deceptively simple prompt: “Do something sudden.” Joined by painter Eric J. Drummond, the conversation turns into an exploration of improvisation, instinct, risk, and the strange balance between structure and spontaneity in creative work. We talk about the paralysis that comes from overthinking, why artists sometimes need to force movement before they fully understand where they’re going, and how “suddenness” can break creative stagnation. Eric reflects on the tension between the rigid technical training he teaches students and the fluid, intuitive process he actually uses in his own drawing and painting practice. From gesture drawing to improvisational mark-making, the discussion explores how mistakes, accidents, and risk often become the doorway to something alive. Timestamps: 00:08 — Introduction to Oblique Strategies and the “Do something sudden” card 02:24 — Overthinking, instinct, and breaking creative paralysis 04:04 — Improvisation, happy accidents, and fluid drawing 06:28 — Forced momentum and creating without hesitation 07:43 — Brutal artistic critique and learning through reaction 10:16 — Risk, spontaneity, and disrupting creative comfort zones 12:16 — The Beatles, improvisation, and art as play 15:13 — Jazz, Pollock, and letting the work evolve naturally 16:30 — Characters, paintings, and works “taking on a life of their own” 18:17 — Horror, artistic limits, beauty vs violence, and the role of improvisation