October 14th 2000


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YouCanDraw.com's Insiders Communique

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In this issue - 

1) Note: Insider's Loft back on line

2) First Aid for "tough drawing" days
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1) Note: For any of you who've had a problem accessing the Insider's Artist 
Loft in the last 48 hours, it's back on line. Periodically the server goes 
down for maintenance. Sorry for any inconvenience. 

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2) Hi all, 

Hope you're in the middle of or had a great weekend. From time to time I get 
requests for help from folks who're frustrated and just can't seem to get 
started or motivated. There's lots of reasons why this happens - unable to 
find the time, can't find a private area, been meaning to get to it... 
all sound familiar to me: I've said them all myself. Even though the 
atmosphere caricatures are conceived in is meant to be fun, having fun 
getting there might be a little more elusive. So what follows today is a 
hodge-podge, a little "first aid" grab bag of tid-bits and sites to get you 
back moving! (BTW - I'm not getting paid for passing these sites on to you. :-)


First, see April 29th's Communiqué for one approach to dealing with trying times. 

http://ycdinsiders.digitalchainsaw.com/InsidersArtistLoft/29april.htm

Looking at some of the topics in the Archives in general might spur you on - 
glance over the titles of the different issues: 

http://ycdinsiders.digitalchainsaw.com/InsidersArtistLoft/archives.htm


Julie Cameron's wonderful books 

For those of you working your way through or want to work your way through 
Julie Cameron's most excellent book "The Artist's Way", her site is at: 

http://www.artistswaywork.com/artistsway.html

This woman has really struck a vein - she's probably single-handedly been
the catalyst for getting more people excited about pursuing their artistic
goals than any one person living right now. She doesn't preach, she doesn't
rah-rah you, she gets you moving. And that alone (IMHO), is worth it's 
weight in gold. And speaking of gold...

She's also released a second book in the last 18 months: "Vein of Gold" - if 
you've gotten through the "Artist's Way", and looking for more ideas this 
book is the motherload! You might even find half a dozen (or more) other 
areas of interest you need to explore - drawing might just be the tip of the 
iceberg. Here's the Amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0874778794/ref=sim_books/002-6891168-8964820


Pep Talk

If it's a pep talk you need here's a site recommended to me by a friend: 
"Motivational quotes" I haven't checked it out any more than a surface scan 
but it looks pretty complete - (Julia Cameron's site is even listed there): 

http://www.motivationalquotes.com/


Anthony Robbins

Now I caricatured this next guy a few weeks back but here's a related site: 
Mr. Tony Robbin's "Dreamlife" - it might be an unofficial site but there's 
lots of info here - and lot of it for free. Free e-zine too. Actually I just 
looked a little closer - he's heavily promoted here but it's not his site - 
his link is there though: 

http://www.dreamlife.com/


Noah St. John

Other free motivational e-zines you can sign up for: Noah St John's "Success 
Clinic of America". Noah sends out a monthly free e-zine that covers various 
topics in the area of success - why people tend to avoid it, are actually 
scared of it (!) and what to do get around that fear. Here's his link: 

http://www.SuccessClinic.com/


A.R.T.S. Anonymous

And as long as we're heading down this vein, for those of us really stuck, 
here's a quip about a group called "A.R.T.S. Anonymous" - a 12-step program 
for those who know how creative they are but just can't seem to tap into it 
- avoidance, envy, resentment, all that fun stuff. That's what these guys 
are about. 

http://www.globalideasbank.org/reinv/RIS-168.HTML

And a contact address for ARTS Anonymous: 

For a list of international meetings, contact A. R. T. S. Anonymous, Box 175 
Ansonia Station, New York, NY 10023, USA.


Some times the best way into a tough situation is through the back door - 
i.e., through an entirely unrelated approach....which is why I included the 
following two links on corporate brainstorming and training. At the root of 
hatching new ideas and learning new skills is using all parts of your brain: 
left and right sides. (Sound familiar?) These sites underscore that need.

This first link is for trainers and gives short descriptions to a whole 
gang of training techniques - different methods people have used to get 
other people motivated and excited about learning a new skill, role playing, 
and a whole gang of spin-off ideas. All can be tailored to your own specific 
situation. Check this out for a list of different approaches:

http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/history/history1.html

Just plain fun brainstorming: 

Read about Doug Hall's "Eureka! Stimulus Response" approach to getting new 
ideas - this guy is all about fun, making brainstorm sessions a gas instead 
of a "braindrain". When you see "Romper Ranch" you'll know you've arrived at 
the right place. (And no, it's not in Nevada. :-) Their motto: "Where 
serious fun is the root of innovation".

http://www.cio.com/archive/enterprise/051599_doug_content.html


Small Business ideas - using a different "back door" to get you fired up

For those of you closer to running or already running your own e-business 
here's a great small business resource: Dr. Ralph Wilson's free e-zine. 
You'll find all sorts of topics pertinent to starting, maintaining and 
growing your own web business. If you've just thought about starting your 
own business, this just might offer the carrot you've been looking for. 
Great resource. 

http://www.doctorebiz.com/backissues/backissues.htm


Dr. Wilson also has an "industrial" strength version you can sign up for at 

http://www.wilsonweb.com/


For putting together a great marketing plan/campaign: try Madison OnLine's 
suggestions

http://www.madisononline.com/resources/marketingplans.html


If any of you have other suggestions, or have ideas that have got you 
unstuck in the past and would like to tell the rest of us about them, please 
email me and I'll happily post your ideas. Take care and keep on drawing!



Warmly, 


Jeff K.