profile

Hi! I'm Jake

Here's my trick to get motivated

Published almost 2 years ago • 4 min read

Hello!

Boy, this week FLEW by. I've been so focused on the book and kickstarter that yesterday I had lost track of the days and didn't even realize there was a thing called Thursday that existed. You ever have that happen?

This is the LAST WEEK to back Kepler's Intergalactic Guide to Spaceships! Kickstarter ends next Friday at 8pm PST.

Over 1160 backers at the time of writing this!

Alright, read on, there's 5 things I thought you'd find interesting this weekend.

Enjoy!


1A) SEE THROUGH CUTAWAY PRINTS

From the Drawings Unit

This is something I've wanted to try for years, but never had a good excuse to do. I absolutely LOVE cutaways and overlays and this weekend while I was working on the latest cutaway for the book I thought, "Why not make this an ultra-cool handcrafted print set?" I made a few samples and they are just so darn cool, so I decided to make them add-ons for the Kickstarter.

Each print comes with TWO sheets:

1) A vellum see-through overlay with line work only:

2) A giclee print with the full color cutaway drawing for the base:

When you combine them, the effect is captivating. I find myself just staring at this print, then flipping the sheet up and down:

They are 11x14 inches which is a standard frame size you can get at Target, or Michaels, so you don't break the bank framing this thing. And boy do they look cool framed:

Here's a close up:

These are hand-crafted in my studio and you can add it on to your pledge for $65 each. Or if you want all three, I have a buy 2, get one free deal.

Available EXCLUSIVELY through the Kickstarter.

(I made a guide on how to manage your pledge and add an original art piece: LINK)


1B) This Week's YouTube Stream

These week we colored a spaceship and talked about time management, and Italy.

Watch here: LINK

---

JOIN THE DISCORD COMMUNITY HERE: LINK

It's been a ton of fun seeing what people are posting and discussing over there. The newsletter has it's own thread so you can discuss what I share with other like-minded folks. Come on over, grab a snack and join the party!


2) SPACE LAMBO

From the Department of Wheels

Why can't we get a car today that looks like the Lamborghini Marzal (1967). Granted I know that side window probably isn't the best protection in a T-bone incident...but that's a small price to pay to look this rad.

The interior is just as cool. Love the elongated console and hexagonal dashboard motif in this thing. And the silver faux leather? Chef's kisss.

Sadly, this was just a one off, but you can see the shape language influence many future Lambos.

Some good video here: LINK


3) 3D Tour of the USS Drum

From the Military Vehicles Division

First off, do you know about Matterport? It's a collection of places captured in 3d that you can explore from your computer. I think it's primarily to sell real estate, but the thing that really interests me is that you can visit museums, and interesting locations. Great for reference!

I'm particularly enthralled with the submarine tour LINK!

A few more really cool places to explore:

Lissieu Grande Propriete: LINK

Star Trek Continues bridge: LINK

Air Force One: LINK

(Thanks to Jake Crowe for bringing this to my attention on the Discord)


4) Corporate Memphis...but cool

From the Illustrators Division

London based Brazilian illustrator and designer, Gabriel Silveira does the Corporate Memphis style...but he brings an edge to it that I think elevates the genre. Like, I think it'd be cool to see a whole comic, or animated film in his approach to illustration. Really would like to mix in this kind of polish and refinement to my own work somehow.

Check out his website here: LINK

Instagram: LINK

Behance: LINK


5) On Motivation

From the Inspirational Thought Unit

Today a friend of mine shared with me this this tweet by author Brad Stulberg:

A big misconception is that you need to be motivated to get rolling.
You don't.
Research: Motivation often FOLLOWS action, not the other way around.
In Practice: You don't need to feel good to get going; you need to get going to give yourself a chance at feeling good.

So the question is how do you get going in the first place? Might I suggest the 5 minute trick: Tell yourself you're only going to do something for 5 minutes. This is a little prank you're playing on your brain.

You might even set a timer to really sell the idea to the brain that it's just going to be short and painless. One little hack that I like to do is start a work playlist that I ONLY listen to when I'm doing focused work. I'll tell myself I'll just work until the end of the first song.

What happens is that somewhere around minute 3 or 4 your brain gets absorbed into the work and now the motivation kicks in. Thirty minutes later your brain realizes what you did, but it can't get that mad at you because you're accomplishing something and feeling good about it.


That's all for this week. Thank you for reading this newsletter and hope you have a great weekend!

-Jake


My sponsor for this newsletter is…me. It's me, because I'm not accepting sponsors for my email list, and don't plan to any time soon. Really, I'd just like people to buy stuff from my shop. If you like this newsletter, you can support it a few ways:

Order something from the shop (Best)

Back a kickstarter when I launch one (Also Best)

Support me on Patreon (Second Best)

Share the newsletter with a friend (Third best)

Shop for art supplies using my affiliate links* (Fourth best)

Mention it on social media (Fifth best)

I'd appreciate any of these when you can. Thanks!

*Any amazon link I post is an affiliate link


Don't forget! Back the Kickstarter today: LINK

Hi! I'm Jake

My newsletter gives people a 5 minute infusion of inspiration to help them stay motivated to create.

Read more from Hi! I'm Jake

Issue 190 Hello, The last month has been hard and good. I've been grinding away on the Robots book and Self Publishing Pro finishing both the art for Robots and the lectures for SPP. I'm soooo happy to get the bulk of these projects off my plate, because I just landed a deal and signed a contract for a secret graphic novel project that I can't speak about just yet. Hope you're enjoying spring. We've been getting some nice surprise rainy days here in AZ. And my son and his wife are coming to...

30 days ago • 4 min read

Issue 189 Hello, First, this is it: Self-Publishing Pro is Enrolling now! If you've ever wanted to make and sell your own book and decided 2024 is the year you're going to make it happen, then check out Self-Publishing Pro: LINK (Enrollment closes in 4 days) Second, super busy these last couple weeks. I think I've bitten off more than I can chew, which is frustrating because at this point in my career I feel like I should've figure out how to pace myself better. That said, I do love every...

2 months ago • 3 min read

Issue 188 Hello, First thing, I gotta tell you about what I've been working on for months: Self Publishing Pro I just launched a free 6 video mini course called Self Publishing Pro. If you ever wanted to self-publish anything, these videos are for you. Sign up here: LINK (There's 6 videos, and they're like 10-15 min each. You're going to get some actionable advice out of these.) My wife's out of town for the weekend which means I need to go pick up the kids and make dinner, so let's get right...

3 months ago • 3 min read
Share this post