There’s something that happens when you’re constantly creating. Your skills and technique improve and get fine-tuned. You realize what you truly enjoy doing and the ways in which your work is personally meaningful. Few people understand the payoffs of constant creation better than today’s guest. We dive into how to create the freedom to allow you to work on personal projects.

Mike Winkelmann, AKA Beeple, is a truly prolific 3D artist and motion designer. He is an instrumental force behind the “everyday” movement which encourages artists to create new work every day so that they are constantly improving their skills. Most of his work has been released free under Creative Commons, making them accessible to anyone.

For our 50th episode, I ask Beeple a lot of rapid-fire questions about himself and his business. He shares everything from his favorite failure to what he’d do if he weren’t an animator and his weirdest habits. As someone who has been creating daily renderings, Beeple shares his insight into how daily creations can be beneficial to any artist and how he makes it his priority.

We also get into money matters. Beeple solidly believes in the power of wisely investing your earnings in order to create financial freedom. Being wise with what you do with your money will open up more doors and provide you with more options in the long run.

Beeple is extremely open with sharing his work. While many people might be protective of what they produce, Beeple sees value in letting anyone have access to it. He discusses why he feels more people should do the same and the value that he receives in return. By releasing his work for free, Beeple has been able to find clients willing to pay him much more than he would ever receive from the original work itself.

In this episode

Beeple answers all my many rapid-fire questions
How daily creations will help you hone your skills if it becomes a priority

Investing and saving money to create freedom and options in your business
How to create freedom to work on personal projects
The value you get from being open in sharing your creations
The advantages of charging a day rate versus a project fee
Finding the true value of doing work for the sake of exposure
Finding fulfillment in doing what you’re interested in rather than just following the current trends

Quotes

“You could definitely be the next Beeple. Just start doing it every day. I think everybody should be the next Beeple.” [8:18]

“People see money as something to buy things. Really what money does is it gives you options -- to say no to things, to turn things down, to do your own work.” [14:39]

“Very early on I recognized that the clips would be more valuable as a promotional tool than selling them directly.” [34:15]

“Exposure is a real currency. It doesn’t work in the way a lot of people think it works, but it definitely has value.” [55:59]

“If you keep pushing in the direction that you are super passionate about, I think it will eventually bear fruit versus trying to do some flavor of the month.” [1:06:59]

Find Mike Winkelmann (Beeple) online

Follow Beeple on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Behance | Facebook

The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

050: How to create the freedom to work on personal projects w/ Beeple

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