Ep 79 - Thinking in Watercolor with Jessie Kanelos Weiner

Author, illustrator, and stand-up comedian, Jessie Kanelos Weiner speaks about immigrating to France, performing stand-up in two languages, and her meandering journey as a creative person. She speaks about pivoting from costume design to find work as an illustrator, making books at the intersection of art and writing, balancing a creative career with parenthood, and her latest book - Thinking in Watercolor. 🖌️ Learn more about Jessie's work on her website, follow her on Instagram, and sign up to her Substack newsletter. 📚 Buy her book, Thinking in Watercolor. ☕️ Like this episode? Buy me a coffee! ✍🏼 Follow SneakyArt on IG and sign up to my Substack newsletter. 📚 Buy my book, Make (Sneaky) Art.

Maria Coryell-Martin is an expeditionary artist and co-founder of Art Toolkit. In this conversation, she speaks about the historical importance and modern relevance of expeditionary art, and how she uses project proposals and deadlines to structure her artist-life. This episode offers inspiring advice and good ideas to practice your art in a way that resonates with your life and physical environments, while remaining pragmatic about how to make all of that work. Maria is exhibiting art from her ferry residency at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center from May 1st to July 31st. In March 2026, Maria had a studio-based artist residency with Centrum at Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend. *** 🙌🏽 Find Maria's work on her IG or visit her website. 🎨 Check out wonderful art supplies and books with Art Toolkit. 🎙️ Read episode show-notes and useful links. 📚 Buy Nishant's book: Make (Sneaky) Art ☕️ Like this episode? Buy me a coffee ❤️ Read Portland writer-artist Amy Stewart's inspiring call-to-action to craft your self-appointed artist residency!

Architect, teacher, and author of multiple Urban Sketching books, Stephanie Bower does not like to be called an artist. At some point, this conversation addresses how Imposter Syndrome never really lets go of us. Stephanie illustrates the serendipitous journey of her life, from architect to illustrator and traveling the world with her sketchbooks. From one open door to the next, runs a common thread - the desire to learn and the passion to teach others. *** 🙌🏽 [Buy] Stephanie Bower's books on urban sketching, and [Follow] her on IG. ☕️ [Like] this episode? Buy me a coffee! 📫 [Sign up] to Nishant's Substack newsletter, or [Follow] Sneaky Art on IG 📚 [Buy] Nishant's book: Make (Sneaky) Art 💻 [Read/Listen] for the full show-notes + bonus segment of this conversation.

Illustrator, author, and former ad man Tommy Kane talks about his journey from obsessively drawing as a child to obsessively drawing as an adult, the creative business of making ads, and the role of serendipity and persistence in his fascinating career. 🖼️ Check out Tom's work + buy his books on his website: https://www.tommykane.com/ 💻 Add SneakyArt to your inbox: https://sneakyart.substack.com/ 📖 Buy Nishant's book "Make (Sneaky) Art": https://geni.us/makesneakyart ☕️ Like this episode? Buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/thesneakyartist/

In this episode, host Nishant Jain speaks with Amy Stewart at the Broadway Books in Portland (OR) at the penultimate stop of his book tour. They speak about creative growth, interactions with readers at book events, and Nishant's philosophies around drawing. The conversation is followed by insightful questions from the audience. 📚 Buy the book: https://geni.us/makesneakyart 💻 Watch this conversation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/IDAJYa-6zdU 💌 Sign up to Nishant's newsletter: https://sneakyart.substack.com/ ❤️ If you enjoyed this episode, buy Nishant a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/thesneakyartist        

Standing on stage in front of strangers to talk about your book may sound terrifying - and sometimes it can be! - but what are some good reasons to embrace the discomfort? Halfway through the Sneaky Book Tour, I share lessons from the road, and reflect on what excites me about speaking about my book with as many people as possible. 🗓️ Next stops are in Vancouver, Portland, and Seattle. Come see me: https://www.sneakyartist.com/book-tour 📚 Buy Make (Sneaky) Art: https://geni.us/makesneakyart ✍🏼 [Read] On the Road with Make (Sneaky) Art: https://sneakyart.substack.com/p/302 ✍🏼 [Read] The books I talk about (when I talk about my book): https://sneakyart.substack.com/p/303 ✍🏼 [Read] Things go Wrong but that's Alright: https://sneakyart.substack.com/p/304 ☕️ Liked this episode? To show your appreciation just buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/thesneakyartist/ ❤️ Love this show? Become a supporter via Substack: https://sneakyart.substack.com/subscribe

Artist, writer, educator, architect James Richards talks about his new book - The Travel Artist - the one that he was "born to write". What does it mean to hold to your creative vision even in the face of contrary professional advice? What do we learn, and what must we unlearn, to take a creative project from ideation to execution? What are the ideas we pick up from traveling and observing the world, and how does Jim embody the spirit of il dolce far niente (the sweetness of doing nothing)? This is a conversation about doing everything and doing nothing, and a life weaving through both of these philosophies. 🎨 Find Jim's work on his website (www.JamesRichardsSketchbook.com) or visit his Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jrsketchbook/). 📚 Buy The Travel Artist: https://oroeditions.com/product/travel-artist 📚 Buy Nishant's book Make (Sneaky) Art: https://geni.us/makesneakyart 🤳🏼 Follow Nishant's work on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/thesneakyartist/) or sign up to the weekly newsletter if you (too) are sick of social media: https://sneakyart.substack.com/ ☕️ If you liked this episode, buy Nishant a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/thesneakyartist/ ❤️ If you love the show, support it as a paying subscriber: https://sneakyart.substack.com/subscribe  

Ottawa-based artist, urban sketcher, and designer Genine Carvalheira shares sketching adventures from drawing penguins in Chile to a 21-day adventure beyond the Arctic Circle in Norway. A few years ago, when her partner offered Genine the chance to preview retirement, she leapt at the opportunity. How did this transform her art and her sketchbook practice? How does she feel about going back to work again? This is a conversation about belonging - to a country, to a group, even something as simple as a local community of sketchers. 🤳🏼 [Follow] Genine on Instagram 💻 [Watch] Genine's live workshop with Art Toolkit on Oct 4 🎨 [Join] Genine's in-person, week-long art-retreat in Italy in 2026 ✍🏼 [Read] Nishant's newsletter of secretly drawn art of the world + share your thoughts about this episode. 📚 [Buy] Nishant's book - Make (Sneaky) Art: and other ideas to build your sketchbook habit. 🎟️ [Join] the Sneaky Book Tour! Nishant goes on the road to share his sketching experiences, the funny business of writing a book, and why you need a sketchbook habit. Next stop: Oct 13 in New York.  

If the modern world runs on the attention economy, are we simply fuel for its fires? If the modern world runs on the attention economy, can we win by reclaiming our attention spans? In this episode, Nishant recounts his experience at the prestigious Aspen Ideas Festival, where he shared his Big Idea to save the world - a cheap sketchbook and a pen. 📚 Make (Sneaky) Art is now out in bookstores and available online. Grab your copy: https://geni.us/makesneakyart. 🎟️ Find Nishant on the SneakyArt Book Tour: https://www.sneakyartist.com/book-tour ✍🏼 [Read] How to Break out of Social Media Prison ✍🏼 [Read] Impressions from Aspen Ideas Festival ✍🏼 [Read] Working with a publisher when you only like working alone ✍🏼 [Read] On pub day, a mild existential crisis appears.  

New York-based artist and author Samantha Dion Baker introduces her latest book - Draw your Adventures. What are good ways to think of the word 'adventure'? Does it always need to be an exotic, foreign location? Sam and Nishant discuss ways to craft a personal definition of adventure, free of other people (plus social media) opinions. Then big questions creep in! If all knowledge already exists on YouTube, what really is the job of the how-to book? If artists are self-driven, why do we benefit so much from community? Also, are disembodied hands easier to draw than hands attached to their people? BONUS: Sam offers advice for first-time authors (like Nishant!) to deal with the anxiety of expectations. 📚 Buy Draw your Adventures by Samantha Dion Baker 🎨 Check out Sam's exciting new "Write and Draw" workshop in Brooklyn 📚 Buy Make (Sneaky) Art by Nishant 🎟️ Meet Nishant on the SneakyArt Book Tour 🎙️ Listen to Sam & Nishant's first conversation in Ep 52 of the show