Who am I?
Hi, my name is Kristian. I’m a guy that likes to draw, travel, and talk to people.
I’ve spent most of my professional life working for other people helping them build of their brands / businesses. I’ve also spent a lot of time talking to people about their careers, and studying how to draw.
I also host a podcast called the Sketchy Van Podcast on Youtube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. In it I drive around the U.S. in a cargo van that I lived in full time interviewing interesting people about how they got their start.
You might know me from my work at Proko as a behind the scenes guy. I appeared in a few videos as an interviewer, but my primary job was trying to make content that I thought people would enjoy and learn a lot from. One of the projects that I setup that came out recently was the Proko x Marvel course.
What you’ll get
1-2 hour zoom call per month
Access to me on Discord
General art critiques and draw overs
Art coaching, and assignments
It’s important that we get to know each other, and that you feel like you know what you’re getting into.
This session is designed for us to get acquainted and mutually understand our needs and offerings. It's essential for both of us to ensure that we're the right fit for each other. Let's use this time to discuss your objectives and see how we can align our expertise to achieve them.
This is a free session, with no expectation or obligation to move forward with the paid version after.
- 1 hour mentorship call/month
- Art critiques & draw overs
- Discord Access
- 2 x 1 hour calls/month
- Art critiques & draw overs
- Discord Access
- 1 hour mentorship call weekly
- Art critiques & draw overs
- Discord Access
Testimonials
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Marshall Vandruff, Art Teacher / Illustrator
If you seek mentorship for a career in the entertainment arts, Kristian is as connected to and knowledgeable about the profession as any young person I know. He’s also generous with his wisdom.
Put him to use!
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Rembert Montald, Concept Artist / Illustrator
Kristian has a gift for recognizing potential in people. He sees your potential before you do. But the most important trait he possess is empathy and willingness to listen. And those are rare trauts to find these days.
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Scott Flanders, Art Teacher / Concept Artist
Kristian thinks differently. He consistently asks the right questions. He has a way of helping to bring out the brave side of his friends and peers. Kristian has been a good influence on my life and career.
Cost of Art School Per Term
Art school is sorta dumb
I believe anyone is capable of doing great work. That being said, our culture has made it incredibly difficult for an individual to educate themselves to do so through the conventional routes. (college)
Art school is too expensive, too long, and often leaves attendees wishing they had just skipped straight to work. The story of a would be artist saddling on tens of thousands (if not hundreds) of dollars of debt even before they get started in their careers is sadly extremely common.
That being said, we live in an age where the classes that would be taught in these high end art schools are available online for (relatively) extremely cheap compared to their in person multi thousand dollar price tag.
At this point there are thousands of online courses out there, and it can be difficult to choose which ones to buy.
This is a list of the courses I have personally gone through, and learned a lot from. I would recommend any of these to anyone looking to improve their art skillz.
1. Med’s Map
Ahmed Aldoori is an illustrator, concept artist, and instructor known for his painting style. He has also been a big member of the online art community and has had a big influence on me.
A couple of years ago he put together a very large course outlining everything that he knows about painting. These lessons are the same one’s he’d be teaching if he were teaching his class at Art Center.
It includes everything you need to know to get started as a digital artist with brushes, demos, diagrams, assignments, ect…
He is also an extremely kind and giving individual. A lot of his content explores the important stuff outside of just being a good artist. Like going outside, exploring the world, and just being a good person.
2. Proko
I will appear bias with this endorsement. I personally work for Proko, and greatly admire Stan Prokopenko.
That being said, I was a fan of Proko before ever working for Proko.
Stan’s channel and courses have had a huge impact on my development and I highly recommend them to anyone wanting to learn how to draw.
They have in-depth video lessons explaining each concept, assignments with each lesson (so you stay accountable), and multiple demos. Each course has been cut down to include only the information you’d need to learn for each lesson. As opposed to other courses where it runs for 3 hours to explain gesture. Stan explains it in 5 to 10 minutes.
Stan’s courses are meant to be a supplemental thing to your training vs a replacement. Use this in tandem with workshops / classes you attend.
3. Sinix
Sinix is one of the best teachers out there hands down. He has been making videos on Youtube for over 10 years talking about his art journey, and explaining everything he knows about art.
To me, the coolest part is he does it all for free. When you look at any of his videos, none of them are behind a paywall. You could easily spend months studying the concepts he’s talking about.
Sinix also goes into some of the more esoteric sides of art. Dealing with anxiety, social pressures, burnout… His more realistic approach to what it means to be an artist is something I really admire.
He does teach at LCAD and Brainstorm (Both in Southern California) if you ever wanted to learn from him in person.
4. Marco Bucci
I’ve been following Marco for a long time. Throughout the years I’ve always been amazed by the level of quality of his videos.
He really goes the extra mile to make sure everything he’s teaching is as good as it can be. Marco is an illustrator and concept artist known for working with Disney, Blizzard, Wizard of the Coast, ect…
His attitude towards hard work, and the craft as a whole is something to be admired. I highly recommend learning from him if you have the chance.
5. Scott Flanders
Scott is a close friend and has been a great mentor to me. He focuses more so on bringing out the individual creativity / potential of each of his students vs teaching a specific way of doing things.
I highly recommend his course on Proko, or one of his mentorships if you have the chance.
Books I think you should read.
The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho.
Life is complicated and difficult. Often navigating it requires trust in yourself and things greater than yourself.
If you’re looking to understand more about your own personal legend I highly recommend this book.
Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.”
Victor Frankl was a psychiatrist who survived through the Holocaust. In this book he describes his experience and how he managed to do it. He outlines the traits about him that made it possible, and the ones that might’ve gotten him killed.
It is likely that in your life you will experience great loss. This book helped me understand the how even in the most difficult situations, you can still manage to survive.
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
This book is about Christopher McCandless, a young man who traveled into the wilderness of Alaska looking for adventure but perished.
Many people dislike Christopher for throwing away a seemingly great life. Wealthy parents, fully paid for college, healthy, ect… But I think most people I know relate to his passion and philosophical stubbornness.
I believe that our culture’s focus on status and money severely limits our own ability to find meaning in the world.
Christopher took the phrase “God is all around us” seriously. He denied a golden path, and found beauty in the simplicity of living.
I don’t recommend doing what he did, but I do think there’s a lot to learn from this book.