How Can Visual Artists and Creatives Leverage Clubhouse App?
Follow me - @mikebrennan on Clubhouse
A quick disclaimer: I’m super new to this beta platform. Things are changing rapidly, but here’s my initial thoughts.
So what is Clubhouse?
There’s a new social media app called Clubhouse. Now, if you're not familiar with Clubhouse, you're not alone. It's very new, and still in beta mode, but essentially, Clubhouse is an audio only, invitation only (at the moment), social media app that's currently available for the iPhone only. So they've really narrowed things down to start with. I'm sure there'll be opening things up more as they roll things out. It took me a little while to get on. I kept seeing people posting about this app clubhouse and I started having, you know, serious case of FOMO, fear of missing out and was thinking to myself, I need to get on this thing. I want to find out what it is!
I tend to be a little bit more on the early adopter side. So for me, I really wanted to explore and be a part of some of the conversations that were happening there.
In Clubhouse there are “rooms” and people that you can follow like on all of the social media platforms. But unlike other social media platforms, there are no visuals other than your avatar profile icon . And there's no way of actually leaving or likes or comments. It's purely audio.
Upon entering the app, you see the “hallway”, which shows all the rooms with various themes that are happening. You might have themes that are around podcasting, making money, building your business, pop culture, art, faith, and just hang out rooms. Some of what you see depends on the people that you follow and their interests. You have to be a little more strategic as far as who you follow based on interest.
So in the hallway, you pick a room that you want to join. When you join in that room, there is someone who has created the room up, who is the main “speaker”, and typically the moderator as well. And then there's usually other people, who are “speakers” up on “stage.” You or other room members can be invited to come up on stage to share or ask a question. And the “listeners” (other people in the room) are hanging at the bottom of the room visually. They cannot speak unless they are invited to come on stage.
Anyone has the ability to enter any room, and either listen or participate. If someone wants to participate and they “raise their hand” (there's a little hand icon that you hit) to let the people in charge, know that you have a question or that you want to participate in some way. Then you wait to be invited up on “stage”, You unmute your mic on your phone and you ask your question and then mute it again. And everyone takes turns talking about whatever the various topics are.
That's kind of the general idea of Clubhouse. A lot of people think it's going to be a real game changer, as far as social media.
But I started wondering if there was any benefit to being on Clubhouse as a visual artist…
As I started to poke around, I searched to see if there were other visual artists and creative people. What I found was a variety of creative people on there (photographers, filmmakers, graphic designers, musicians, fine artists). So I ducked into some of their rooms. And I what I found was pretty fascinating.
It's a little bit like the Wild West right now in Clubhouse, because everyone is trying to figure out how to use it and what proper etiquette is. Everyone's a newbie.
No one needs something that's going to be another complete time-suck and waste of time. We have enough of those. So people are looking for what's the benefit, what's the value here? How can they show up and bring value? How can they create some things that are missing?
I ducked into a room that was for visual artists specifically, because this to me was the real test. If you can't see the art, what would this room look like? Was it going to be people just talking about their art? Or just a bunch of people sharing some art tips?
They opened the floor up for some questions. Some people asked questions about technique or about supplies, methods, things of that nature. Or they talked about what their subject matter was, or maybe process, or important themes within their artwork. Others talked about trying to market and sell their artwork, inquiring about connecting with clients and buyers.
At one point the room moderator said, “okay, we're going to reset the room a little bit here and just tell anybody new who's coming in, here's the expectation and purpose of the room” And then they announced taking a 10 minute break in the conversation for anyone who wanted to create something live while hanging out in the room. They played some music created by one of the people in the room, or a playlist from the person in charge.
I hung around to see what would happened, asking myself “how are people going to share what they're working on?” You can't share photos because it's not part of the platform, but you can temporarily change your avatar icon photo. People changed it from the photo of themselves to their work in progress. This allowed people right within the app to click on that little avatar and to see a larger photo of what the person was working on. They also shared some of the things that they were struggling with, ask for feedback in real time.
I wouldn’t have thought there would have been value in having a group of visual artists together on an audio only platform, but seeing people come together for community and connection in real time was pretty great.
Another room I entered had creatives sharing about what their biggest struggling in 2020 has been. Person after person shared stories of income loss, battling with anxiety and depression, as well as important business lessons they learned. When creative people are brave enough to share their stories and experiences, we start to see we’re not alone.
I had the opportunity to cohost a room about the Pixar movie Soul and the lessons about creativity is presented, alongside my friend Terry Weaver. We had a lively chat about what moved us in the film, and how the creative issues it brought to light effected us.
Terry Weaver and I co-hosted a room on Clubhouse talking about the Pixar movie Soul and the powerful themes presented for creatives.
I was pretty convinced that there's something special happening here on Clubhouse. And I think this is only getting continued to grow. Those who are on the platform early will have the opportunity to be a part of setting the tone and the pace and filling in some of those gaps that I mentioned before.
I also joined in a room that was talking about cryptocurrency and crypto art.
Now, if you have no idea what I'm talking about right now, don't worry because honestly, I really didn't know what this conversation was about other than the fact that it had “art” in the title. What I found out was there's a whole other world out there - a digital one (No, not The Matrix). Some people call it like “the metaverse” (Kind of like a Virtual Reality Minecraft word). I'm not going to get too deep into that. (And if you're somebody who's reading and you knew more about that kind of stuff I'd love to hear more about it from your side of things.)
Within this world, there are people who are creating art galleries, wanting to set up experiences. The end user would put on virtual reality glasses (Oculus or whatever technology) to enter and view this virtual reality world where they would be able to actually step into these visual paintings and experience things on a whole new level.
That's where this whole thing of crypto art and cryptocurrency comes in. There are artists who are creating digital artwork, digital art shows and galleries. There's exclusivity in some of the digital art where they authenticate pieces. That's how they know that that's the “original”, otherwise with digital work, you could be reproducing and I'm sharing it in multiple places. If somebody is paying for a piece of fine art at a high price, they want to know that this is the real deal, and that it’s authentic (and rare). All this that is happening I became aware of simply because I entered into this room.
Some people were talking about having all sorts of different resources available for digital galleries and virtual events around the arts. Other people were sharing resources (someone else in the room asked for pitch deck templates). Another person had one and was willing to send to them.
People are having these quick conversations where they have a need, and having it filled by someone else showing up in that room can help. Everyone was being free with resources and with insights and knowledge, and just generally being helpful to one another. Being a community, people who didn’t know each other moments ago, and from all over the globe.
Being on Clubhouse has me asking what’s possible in this space? What could be created or curated here? And I've, I've only been on this platform for maybe less than a week right at the time of writing this.
Some people may say it could be a flash in the pan, like several other social media platforms that have tried and disappeared. Other high level people think that this one is going to be a little more of a game changer because of the nature of the interactivity, that you have to show up as yourself. (You can't have some kind of alias.) You have to show up as you, with your voice.
“Being on Clubhouse has me asking what’s possible in this space? What could be created or curated here? ”
At this point, some other people were talking about using these rooms for mastermind groups and training or coaching, which is really interesting to think about. Still others are on there simply trying to just build their platform and grow their audience, which is easily done with the ability to connect your Instagram and your Twitter account to your profile as well. They're making changes to Clubhouse constantly, so some of these features may upgrade, like being able to connect more platforms.
When you're in a room you can go and click on anyone’s profiles and check out their bio for more about them. But the cool thing is that even if you're not in the clubhouse app, audio continues to play while you're in other apps. So you can still be a part of the room, and be listening to what's happening, but also checking out other social media platforms at the same time.
Maybe you're reading this and you're not a visual artist, but a musician. What would it look like for you to show up on this app (where it's an audio only), and you have the ability to share your music or clips of your music, or maybe have like a real time writing session with somebody or a group of people? That could be incredible. It's a means to connect with fellow creative people and also connect with people who might be your audience, collectors or clients.
Again, I don't know where it's going to go necessarily, but I just know every time that I'm on there and I jump into a room, I'm learning some new things. I'm getting access to some resources (people mentioned websites for further information). It's really incredible the speed at which you can have these conversations and the amount of people that can be in the room (and who you're in the room with.) You could be in a room with some people who are really well-established in their industry, having conversations and access to them.
You wouldn't have access to them or on other social media platforms if they have a million plus followers. They would never see you because of all the noise. With Clubhouse, you can be in a room alongside of them asking them questions or having them interact with you.
So it's pretty exciting. I can't wait to see what else comes of this platform. And if you are on Clubhouse, feel free to follow me - I'm @MikeBrennan. I’d love to connect with you there, and who knows, maybe there's even some things that we can create together!
For a more detailed breakdown check out this post from Social Media Examiner.
So what are your thoughts or questions about Clubhouse?
Bringing Smiles Through the Art of Social Media
If you've been following me for any length of time, you know that I practice a daily art habit. I create at least one piece of art a day, and post it to social media. As of late I have also been incorporating public images I find through my social media streams, namely Instagram.
Some people have wondered why I would choose to pick a random stranger and use their post for inspiration to create a daily digital drawing. Aside from looking for ideas and inspiration, I have found that when I create a piece of art centered around someone else, it brings surprise and delight to that person (expect only once, where the person was a little apprehensive).
There has been so much noise on social media with everyone airing their opinions on current events and politics. So much hate and division. Rather than add fuel to the fire or checking out completely, I'd rather start another conversation - using social media to spread JOY and KINDNESS.
Below are two recent examples of recipients of my daily art from their posts to Instagram, along with their reactions. This is why I do it. To make people smile. To make them feel noticed and loved, even if for a moment in their day. You never know what someone else may be going through. And as an Artist, you have the power to use your art to benefit someone else's life. I mean, it's blessed you in the act of creating it right? Why not share that blessing?
Where can you share your talents or art to enrich the lives of others? Try it for 7 days straight and see what happens. I'd love to hear about it!
One of the many Yoga inspired digital drawings I've done as of late. @flyandreleaseyoga
This drawing was following a recent Walker Stalker event, where I was part of the Artist Alley. So many fans of The Walking Dead were excited to meet their favorite stars. I just had to capture this moment from @ProducerJamieNYC with #NormanReedus @BigBaldHead
My 100 Day Project Completed
This image represents the last 100 days of my life. 100 Days of sketching photos from my Instagram feed using only my iPhone and a stylus as part of the 100 Day Project with Elle Luna and The Great Discontent.
What a journey. I would choose a photo, sketch it (using an app called Sketchclub), upload and tag the original Instagram user who posted the photo.
Friends. Social Media buddies. New friends. Organizations. Other artists. And celebrities.
Fun moments happened. Like when Emily Kinney (from the Walking Dead) repost my art. Or my portrait of fellow artist Jon Burgerman shared my sketch in the official 100 Day Project email sent out to the thousands of participants. Or people I don't know expressed gratitude and said they were honored to be sketched. Or friends who I made smile because I captured them in sketch format.
I may take some of these sketches and use them for some other projects. As a matter of fact I already started to turn a few into actual physical paintings.
And perhaps I'll continue to do smaller 30 day sketch projects. What do you think? What themes should I explore? This time I reached to include surfing, yoga and some underwater sea life. Leave a comment if there's a subject matter you'd like to see me tackle.
So farewell for now. Until next time 100 Day Project!
The Best Drawing All Week
If you've been tracking with my art, you know I've been doing a 100 Day Project. I'm at Day 61.
My normal routine is to flick through my Instagram feed & look for an interesting photo that i will then sketch on my iPhone. I've been trying not double up on anyone and so far, so good.
So today, as I flicked through my feed. I came across a photo from @mediapeople (Nathan Davis) of his daughter being prepped for surgery. I met Nathan once a long time ago at a church media conference. We were hanging out in the same crowd for maybe all of a half hour. So I did what any media guy does & followed him on twitter. I don't even know that we talked.
Fast forward to today. Seeing the photo he posted of his little girl Aleah, I knew I had to sketch his photo. As a dad, my heart swelled. As a believer in Jesus, I prayed for her as I sketched.
When I posted it, Nathan immediately responded that he was so encouraged, and as well he showed his daughter & it brought a smile to her face. That is why this is the best thing I've drawn all week. If my art can bring a connection, if i can use it as a gift (small as it is), then i feel like this is the best use of the abilities God has given me.
I don't know if you are the praying type, but if you are, would you pray for Aleah right now? She's been on a long road with surgeries to recover from a spinal cord injury from three years ago. If you're on Intagram, share some love on Nathan's account - @mediapeople
Sometimes the internet & social media just seem to rob you of time and amounts to nothing good. That's why I love when things like this happen to connect people. Why not join in & encourage these parents and their daughter? I triple-dog-dare you.