Australian illustrator, filmmaker and content creator, Campbell Walker, better known by his YouTube persona Struthless, shares the best piece of advice that he ever got about drawing – in fact, the piece of advice changed his life! Back in 2016, fellow artist Marc Schattner gave him the following challenge:
Draw the same thing every single day.
Feeling like he had nothing to lose, Campbell began his journey by choosing one thing to draw, and settled on a particular species of bird: the white ibis. The ibis was sacred to ancient Egyptians, symbolically representing wisdom, writing and the god, Thoth. In current-day Australia, however, the ibis is popularly referred to as the ‘bin chicken’, a scavenging bird who hangs around rubbish bins and eats trash. For Campbell, the ibis seemed like the perfect metaphor for humanity: “We can fly, we can do anything we want, but instead, we roll around in bin juice.”
Day after day passed, as Campbell drew ibis after ibis after ibis. But as his journey progressed, Campbell learned something unexpected along the way and realized the brilliance of Marc’s advice: Marc wasn’t telling him to draw an ibis, he was telling Campbell to start, because once he started, only then would he find the thing he was looking for.
About Campbell Walker
Campbell began his internet career posting cartoons online in 2016, and within a few years became one of Australia’s most talked-about content creators. He has since made content with Comedy Central, Spotify, Splendour in the Grass, Vice, Pedestrian TV, GQ, The Betoota Advocate, CUB, Tinder, and Universal Music. Campbell is known for his unique combination of cynicism, creativity, nihilism and kindness.
Before he made content for himself, Campbell worked as a Creative Director for multiple advertising and production agencies, giving him a solid education in writing, producing, directing, film, post-production, and corporate Australia. Notable clients include Gatorade, the NFL and Samsung. Other past jobs include tattooist, taxi driver, and CMO of Step One.
Check him out on YouTube, at his website, on Instagram, or on his podcast.
