“When you make shit art, you just have to get up and make more art.”
You just got done with your big project. Your magnum opus. You had been envisioning it for years, it was beautiful, it was impactful, it was amazing! But when all was said and done, and you stepped back, it didn’t look like that at all. It looked like shit.
If this has happened to you, contrary to what you may have thought at that point, you are not alone. And today’s episode of NION Radio is all about what to do when what you make doesn’t live up to what you saw in your head. Listen in to learn what it means if you find yourself making shit art, what to do next, and what it takes to stop making shitty art.
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“When you feel like you’re making shit art, it’s really about the fact that you haven’t closed the gap between what you envisioned and what you actually produced.”
“When you make shit art, you just have to get up and make more art.”
You just got done with your big project. Your magnum opus. You had been envisioning it for years, it was beautiful, it was impactful, it was amazing! But when all was said and done, and you stepped back, it didn’t look like that at all. It looked like shit.
If this has happened to you, contrary to what you may have thought at that point, you are not alone. And today’s episode of NION Radio is all about what to do when what you make doesn’t live up to what you saw in your head. Listen in to learn what it means if you find yourself making shit art, what to do next, and what it takes to stop making shitty art.
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“When you feel like you’re making shit art, it’s really about the fact that you haven’t closed the gap between what you envisioned and what you actually produced.”







“When you make shit art, you just have to get up and make more art.”
You just got done with your big project. Your magnum opus. You had been envisioning it for years, it was beautiful, it was impactful, it was amazing! But when all was said and done, and you stepped back, it didn’t look like that at all. It looked like shit.
If this has happened to you, contrary to what you may have thought at that point, you are not alone. And today’s episode of NION Radio is all about what to do when what you make doesn’t live up to what you saw in your head. Listen in to learn what it means if you find yourself making shit art, what to do next, and what it takes to stop making shitty art.
[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/nionradio/172_-_Nion_Radio_-_When_You_Make_Shit_Art.mp3″ title=”When You Make SH*T Art” artist=”Nick Onken” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/NR-172_NIONradio_NickOnken_MakingShitArt_CVR.jpg” color=”#de4b9b” ]
“When you feel like you’re making shit art, it’s really about the fact that you haven’t closed the gap between what you envisioned and what you actually produced.”

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Emanate is a creative-direction-led photography experience for entrepreneurs, speakers, and thought leaders in a moment of expansion. This isn’t about better photos. It’s about aligning how you’re seen with who you’ve become. For seasons of rebrand, visibility, and next-level leadership.
Magnetic Authority is a self-guided container for people who feel visible, but not fully anchored.
If your message keeps shifting, your brand feels inconsistent, or your presence doesn’t match your capability yet. This is where you build the foundation before you scale.
For founders, creatives, and leaders who want a trusted long-term partner. This isn’t coaching or traditional consulting.
It’s an ongoing creative partnership focused on bringing your personal brand identity to life.
Your brand. Your website. Your visuals.
All shaped as a direct extension of who you are. The work also includes a bespoke process of identifying and aligning the right experts when needed, so nothing gets built out of sync with your core.
Quiet. Precise. Highly Selective.

Brand guidelines are static rules for the surface. A Brand Brain is a living codification of identity a team or an AI can generate from. The difference, defined.

We trained six styles of kung fu in one month. Sampling that widely taught me how a creative actually finds the practice worth years: breadth first, the pull as data, then depth.

Travel makes you more creative because unfamiliar places wake up your perception. Why the effect works, and how to bring the sharpened eye home with you.

Your brand photos lag behind you because you kept evolving and the images stayed frozen. Why the gap opens, how to spot it, and what closes it.

The kung fu school had rules: locked-in weekdays, dawn starts, push-ups for lateness. A month inside taught me that constraints you choose are what make depth possible.

A daily creative practice is making one real thing every day, however small, to stay in a proactive state. A working definition, and how to build one that lasts.

AI describes your brand by averaging your public record. How to codify one identity, repeat it everywhere, and get the machines to echo you back accurately.

I’ve photographed Justin Bieber several times and seen fame up close. His stripped-down Coachella set showed the thing I keep relearning about creative work: production amplifies, and only artistry carries.

You recover from creative burnout by treating it as a nervous system state: build real down-cycles, read your own signals, and return to the work you love.

A magnetic personal brand comes from coherence and one clear through-line. Here is how entrepreneurs build one, in order, and the trap that keeps most brands scattered.

I spent a month training kung fu in Wudang at 47, the oldest and slowest learner in the room. What being a beginner again in midlife taught me about pace, comparison, and starting anyway.

You develop taste through thousands of reps of looking closely and deciding what works. A photographer’s honest answer on how taste gets built.
I was born in a low middle class conservative religious family in the suburbs of Seattle. Art was and always has been my passion, and more than that a way of life. Starting as a graphic designer, I taught myself photography, built a commercial/editorial business shooting for the worlds biggest brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, Adidas and more. I've also had the opportunity to photograph the world's biggest celebrities like Justin Bieber, Usher, Jessica Alba and more. I've curated a lifestyle around creativity and have learned a lot along the way which I get to share here.
I was born in a low middle class conservative religious family in the suburbs of Seattle. Art was and always has been my passion, and more than that a way of life. Starting as a graphic designer, I taught myself photography, built a commercial/editorial business shooting for the worlds biggest brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, Adidas and more. I've also had the opportunity to photograph the world's biggest celebrities like Justin Bieber, Usher, Jessica Alba and more. I've curated a lifestyle around creativity and have learned a lot along the way which I get to share here.