What an insane experience. My journey has been such a rollercoaster and a great perception of what life can do to change us internally. For me, I was struggling creatively and was burning out from both photography and my personal life.
It was tough for me to keep up with taking photos because feeling uninspired was natural. Every day I would push myself to take a picture since, initially, my first goal was to take one photo a day. I would have my camera out with me everywhere I go, and it would be hard for me to produce pictures I like. I think this is where my first lesson comes in just enjoying the nature of photography. I was so focused on looking for the photos that I lost the enjoyment of photographing. The act of taking pictures is my therapy. So instead, I pushed myself to take photos which made me not enjoy photography. What a crazy self-realization for me.
However, I was able to learn and study B/W photography processes through my journey in Simplex Minds. Creating artwork and learning more about the artist that inspired me helped me see the capability that just black and white photos can do. My favorite artist I did enjoy the most was Andre D. Wagner. Andre's work was just a great inspiration for me to learn his unique style of photography.
Next season, I do plan on approaching everything in a different light. First, take breaks in my photography and do not overwork myself. Putting myself at a pace where I can consistently create work without stopping and putting out photos that I enjoy would be key. Another approach is allowing myself to live with the images I create. Taking time to let me view the pictures from different times and fully observe the work. Last and probably the most important, having fun….. Very cop-out answer, but honestly just enjoy what photography is to me. It's a therapeutic hobby for me. At the end of the day, it is my work, and photography helps me keep myself grounded. Anyways cheers for the read!
C'ya, next season!
It seems that every time I sit down to write to you guys I’ve just finished undergoing a creative breakthrough moment…and that’s exactly what this project put me through. I feel so grateful to be a part of Simplex Minds because it has allowed me to dive into my creativity and make art that I’ve been wanting to make for a long time. And this time was no different.
So let’s get into it. Tik Tok.
Like many of us, I discovered a newfound obsession for TikTok when we were all locked in our homes in 2020. TikTok, at the time, was seen as an app where kids recorded themselves doing random dances and completing challenges that went viral overnight. It was all lighthearted fun and as embarrassing as it is, I even remember trying to learn a dance or two. 2020 was a very confusing year, okay.
But as time went on I began to see way more than just dancing on TikTok. Fashion trends and glimpses into people’s travels filled my feed until my algorithm caught up with me and I began to see content that fit my interests, such as photographer accounts. The first person to catch my eye on PhotographerTok was @Illumitati, a creative photographer who showcased her innovative and oftentimes insane photography techniques as both photographer and model. Such as the time she scratched one of her camera lenses with a rock and the internet went completely bonkers over it. Or the time she created a video based off of an outfit that one her followers suggested: an outfit made entirely out of take out bags. It was videos like this that truly sparked my interest in creating content that could showcase my photography and the processes/techniques I use when going into shoot mode. I thought that this could be an amazing way to get my name and art out there to a way broader audience, which would only be beneficial for my photography.
Since 2020 I had wanted to start making TikToks, but I never really got to it until Troy gave us the prompt for our season projects: Try making something that you've been wanting to make for a while. What better time to get onboard and start learning how to do something I'd been meaning to do for years?
But this is when my brain went haywire.
If you’ve been following our Simplex Journey, you probably already know I’m a procrastinator. As well as the fact that my brain just loves to make things way more complicated than they really are. Before I started this project, TikTok seemed like such a big concept that I just couldn’t grasp. Even though I've had experience in video editing, TikTok felt different. Like Tati, I wanted to create videos that no one had ever seen before, showcasing my photography and work in a light that you couldn’t capture by just posting photos on Instagram. I wanted to take my followers along with me to my photoshoots and to do that, I thought, it must take a whole lot to get the hang of.
So, I began brainstorming ideas on how I wanted to go about this. My first idea started off as a whole shoot project, I wanted to document an entire photoshoot from start to finish. For some reason this turned out to be a bigger obstacle than I imagined due to my complete indecisiveness and the fact that I get a bit self conscious being in front of the camera instead of behind it. As well as life just getting in the way as I got busy with my client shoots, work, etc.
I found my time spent working on this project dwindling because my mind viewed it as a way bigger hurdle than it truly was. I probably procrastinated on this for about a month straight, going back and forth in my mind trying to come up with the perfect idea to carry out. Our release dates were getting closer and closer and yet I was no closer to finding which direction I wanted to go in.
That’s when I said F*** it.
I knew I wasn’t going to get anywhere just sitting around worrying about it, so instead I began looking through my camera roll. I HAD to have some sort of content I could turn into a TikTok. I ended up finding way more than I had hoped for and soon enough I had an entire album full of photos and videos of my past shoots that had the potential of becoming TikToks.
The next step was even simpler. Of course I needed some type of music to go in the background of these videos and lucky for me, TikTok has a huge selection of trending sounds to choose from. My main goal was to find sounds which matched the overall vibe of the specific shoots I was making TikToks of. It probably took me about 2 minutes to find what I was looking for and as soon as the sound was inputted, I was ready to go.
The first TikTok I made went a little something like this:
Seems pretty simple, right? It was around the time I pressed post where I realized this TikTok thing was way easier than I was imagining it to be. Overthinking led me to believe it was going to be impossible to start creating TikToks when I already had countless content ready to be edited and published. I was under the impression that everything I make has to undergo a crazy planning process and be my main focus on the day of shooting. But, this project really made me see that that doesn't have to be the case. I can take a few seconds on shoot day to record a couple 5 second videos, add in the results from the shoot, and boom: I've got myself a TikTok.
Finally after getting over this mind block that was holding me back, I got to work on pushing out the rest of the content I had compiled.
Which led to 8 more videos....
Here's another example:
Again, how simple was that?
After pushing out more than 10 videos and getting over 4,000 views I came to the conclusion that, as always, I was stressing myself out for no reason. I'm really happy about the progress I've made and have already started to receive inquiries from people wanting to work with me. The main goal of this project was to lead more eyes to my art and the fact that I didn't let the mental blocks get too much in the way is what I'm most proud of.
I always forget that the point of Simplex Minds is to showcase that everyone's processes look a little different and to give inspiration to those who are going through creative obstacles like the one I was dealing with. Taking projects step by step is always a huge part of my process and everyone has some sort of method to getting their desired outcome. No two minds are the same...
I guess what I'm trying to say is be gentle with your creative self. When you hit a bump in the road try stepping back and looking at things from a different perspective, like I did with this TikTok project.
Happy creating. If you need me I'll be over here, brainstorming some ideas for more TikToks.
In the meantime, if you'd like to check out my progress , you can find me here.
Till next time,
Mia
In embarking on my creative journey, I have realized what contributed to these interests. I started off by copying images from coloring books and redrawing them almost perfectly to writing my own play for me and my siblings to play roles in just because I wanted to. I have realized that without the creativity that I experienced or was interested as a child, it would be more difficult to express my creative side. With that, there have also been illustrations from different children's books that have inspired me to look more into it.
This post will be centered around childhood and what better way to introduce that by looking at one artist that I remember growing up, was Quentin Blake.
Mr. Blake was born in London in 1932 and has always drawn his entire life. He is a cartoonist and illustrator for children’s books. Books that may sound familiar would be Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or Matilda, which are children’s books that were later turned into films.
Quentin Blake Creative Process
Often when I think of artists, I think of creating perfection, and carefully painting or coloring in between the lines. In essence, I think of following the norm. However, the process that Quentin goes through is the exact opposite which makes it refreshing. But my assumption is wrong.
While it seems like all of his drawings are freehanded, and simple, he actually puts a lot of effort into planning out his drawings. It is actually more complex than one might think. He has to figure out the placement of each character, the expressions on their faces or determining what drawing goes on what page. In order to figure out the placement of characters he focuses on the facial expressions and the gesture or stance of the character. He believes that this is the more challenging part in creating a character. If he does mess up on those particular parts it’s okay because he will not have to redo the entire character just specific body parts. In order to tackle these problems he uses the Lightbox Technique.
The Lightbox Technique is basically a hard surface that has light inside that allows for people to trace or guide them to create different figures or art. Through this process, Quentin uses this technique not to trace over rough sketches but to guide him to create different figures. The whole point of this is to increase his level of concentration as if he is trying to create a final draft. What I found most interesting about his process, is that at the end, he is usually unsure if his images are up to his own standards, making him question if it’s good enough. This to me, I believe is something all creators of anything may have, which is self-doubt. Even those that are known for their work, question their final product.
What I like about Quentin Blake’s illustrations & my experience with using his techniques
When looking at his illustrations, I like how playful and not in between the lines it is. When I think of the creative things that children like to do, I think of them drawing in coloring books. When children draw in coloring books they don’t usually color in the lines. I get the same vibe when looking at Quentin’s illustrations. I like how this is incorporated to represent the carefreeness of childhood.
In incorporating this method into my drawings I had to innovate a little bit since I didn’t own a light box. I used my iPad and a drawing I created on the GoodNotes app. From there I grabbed a blank sheet of paper so that I could do a blind trace of my drawing. I thought it was a bit difficult because when drawing on an ipad the image or drawing I was using would move around. But then I remembered that I was not trying to replicate the drawing but just in a sense freehanding the same drawing. This thought helped me and I felt more confident approaching the technique.
In addition, I used his method of focusing on the different expressions of the potential characters that I wanted to use. With that I focused on different facial expressions and body movements. I used the lips and eyes as the main focus for the facial expressions to embody different emotions, such as happiness or sadness. For the body movements I mainly focused on the legs and the elbows and arms. I had been struggling to create my characters and being somewhat consistent on the way the face looks and I found that this method helped me organize and see which doodles I liked the most to incorporate in a book that I would love to create in the future.
The End :)
To send a thanks to my childhood, I would love to create my own children’s books that inspire children all over the world. I find that what is written and illustrated in children’s books really has an impact on children. In the next few years, you will see my name on a few books,
so keep an eye out. ;)
