I have a few weeks off work and I am trying to work on creative projects as much as possible. On a slow/uninspired/low-confidence day I think I feel a relative of this pain. That Donald Sutherland GIF is _amazing_.
Yeah the end goal vs. the journey is a tough balance. My biggest challenge with the latest writing project was _extreme doubt_. Like after 10 hours into it, feeling real fear that it was actually a trivial and worthless piece of work. That I'd wasted my time and nobody would care about it. Maybe that's a good time to tell myself 'ENJOY THE JOURNEY PAL YOU ARE GROWING'.
Thanks for keeping your substack going! Onward to you too!
OMG I LOVE SHMUP! I love the big ray gun option and sound effects!
Self-doubt is a tough one.
I feel like it's tricky because the prediction is neither true nor false.
Sometimes I think of how this Substack I've made will have some yet unknown death-date and like, would that make it a failure?
I could see it that way if I chose to-- but I also know that through the process of writing, creating, and drawing every week I am growing as an artist and communicator so I actually see this effort as a win regardless of however it inevitably ends. :)
My moment of “Wait, you can do this?!?” was in 1986 seeing Bobby McFerrin performing solo with just a microphone. I’d been working as a dancer, mime and sing/playing with my voice. To see him improvising and singing music, sounds, voices was so simple , so human. So, I kept on creating Human Jazz…. - keep on keeping on, sister!"
I can't imagine how powerful this would be to witness live. What an absolute pleasure.
Like you said, the "so human" element of this almost brings tears to my eyes.
It's authentically so beautiful, thank you for sharing this with me. I feel compelled to seek out more live performance art right now! There's something so powerful in being in the presence of works like this in action.
"Were you familiar with Julia’s work before? Nope but I want to find her books now. I instantly went to Instagram to look at her work too. Do you have any personal experiences of feeling like a future wasn’t possible until you saw yourself represented in the field? Not really but I hear you. I just started doing concert photography and its mostly cool looking tattooed folx and old white men and then there’s me - middle aged basic looking mom. @iammoustache is an amazing person and photographer and they were definitely an inspiration to just go for it What was your gateway comic book? I grew up with all the French BD - Lucky Luke was my favourite, Asterix & Obelix, Tin Tin Or any art that opened your mind to an entire new medium! I always love discovering new art and artists and as much as everyone loves to hate social media I find so many connections and artists on Instagram from what/who others share."
I'm a big fan of photography, I'm really curious what kind of concerts you are referencing when you say concert photographer.
Like, any live music or do you have a preference for a specific genre of music?
What kind of camera do you use? I have a Canon AE-1 film camera, but am curious to branch out.
I totally feel you on the divisive opinions about social media.
I can't lie, I talk shit on social media a lot myself (It can be frustrating! Curse you algorithms!), but I also completely agree that I find the most new artists on Instagram.
I've also built a lot of fledgling relationships with other artists on Instagram, which is really nice.
I have shot mostly festivals so far Re:Set where I hot to shoot Boygenius, Bartees Strange, Toro Y Moi, Steve Lacy and more. Levitate was less mybstyle of music but I enjoyed shooting so many bands including Brandi Carlile, Ziggy Marley, Peach Pit, Goose, Trey Anastasio, Lucius, and many more. Most recently I covered one day of Newport Folk Festival Angel Olsen, Goose (again), Bartees Strange (again) and many more- I post mostlu on my blog and instagram- I have nikon dx40 - a small camera compared to everyone elses
I love it. Some of the newer less expensive ones might be better than this one. I would maybe ask at a camera store or forum, but I personally really like it and it works well for me. You can see some of my concert pics on my Instagram feed - more are usually in stories so have come and gone. My child does photography with it too and you can see more landscape etc pics on their feed @BostonAperture on Instagram to get a feel for non concert photos
Oh wow great shots!! I really do need to get a digital camera. I love my Canon AE-1, but I'm so precious with my shots since it's film and it'd be nice to have a little more leeway (and to be more cost effective, film is so expensive 😭).
I just saw cartoonist and was immediately sold. Comics start from a positive position for me, and need to work to turn me off. It hasn’t always been that way. The Image style of the ’90s saw me giving up comics for a decade. I read soooo many books in those years.
My first comic was Nutty #19, from D.C. Thompson, publishers of the Beano, and I became obsessed. I was two, I think.
Diary-style webcomics were a revelation; windows into lives not previously available. At their best they inspire insight and empathy, which are, I think, the basis for civilization.
It’s a pity that most people just can’t get the medium. It is a different language. Relearning to read comics after my lost decade was surprisingly hard.
I completely agree that it's a pity when people close themselves off to the medium-- often because they think it's a genre or that illustrations can only be appreciated by children... yet if an illustration is painted in a frame it's for adults? Too much to unpack, haha.
Diary comics were a revelation for me too! I love memoirs in general. It's such a pleasure to be able to experience the real lives of others through their words and stories.
I love Julia so much, this summer I was sitting at her house with her kid who was running around naked and she turned to me and said “I’m so sorry, he has a boner”
HAHAhaha, wow, thank you so much for this share Hilary.
Even though I don't know Julia personally, I was telling my husband just yesterday that she is mom-goals for me (not frilly about it, lots of adventures, dry humor, etc).
Hi y'all!
My "Leave a comment" button at the bottom of this post re-directed to the wrong comment section, so some comments got misdirected. 😭
I'm going to copy/paste the comments here so that we can continue the convo in the right place.
I am... not sure if this will actually work.
Oh well, here we go!
*Comment from Aaron Bell*
I have a few weeks off work and I am trying to work on creative projects as much as possible. On a slow/uninspired/low-confidence day I think I feel a relative of this pain. That Donald Sutherland GIF is _amazing_.
Aaaarroonnn!!! Hello!
Ooo, few weeks off work, that sounds fun. Are you still in the UK?
Are you working on video games right now?
I feel like I've seen some recent social media posts of yours referencing Pico-8.
Creative projects are so hard to get into the swing of.
I always feel like it "should" be easier, but it's SO. MENTAL. The headspace is key and the headspace is... amorphous and so personal.
I find I often rush through the "play" phase of creative projects to my own detriment.
I get caught up in ideas of what I want the end product to be instead of focusing on why I'm doing the project at all.
I try to remind myself that the goal should be to enjoy the process-- that that will sustain me-- not an idealized finished product.
But alas, I fall prey to the idealized end goal a lot still.
Onward creative soldier! Lol. I hope you find hopeful inspiration soon!
We are just flying out to Brit-town this evening! For two weeks there.
Yep I am working (on and off) on a shoot-em-up with my oldest – you can play the work-in-progress at https://air.itch.io/shmup
With that project, I also did a quick test to see if a coding stream would work – https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1891798118?t=0h0m56s
Yeah the end goal vs. the journey is a tough balance. My biggest challenge with the latest writing project was _extreme doubt_. Like after 10 hours into it, feeling real fear that it was actually a trivial and worthless piece of work. That I'd wasted my time and nobody would care about it. Maybe that's a good time to tell myself 'ENJOY THE JOURNEY PAL YOU ARE GROWING'.
Thanks for keeping your substack going! Onward to you too!
OMG I LOVE SHMUP! I love the big ray gun option and sound effects!
Self-doubt is a tough one.
I feel like it's tricky because the prediction is neither true nor false.
Sometimes I think of how this Substack I've made will have some yet unknown death-date and like, would that make it a failure?
I could see it that way if I chose to-- but I also know that through the process of writing, creating, and drawing every week I am growing as an artist and communicator so I actually see this effort as a win regardless of however it inevitably ends. :)
*Comment from Humanjazz*
"Another fun informative entry..!
My moment of “Wait, you can do this?!?” was in 1986 seeing Bobby McFerrin performing solo with just a microphone. I’d been working as a dancer, mime and sing/playing with my voice. To see him improvising and singing music, sounds, voices was so simple , so human. So, I kept on creating Human Jazz…. - keep on keeping on, sister!"
Hi Humanjazz!
Omg, the backstory to your username-- I love it!!
I just looked Bobby up and watched/listened to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT7q_P9jk5w
I can't imagine how powerful this would be to witness live. What an absolute pleasure.
Like you said, the "so human" element of this almost brings tears to my eyes.
It's authentically so beautiful, thank you for sharing this with me. I feel compelled to seek out more live performance art right now! There's something so powerful in being in the presence of works like this in action.
*Comment from City Living Boston- Leah*
"Were you familiar with Julia’s work before? Nope but I want to find her books now. I instantly went to Instagram to look at her work too. Do you have any personal experiences of feeling like a future wasn’t possible until you saw yourself represented in the field? Not really but I hear you. I just started doing concert photography and its mostly cool looking tattooed folx and old white men and then there’s me - middle aged basic looking mom. @iammoustache is an amazing person and photographer and they were definitely an inspiration to just go for it What was your gateway comic book? I grew up with all the French BD - Lucky Luke was my favourite, Asterix & Obelix, Tin Tin Or any art that opened your mind to an entire new medium! I always love discovering new art and artists and as much as everyone loves to hate social media I find so many connections and artists on Instagram from what/who others share."
Hi Leah!
I'm a big fan of photography, I'm really curious what kind of concerts you are referencing when you say concert photographer.
Like, any live music or do you have a preference for a specific genre of music?
What kind of camera do you use? I have a Canon AE-1 film camera, but am curious to branch out.
I totally feel you on the divisive opinions about social media.
I can't lie, I talk shit on social media a lot myself (It can be frustrating! Curse you algorithms!), but I also completely agree that I find the most new artists on Instagram.
I've also built a lot of fledgling relationships with other artists on Instagram, which is really nice.
IG is, no question, a very powerful tool!
I have shot mostly festivals so far Re:Set where I hot to shoot Boygenius, Bartees Strange, Toro Y Moi, Steve Lacy and more. Levitate was less mybstyle of music but I enjoyed shooting so many bands including Brandi Carlile, Ziggy Marley, Peach Pit, Goose, Trey Anastasio, Lucius, and many more. Most recently I covered one day of Newport Folk Festival Angel Olsen, Goose (again), Bartees Strange (again) and many more- I post mostlu on my blog and instagram- I have nikon dx40 - a small camera compared to everyone elses
Wow, I love so many of those bands/musicians, that is awesome Leah!
I looked up your camera and it looks pretty affordable (used at least), would you recommend it? I mostly take landscape pictures if that matters.
I love it. Some of the newer less expensive ones might be better than this one. I would maybe ask at a camera store or forum, but I personally really like it and it works well for me. You can see some of my concert pics on my Instagram feed - more are usually in stories so have come and gone. My child does photography with it too and you can see more landscape etc pics on their feed @BostonAperture on Instagram to get a feel for non concert photos
Oh wow great shots!! I really do need to get a digital camera. I love my Canon AE-1, but I'm so precious with my shots since it's film and it'd be nice to have a little more leeway (and to be more cost effective, film is so expensive 😭).
I just saw cartoonist and was immediately sold. Comics start from a positive position for me, and need to work to turn me off. It hasn’t always been that way. The Image style of the ’90s saw me giving up comics for a decade. I read soooo many books in those years.
My first comic was Nutty #19, from D.C. Thompson, publishers of the Beano, and I became obsessed. I was two, I think.
Diary-style webcomics were a revelation; windows into lives not previously available. At their best they inspire insight and empathy, which are, I think, the basis for civilization.
It’s a pity that most people just can’t get the medium. It is a different language. Relearning to read comics after my lost decade was surprisingly hard.
Excuse the babble, just woke up.
I love to hear your comics journey, Gavin!
I completely agree that it's a pity when people close themselves off to the medium-- often because they think it's a genre or that illustrations can only be appreciated by children... yet if an illustration is painted in a frame it's for adults? Too much to unpack, haha.
Diary comics were a revelation for me too! I love memoirs in general. It's such a pleasure to be able to experience the real lives of others through their words and stories.
I truly will never get enough!
I love Julia so much, this summer I was sitting at her house with her kid who was running around naked and she turned to me and said “I’m so sorry, he has a boner”
HAHAhaha, wow, thank you so much for this share Hilary.
Even though I don't know Julia personally, I was telling my husband just yesterday that she is mom-goals for me (not frilly about it, lots of adventures, dry humor, etc).
Mom goals INDEED
Heck yeaaaahhhhh, Julia Wertz is great
YOU'RE great
For sure! Film is lovely but digital gives you total freedom to go crazy because there is no commitment to anything.