For this week’s post, I want to talk about switching up your medium. Lately, my eyes have been killing me from staring at a computer screen for so long, as I work almost entirely on the computer. Zoom fatigue is real, and let me tell you, so is Wacom-Tablet-And-Adobe-Suite fatigue. When I was recently assigned to complete an illustration for one of my classes, I knew I had to make a change in how I worked. 

I found a pallet of water color paints while searching through my drawer of miscellaneous art supplies (you know the one) and I couldn’t resist the temptation to use them. I spent the rest of the evening sitting on my porch with a glass of sweet tea and my paints. After touching the illustration up in Photoshop, I was pretty proud of it! Fine art and painting are by no means my specialty, but it was a needed change to my daily routine. 

After completing this illustration, I felt completely reenergized and inspired to approach my other digital work in a new way. There is no “command Z” when you are painting, so using watercolors forced me to relinquish some of my control and trust my instincts. It brought to my attention that I have been caught up on the very small details instead of looking at the bigger picture of the assignment, and I would have never had the opportunity to reflect on this habit if I hadn’t switched up my medium for a day. It can be very easy to get lost in your daily routine, but breaking the cycle every once in awhile can do wonders for your work — and your motivation — moving forward.

We Are Queens is at it again. They have created another music video bringing artists together in a time of isolation and uncertainty in the community. The organization received submissions from all over the world to come and be a part of this amazing experience, they received submissions from artists in Canada, UK, and Germany. The final cast consisted of dancers from right here in Ann Arbor, California, New York, and finally Wales.

The team consisted of one creative visionary (the person who planted the seed and the entire video is based on), the choreographer, and nine dancers. We Are Queens was also joined by the amazing Morgan Harrison, the professional mentor of the project who provided advice throughout the entire experience and a free master class to the team. Not to mention the We Are Queens executive team backing the entire project.

The idea behind this music video was mental health, or more specifically, celebrating the little things that remind you of the beauty in life. With the choreographer being in New York City the dancers were incredibly talented and hard-working, they learned the entire choreography through a video and performed it in front of the camera less than a week after learning it. The videographer and editor did an incredible job as well, including the dancers that were virtual and recorded themselves doing the choreography separately.

All of the dedication and passion from each member of this team is felt as you watch this music video. I highly recommend watching this and the other videos We Are Queens has produced thus far. In addition to raising money for She’s The First, We Are Queens is also supporting a new organization IGYB (I Got Your Back) a mental health organization raising money and awareness on mental health and the JED foundation by creating really cool merchandise.

IGYB: https://donate.jedfoundation.org/fundraiser/3117332

She’s The First: https://secure.givelively.org/donate/she-s-the-first/tal-kamin-we-are-queens

We Are Queens Website: https://www.wearequeens.org/

We Are Queens Music Video: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CMiZokKDffA/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link