A Slice of: Cameras, Pictures and Drawing Sentience into Mundane Things

Documenting your 12am bowl of ramen can help you get better at art?!

For your convenience, I’ve read aloud the letter for you. Feel free to follow along as you listen! You’re welcome!

Oh look! You’ve got a letter from your bestest pen pal, Lily (that’s me!)

It’s pretty hefty. It’s kinda bulky too.
You trace your fingers along the edges, and peel at the sticky glue of the seal and then- AAH IT’S ALIVE. The envelope has arms and legs, and a life of its own. Its flap flies open, and a burst of polaroids, printed photos, and various memorabilia pop out.

Today’s letter begins:

“Dearest buddy-old-pal,

Do you like taking pictures? They don’t have to be good ones, or great ones, or even pictures that make sense to anybody but you. Just photos of things that you like to look back on.

I love taking photos of everything. I really enjoy cameras, in every which way and form. I like polaroids, film cameras, digital cameras, you name it! In the last few years, I’ve amassed a small collection of cameras I am very proud of. Picture, attached.

This, my friend, is only a fraction of all my cameras. But, I didn’t want to overwhelm you, so I just picked the cute ones.

But even without fanciful equipment, I have a lot of fun using my phone to document really random stuff throughout my day. My current phone has about 6,000 images. I find that taking pictures of anything, at any moment, has helped train my eye in noticing things like shapes, colors, motion, or just what I’m more drawn to. It goes without saying that art is derived from life, and I’ve found that things I take photos of are subconsciously incorporated in how I might approach drawing something. I also feel that it makes me more thoughtful towards the everyday activities that I do, like cooking!

Let me sort of walk you through what I mean!

A steamed egg with a face, some bunny katsu curry, and a peanuts breakfast plate. Yeah, I like making cute food.

Here are some photos of a few meals that I made. When I’m cooking, I like plating in intentional ways where I can get a lot of different colors and textures in my pictures. (I’m by no means a chef, but I do like presenting fun or pretty food.) When I’m taking these photos, I’m always thinking about why I liked putting something a certain way, or why I like the certain shapes of things, and even how they make me feel.

Udon is my favorite noodle, so I make it a lot.

In this photo, I love how round, orangey-yellow the egg is. I love the pink hues of the radish and mentaiko, the tiny bits of spring onion scattered across, with strips of seaweed that have a matted finish pulling it all together. Then, when I’m picking colors for a drawing, or wanting to get the shape of something exactly the way I like it, I’ll remember those little details from when I was taking pictures through my day. Here are some drawing examples of how I’ll sometimes analyze, think about, or process photos/imagery, with notes!

My notes are a bit haphazard, but I pretty much break down all the things around me, and dissect photos by shape, colors, or just how I see it in my head.

Even if it isn’t for drawing, I really like documenting stuff that makes me happy, or has really good design. Here are some pictures I took just to look back on for inspiration, for color combinations, or even just to show a friend.

I like taking pictures of textiles I like, or the way something was designed, things that are cute, or things I think are very smart.

Some people might find it egregious or “out-of-the-moment” to be documenting stuff or taking photos when you’re out and about. But, I think it’s something that’s made me very conscious of the life around me, and every wonderful thing in it. I get to take moments to really savor or take in the stuff I’ve come across in my day, and I feel really happy and thankful when I realize it’s impacted how I create.

If you get a chance, I hope that maybe you’ll take a picture of something you like today. Anything, for any reason you want, and it doesn’t even have to be a good picture. It can be blurry, or low res, or even taken on your LG doubleplay from 2011. As long as it’s an embodiment of how you see the world, or what you feel is special in it, I think that’s pretty cool.

Well, anyway, thanks for letting me share as always!
Write to you soon,

Lily

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