{"id":320,"date":"2010-11-05T02:42:00","date_gmt":"2010-11-05T02:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hazelrider.wordpress.com\/2010\/11\/05\/an-interview-with-tami-boyce-a-k-a-tami-like-likes-to-draw"},"modified":"2010-11-05T02:42:00","modified_gmt":"2010-11-05T02:42:00","slug":"an-interview-with-tami-boyce-a-k-a-tami-like-likes-to-draw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/hazelbasil.com\/wordpress\/2010\/11\/05\/an-interview-with-tami-boyce-a-k-a-tami-like-likes-to-draw\/","title":{"rendered":"An Interview with Tami Boyce, a.k.a. “Tami Like-likes To Draw”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
I came across Tami’s site<\/a> when an artist “event” post by Alchemy Coffee<\/a> [great coffee shop in West Ashley] flashed on my Facebook page. Intrigued by the artist’s profile name “Tami Like-likes To Draw”, I had to click. What followed next was a series of events that led to emailing Tami and her graciousness and willingness to do an interview. Below are the artist’s details, as well as her real last name; in case you wanted to inquire or hire her for her artistry.<\/p>\n

What is your full name?<\/b><\/p>\n
Tami Elizabeth Amy Boyce (it\u2019s a mouthful, huh?)
<\/i>
What do you currently do for a living?<\/b>
I\u2019m a Freelance Graphic Designer.<\/i>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
\n

<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/a>What is your creative background [education\/self-taught]?<\/b>
I feel like I\u2019m very new to the profession. I\u2019ve always drawn but just assumed I\u2019d \u201cnever be able to do anything with it.\u201d (That phrase is better if you can hear it in my mom\u2019s voice.) Finally, it all kind of came to me in an epiphany in my late 20s, so I went to Trident Tech and got my Commercial Graphics degree. [Editor’s note: I went there too! Tech rocks! It’s not where you went, it’s how you use it!] <\/span><\/span><\/i>

<\/u><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/span><\/u><\/span>Does where you live inspire you? If so, how?
<\/b>I live here because of my family and friends, and they all definitely inspire me. Most of my stuff is light-humored and weird or twisted in some way; my friends are a huge source of many beginning ideas. Wait\u2026 I think I just called my friends weird and twisted\u2026 Ah, I guess that works.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
When did you notice that you had an inkling of creative leanings?<\/b><\/div>\n
I\u2019ve loved drawing ever since I can remember, but actually gave it up after high school. I think it terrified me to try to make a career out of art because then I thought I would grow to hate it. It was pretty scary going back to school and embracing it all again. It took me years to just get comfortable with showing people my work.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

\n

<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n

How do you stay inspired\/creative?
<\/b>They say the brain is a muscle and you have to exercise it, and I think creativity works the same way. The more I make time to sit and draw, the more ideas I have\u2026 And the more prolific you try to be, the better your skills get, so I like to keep myself pretty busy.
<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/span><\/u><\/span><\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Do you have a creative ritual? If so, what is it?
<\/b>First I freak out. Seriously. With every new job and project, I get this fear that I\u2019ll never have another creative idea again. But then I sit back, put on some music and tell myself to shut up and draw. So far, this has seemed to work.<\/i><\/p>\n

What are 5 books that have inspired you\/continue to inspire you?
<\/b>I call the book \u201cGig Posters<\/a>\u201d (put out by Clay Hayes of www.gigposters.com<\/a>) my bible. I feel like every time I look through it, I notice a new detail that hits me in a way I\u2019ve never thought about it before. I absolutely love graphics and music, so gig posters are a perfect culmination of those to me. The book is such a great collection of so many talented people and each artist talks about their process too, which is awesome.
Another great one is \u201cFingerprint<\/a>.\u201d I borrowed it from a friend an embarrassingly long time ago and still have it. It really emphasizes the importance of hand made items in art and design. The book is so aesthetically awesome, and it hit me at a time when I was really trying to bring out more illustration in my design. That\u2019s why I draw everything by hand and then take it to the computer. I love the imperfection of the lines- you just can\u2019t do that on a computer.
For the other three, I would say \u201cHarold and the Purple Crayon<\/a>,\u201d as well as anything by Dr. Seuss<\/a> and Shel Silverstein<\/a>. I know they definitely shaped my style growing up and I still credit them for a lot of my inspiration.<\/i>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

\n

<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/a>
<\/a>What are 4 films that cause you to be creative?
<\/b>Amelie, Big Fish, Love Me If You Dare, and Where the Wild Things Are. I find them all so visually stunning. They really remind you that film is such an impactful art form. Plus, they\u2019re all great stories as well\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

Three colors that represent you and why:
<\/b>Blue (It\u2019s like the girl scout of colors. It\u2019s ready for anything.)
Orange (It\u2019s happy, but it\u2019s not too in your face like yellow is.
White (It\u2019s clean and open\u2026 plus, unicorns are white.)
<\/i>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

\n

<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n

What other artists [current\/past] inspire you?
<\/b>I\u2019d say Paul Rand<\/a> is one of the most amazing designers ever. His designs and logos are timeless and he had a gift for beautiful simplicity, which I think a lot of people lose sight of.
I also once worked for David Carson<\/a> and I think knowing him greatly impacted my career. While our styles and process are hugely different, he\u2019s a big advocate of trusting your gut. I often remind myself of that.<\/i><\/p>\n

Do you have any art\/design tips for aspiring artists\/creatives?
<\/b>Sketch. And if it sucks, KEEP sketching. My finished work is so much better if I work out the kinks on paper first, then move to the computer.
<\/i><\/div>\n

<\/a>What creative project[s] is\/are next on your creative calendar?
<\/b>Showing at Alchemy Coffee<\/a> until November 19th. And I\u2019ll be working on the Art House Co-Op Sketchbook Project<\/a> this winter, which I\u2019m pretty excited about! After that, my next goal is to start a graphic novel about the adventures of a Unicorn and Narwhal\u2026<\/i><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Thanks Tami<\/a> for your interview! I know I’m looking forward to your graphic novels, as well as your Sketchbook Project! Scan it in before you turn it in! <\/div>\n
As a reminder, her artwork will be on display at Alchemy Coffee<\/a>, until the 19th. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I came across Tami’s site when an artist “event” post by Alchemy Coffee [great coffee shop in West Ashley] flashed on my Facebook page. Intrigued by the artist’s profile name “Tami Like-likes To Draw”, I had to click. What followed next was a series of events that led to emailing Tami and her graciousness and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,14,17,21,22,25,29,38,39,50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artist","category-david-carson","category-dr-seuss","category-freelance-designer","category-freelance-graphic-designer","category-graphic-design-tips","category-illustration","category-paul-rand","category-photography","category-tami-boyce"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6RKYn-5a","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/hazelbasil.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/hazelbasil.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/hazelbasil.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hazelbasil.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hazelbasil.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/hazelbasil.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/hazelbasil.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hazelbasil.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hazelbasil.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}