Today we’d like to introduce you to Nathalie Watson.
Hi Nathalie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Thank you for having me. For as long as I can remember I was passionate about art. To be honest, I probably learned colors before my numbers. As a child, my mom would buy me a package of Crayola crayons and it was a wrap ever since. Wherever I went, I had a crayon in my hand, and as I have gotten older, I would have pencils, pens, colored pencils, markers, etc. During elementary school, my friends and I would talk about Pokémon, DBZ, Sailor Moon, etc. so of course, once I discovered a step-by-step anime drawing book in the store… it was game over. My imagination was extremely vivid as a kid so after spending hours learning how to draw my favorite characters, eventually, I created my own.
It was also around this time that I became curious about photography. One of my earliest memories (I was probably around 5 or 6) was looking at a baby picture of myself and asking my dad “How do I get in there?” My dad bought a disposable Kodak camera, the kind you have to take to Wal-Mart to get developed, and we spent the day clicking away. The photos came out horrible, but just like drawing, I fell in love with it.
During my time at Trident Tech, I was more focused on developing my drawing skills and received an associate’s degree in Graphic Design. When I attended the University of South Carolina, I became obsessed with filming after watching Queen Sugar. The cinematography was so breathtaking that I set my goal of learning any and everything about cameras and received a bachelor’s degree in Media Studies. My minor was in Fine Arts at both schools.
One of the joys of being creative is that I never felt the need to pick one passion over the other. Instead, I find joy in developing and nurturing my skillset in both areas. Currently, my 9-5 is working at a tech company name AnyRoad, which enables brands to have a better understanding of their consumers through first-party data capture. When I’m not working in tech, I’m creating, drawing, and filming with an amazing group called The Conqueror Movement a platform serving as a connecting point for young Black entrepreneurs in the Carolina community to network and connect with artists of all kinds of medium.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Like anything in life, there have been ups and downs. As passionate as I am with art, I wasn’t born with natural talent, nor has any creation come easy to me. I’ve always worked twice as hard to gain the skills that I have now by spending countless hours, days, months, and even years on certain projects/concepts.
Yet there were moments when I deleted an entire film or rip apart a drawing, I’d spent months on. One time in college I tossed away a whole project and recreated a new one in 24 hours. And within those 24 hours, it was 10x better than the one I spent weeks on.
Some struggle was getting through imposter syndrome. Thoughts and feelings like “is my art good enough?” “Do I want to post this on social media or should I toss this out?” “This or that is wrong and everyone can see the mistakes I made.” “Will anyone ever buy this?” “Am I even an artist if I can’t even pick the right framing for my subject?” These thoughts pop up often whenever I feel like I fail to transfer my creative ideas into reality.
At times I had to overcome these thoughts by not creating, yet, it becomes a question of “what can I do when the things that usually distress me, start to stress me out?” And once that question starts to pop up frequently, I just take a step back. Some days I’ll binge Netflix, start a new anime series, or finish an old one. On other days I’ll go to the movies, visit a bookstore, or cafe, read manga, or hang with my friends. It took me years to learn that sometimes these struggles are meant to be used as breaks, and by stepping away I’m able to recreate with a brand-new set of eyes and a fresh mind.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I think what sets me apart from others is the way I specialized in the fields of Illustration, photography, and cinematography in unison. Typically, in my illustrations, I enjoy using different mediums to blend a cohesive look. Far away it might not be as noticeable but up close the viewer could see the difference in the weight of certain stroke marks, or how intense one away of shading may be from another.
With my photography, I’m a huge fan of Canon and own several lenses. Typically, when I’m shooting, I would say I favor having my subject either in center focus or rule of thirds with a 50 mm lens. The 50 mm blurs out the background and forces the viewer’s eye to look at solely the subject first, and the background second. Oftentimes whatever the theme is, I want my clients to feel comfortable, relaxed, but also empowered.
Lastly, with my cinematography, I want the viewers to feel as if they were a part of the film being made vs watching a finished production. And if they weren’t a part of the experience, I still want my visuals to move them wishing they were. Aesthetically I’m a fan of Ava DuVernay, Childish Gambino, and Jordan Peele. Whenever I’m watching a film directed by any of the three, I make mental notes of the lighting, framing, color changes, and how to use the atmosphere as an element of surprise. Typically for myself, I enjoy shooting in settings where based on the color of the environment the viewer is able to guess the mood of the actor. It tends to keep the viewer captive and aware of what could happen next.
Overall, personally, I believe that not mastering one specific area, and having creative interests in other areas allows me to constantly learn and keep up with current trends, as well as create my own. Yes, I would love to master one field, however, I wouldn’t want to ever think I’ve learned or mastered all techniques in one area. Art is constantly evolving, and I as a human am constantly growing daily. So, by calling myself a visual artist with multiple yet similar interests, I’m always able to implement different techniques and styles.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
Honestly, my love/dislike for the city is the people. I lived in Charleston just about all my life, and I’ve meant folks from all over, with diverse backgrounds, as well as the most creative people that will more than likely make an impact on our world. Yet when you don’t encounter genuinely kindhearted people, the ones that are opposite…the ones that are full of hatred, ignorance, and just plain evil it does increase my desire to leave Charleston. Which I believe is fine, since there is an entire world to explore.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nathaliemarievisuals.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/n_watson.93/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nathaliemarievisuals
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ConquerorMovement
Image Credits
PATx
