Meet Tayla Evans

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tayla Evans. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tayla below.

Tayla, so happy to have you with us today. You are such a creative person, but have you ever had any sort of creativity block along the way? If so, can you talk to us about how you overcame or beat it?

Artist’s block is a phenomenon every creative person experiences – to me, I try to look at it as less than an obstacle to creating and more of a part of the natural process of creating. It’s an imperfect metaphor – but even the most efficient machines can’t run constantly; they need time to recalibrate. It can still be incredibly frustrating, as an illustrator, even when I’m facing art block, I’m never really out of things to draw, but it’s like an imposter has taken over my body and has forgotten all of my core objectives. I usually find social media helpful for gaining inspiration, as l always love to see the perspectives of other artists – but during artist’s block, I find that seeing the work others have been doing ends up being more overstimulating and detrimental to having me find my creativity again. It’s clichéd – but unplugging myself from the digital world and immersing myself in tangential experiences, like visiting museums, exploring green spaces, hanging out with friends, listening to new music, and reading new books, makes me feel like I’m going through a soft reset. When these experiences are tangible, I feel that the inspiration they give you is retained more organically. When going through creative block, I also force myself to allow my work to stay imperfect and unrefined; sometimes, the moment when you feel your work is at its dumbest, is when you actually start to experiment – which is always helpful! I have to remind myself that there is no ceiling to art and any bit of work I put into it, no matter how small it is, is something that will help me improve in the future.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I’m an illustrator and storyteller stationed in New York; most of my work can be found under the handle ‘tikrepellent’. My main interest lies in character design and world-building; research and synthesis influence a lot of the work I make, which has led me to a particular interest in cultural anthropology and building narratives. I also dabble in making stickers and prints sometimes! As my career progresses, I’d like to create longer-form comics, dabble more in visual development, and design book covers and posters. My work is probably most recognizable by its vibrant color palette, graphic line quality, and somewhat dark atmosphere. I love stories above anything, so a lot of my work is an attempt to convey a grander underlying narrative. My latest work was about a nuclear cowgirl in the 1960s! Right now, I’m keeping myself open to new opportunities and experimentation as I build my portfolio.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I think to get started on your journey at all you need to have a clear sense of identity, this doesn’t mean that you have to be known for only doing one thing or that you have to maintain a certain type of ‘branding’ for yourself; for me, what drives my creative process is knowing that I have a very specific point of view that I use as a basis for creation – and that is not something that can be replicated. Your past experiences and perspectives are what differentiate you; it is what makes you an artist as opposed to a mouthpiece for someone else. I think, alongside that, being driven is an important quality to have as well. Art is an extremely competitive field, humans are prone to creating in general, and with most opportunities in the creative industry being freelance, it is important to know how to be your own cheerleader. I realized this when I was in college; any achievement or failure that happened to me was going to be my own responsibility – as an adult, no one was going to hold my hand or force me to do anything. When I got assignments I didn’t feel passionate about, I had to find a way for them to suit my needs, rather than just feeling halfhearted about them; you have to put in the effort to get the results you want, as a creative. Failure is a part of the process too, and it’s normal to be scared of failing – I know I was, and still am in some cases. But you have to be more scared of staying stagnant than you are of failing. I think the other most important thing to me on my journey was community. I was fortunate enough to go to art school, and it’s truly amazing how inspired you can get by seeing the process and works of your peers. Having a community allows you to exist outside of your work and gives you clarity on your practice when you exist so tightly enmeshed within it. As a side note – if your community consists of just “creatives”, try conversing with people of different fields, ages, and backgrounds than you; insight can be found anywhere. My advice as an introvert to building community is to just be genuine, and annoyingly open – people will see your efforts and reciprocate.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

Honestly, I think the biggest challenge I, and surely a lot of other creatives are feeling, is breaking into the art industry. Like most other jobs, the creative field requires a lot of experience, even for entry-level positions. Further complicating things is the fact that a lot of creative positions require you to juggle multiple hats (video editing, photography, 3d work, etc.) but don’t compensate to match the effort put in. Plus, with AI and increasing censorship and defunding of industries in the United States, it is easy to feel that going down the creative path was the wrong option. When I feel like that, I have to remind myself that even if I never pursued art as a career, I would still be illustrating. I don’t think there’s much that could deter me from art. In the face of future uncertainty, no matter what my path might look like – I’m grateful that I have the opportunity to draw, even if it is something I do on the side and not as my main job. Success doesn’t always have one look, and the creative field is a very varied one – some people see success later in life or when they don’t expect it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tikrepellentart.myportfolio.com/welcome
• Instagram: @tikrepellent
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylaevans/