My personal favorite art channels on the YouTube - part 2
wherein the writer continues to talk YouTube content creators
You can read the other posts in this limited series here.
THOM MINNICK
I only recently discovered Thom Minnick’s YouTube channel, and I believe I did through YouTube shorts. Minnick’s videos are kind of difficult to pin down: they are part personal journal, part technical discussion, part Finnegans Wake-esque narrative. It is really well made, without being overproduced; and is really, really engaging.
Minnick’s videos do what I look for in any YouTube video about art: it’s less about learning some new technique, and more about the creator’s thoughts and philosophy on art. This is not to say that there’s no technical discussion. On the contrary, Minnick spends considerable time in his videos talking about what he’s doing, why he’s doing it, and how he’s doing it. But those discussions never seem to be the centerpiece of his videos. Rather, they’re sprinkled throughout the recording as part of what amounts to his stream of conscientiousness approach. The centerpiece is always the process of creating art. This has the consequence of focusing each video, which creates strong narrative cohesion.
ALPAY EFE
Alpay Efe is a professional artist who works in traditional media. Efe is German and paints out of Germany. And that already makes him cool in my book because Germany is awesome. There is not much that Efe doesn’t paint; what lured me in was not his subject matter, though, but what he did at the end of each portrait: “ruin” it! I started watching Efe before I decided to become an artist, and I remember distinctly enjoying his voice and story telling and pontificating but especially his painting. And then, at the very end, he would take a single, super contrasting color, and paint it right over his beautiful work. I was shocked… and I didn’t like it at all. But not only did it grow on me, I learned more from that singular ruinous moment than I did from any tutorial.
Ok, all that said, I’m including Efe on this list for another reason: this dude is fearless with his opinions, and he shares them frequently and eloquently. And he shares them across a variety of subjects, all of which are connected in some fashion to visual arts. I freaking love that. Because something I’ve learned about the arts is this: this is a profession that depends on heart, and the more you create according to your heart - your values, your beliefs, what’s important to you, what sings to you, etc. - the more honest, compelling, and great your art will be. And this happens regardless of whether someone knows you, agrees with you, or likes you. You get to see this in action when you sit down for one of Efe’s videos. (And it’s what I learn again in each video at that moment when he “destroys” his incredible work.)
BEIGE FREQUENCY
So, ok, Beige Frequency is not an art channel. It’s filled with long-form essays, mostly about mixed martial artists and comedians (and other related material, such as WWE). And I enjoy listening to these essays, especially about MMA. He does a very thoughtful job in putting together what amounts to audio op-eds, and is a very skilled wordsmith. But I enjoy watching them for something completely different: while he narrates his essay, he’s drawing.
From an entertainment stand point, it’s brilliant, because it’s pretty unique, at least in terms of what I’ve encountered with similar op-ed, long form essays, which usually jump between seeing the narrator face-on, to montages and cutscenes. What really sells it, though, is that he’s really really good at drawing. More so, and in keeping with the general tenor of his essays, his drawings are usually caricatures. I’ve said this in several posts before, but seeing an artist’s process just makes that image that much richer; more so when you have a narrative to go along with it in literal real time.