We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Benjamin Tinajero a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Benjamin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

Something can’t come from nothing, something has to be there in order for it to become something.
One of my brothers was my one of the greatest influence for me becoming an artist; as a young boy I would always see him drawing on pretty much anything using pretty much anything; notebooks, cardboard, bedside tables, spray-paint, paint, chalk, or basic graphite pencils. I was always amazed at his work and skill as he had a true knack of it ever since he was young. I always tried to copy his work or try it at my own style, in hope that he would notice that I would have wanted to be skilled like him.
Later in life he told me a dream of his, he wanted to become an artist (In my eyes he was one) and work on all sort of projects; video games and the Chicano culture where his biggest motivations; but unfortunately he didn’t pursue said dream, he never told me a direct answer to why he didn’t go for it; things didn’t fall into place and the old excuse of c’est la vie. I hold on to his old work, a lot of it is lost, but his set if skills are still there, or to me at least they are.
There was an old movie that he told me to watch, one called “Blood in Blood out.” The film is about 3 brothers (2-step bothers and there cousin) who’s paths in life split, it’s seen as “a set of stories of kids growing up looking for something that wasn’t there” I had watch it already a long time ago (it wasn’t appropriate for me to watch at such a young age but as a kid you don’t really understand what is going on) but, I rewatched the movie early high school. The film has a strong massage and meaning to the Chicano culture. Not only did I understand why one of the reasons why my brother wanted to become an artist, but the characters in that film represented me to a certain degree, but one of the main characters stood out; a young skilled artist who had falling out in life due to drugs and the death of his younger brother but later learns to deal with his guilt, his story represented the artistic and creative side of the Chicano culture. The film inspired me as it inspired him.
That’s when I realized that being an artist, but within my own vision was what I wanted to pursue. My brother didn’t have the same outcome as I as I did of trying to achieve his goal, so I use that as a back bone and carry it with me since I have that opportunity.
I thank my family and all homies, but special thanks to goes to Juan Diego Tinajero as for being a major influence. Something can’t come from nothing, something has to be there in order for it to become something; my brother was there for me to become something.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I considered myself an artist first and foremost. My set of skills aren’t limited by any means, I’ve been doing both video photo edits for years, but as of now I’m best known for my digital artwork. I mainly did video edits for fun and personal reasons, usually of me and friends hanging out and I would always be recording and make that into a comedic video, they recommend me to start positing them online to share it around with more people. Photo editing came naturally from recoding the whole time, but I stylize it to fit “in the moment” vibe, usually in black and white or make or more vintage look to it. My digital artwork was just a translation from pen and paper to something a little more practical to what I wanted to do more of.
My work does take time, I do tell my clients that, I don’t like feeling rushed nor I don’t like rushing them either, but I don’t like pointless waiting (time wasting or unrelated or unnecessary decisions).
I’m best known for being care free with my work, usually, I’m given free creativity, but I still would like input from the client on opinions and changes.
I’m a comedian at heart, which that has been a staple for me, so I focus on pleasing everybody. I like to make people laugh, not everyone does, but that’s ok.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

It first stated in high school, I stated sharing my videos and post to my friends, I eventually made a short film during that time that got more localy known, I was never seeking popularity, but I did get a small base of followers from that time.
Then during collage, I found a group of individuals with similar interests so my audience grew for there. I recommend to just build your social presence for fun, eventually you will find a fan base of some sort, doesn’t matter how big or small.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I’m really stubborn with my work, so I consistently try and try until I get it right, If not, I eventually comeback to it with a fresh mentality in order to push forward. This also applies to my day-to-day life; if I’m not working on my next project, you’ll find me at my local gym. I work out consistently, and I see it as both mental and physical therapy. They’re all sorts of people with vast layers of problems the go to the gym in order to vent out their frustration, at times you will see members talking about what is going on with their lives and it gets responded with emotional support. It’s a community that I’m a proud member of. It’s a piece of mind that gets used both in and out of the gym “if I continue to push forward, then eventually I will see progress.” So I use my lighthearted stubbornness to help me progress.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tinajero.myportfolio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benlogictv/
• Twitter: https://x.com/BenLogicTV

Image Credits

Ellioth Olvera