I first learned how to draw in mid 2016. Even though it’s been a few years, I still very much consider myself a novice artist. Here you’ll find all of the posts about navigating the world as an amateur artist—and all of the good, bad, and ugly that comes with the title.
A dive into my very first "crappy Walmart sketchbook".
Watching your art improve over your first couple of years is an exhilarating experience. It's full of anticipation and wonder—and makes you feel like you can take on the world.
This video showcases my art improvement from the very beginning, until the end of 2018. In other words, I go through every single drawing in my infamous "crappy Walmart sketchbook". Yes, the sketchbook I purchased during a fateful summer afternoon when the fan-art driven desire to learn how to draw slapped me in the face (RE: My Coming of Age Art Journey (Part 1) – Finding Inspiration).
There aren't many perks to being an amateur artist; however, it does come with one clear benefit: An inflated and unearned sense of confidence in your (lack of) abilities. So when my mom, of all people, asked me to paint a huge "masterpiece" to be hung in our living room, I of course told her that I could handle it. "It'll be easy breezy!" I thought. So I went to the nearest Dollarama and picked up a couple of large paintbrushes. . .
. . . The point is, you start off small in the amateur stage. And once you slowly begin to find our footing, you explore. Your creative scope begins to expand, ever so slowly—as does your sense of exploration. Different styles and mediums begin to influence your work. And then one day, when you least expect it, your creative medium slaps you across the face. It could be a love-at-first-sight type of slap. Your first time using soft-core colored pencils for instance and then, boom, instant adoration for the medium. Or it could be a relationship full of exasperation to start. Writing off, say, acrylics out of frustration, only to be drawn back to them later down the line. . .
What are your goals for developing as an artist? Which mediums would you like to explore/improve at? Which drawing skills would you like to develop? Where do you stand right now in your art development? Are you happy with the progress you've been making lately? What do plan to do to level up in your artistry? What ways are you hoping to challenge yourself for the rest of this year? What are some of the most recent art projects you've completed? Which projects are currently in progress? What projects do you have planned for the future? . . .
Let's be real for a second here.
What is it like to learn art as an adult?
When you ask people how long they've been drawing for, they typically answer with "for as long as I can remember". And don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful thing to pick up on your creativity at a young age. . .
. . . I didn't feel 100% about my love for art, and was afraid to fully come to terms with what this experience meant. So before deciding to jump back into creativity, after what I labelled a moment of "artist block", I purchased a Parisian paint-by-numbers set and slowly chipped away at it. Note, that it's been about 3 months and I'm less than a quarter of the way through. . .
I'm convinced that 90% who've made it this far are bound to complete the entire challenge—I mean, we're already in so deep, it would be ludicrous to turn back now. So far, I say that Sketchtember made for major improvement in my ability to illustrate. Since I'm currently inking my sketching, the process is just making what already exists more permanent. Huevember, on the other hand, will be quite the adventure. Coloring isn't exactly my forte, so it'll be interesting to partake in the challenge.
This was my first time stepping out of my university's sketch club and joining the wider art community at large. It was nice, and I felt personally rewarded in taking initiative to go on my own. There were a ton of prizes being given out, and I mean a ton. I'm surprised everyone didn't walk out with something. I certainly didn't. But it was fine because I created the following piece:
This experience was most definitely an interesting one. When drawing characters, I typically stray away from backgrounds—mainly because I have no clue where to even begin.
But at one point, drawing a floating character on the middle of a page no longer makes the cut. It was about time to step up my art game, and experimentation makes up a large part of this. I initially drew out a thumbnail of characters from each of the zodiac signs. This scene in particular is of a Taurus on a treasure hunt.
For the first 20 years of my life, I managed to convince myself that I didn't have a single creative bone in my body. It just wasn't in me. Art just wasn't in me; nor was it something I'd ever wish to become decent at. So based on this context, being inspired to draw based on Miraculous Ladybug fan art definitely seems to have come out of nowhere. Emphasis on "seems".
