This is not a tutorial or a post to share a “how to” but mostly to talk about how much I enjoy introductions.
The first time I meet a character, a world, or a concept in media is THE best! I used to always talk about how much I love the first move of sagas and how the second or third aren’t as good. Then I realized this is a pretty universal thing for me. I just love that first time you are introduced to them!
As many people in my generation, I was introduced to The Lord of The Rings through Peter Jackson’s movies and guess which one is my favorite? Yes, of course: The Fellowship of the Ring! Not only are we introduced to endearing characters, but the magic of middle earth! I love the trilogy but the first movie is just like… my happy place. Hygge moments, hobbits, meals, parties, hope. Sometimes when I’m feeling burned out I just put that move and the music, the pace, and the characters take me to a warm fuzzy place.
I love when Gandalf arrives in the Shire and Frodo meets him all serious:
– “You’re late” – “A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.”
Although I’ve been reading the books and that line is from the movies only, I love the scene so much that I had to create artwork for it!
It is kind of impressionist, loose, and not super carefully done to be honest, but it was very fun. I started with loose (very loose) sketches, then used my watercolor pencils to block some color and then just used those aquawash brushes to blend. Voila!
I even made a video talking about how painting hobbits is (kind of) the cure to burnout heehee.
Are you an aspiring artist (writer, painter, illustrator, filmmaker, musician, etc) feeling hesitant about starting your creative journey?
Perhaps you’re struggling with self-doubt, perfectionism, and impostor syndrome. If so, you’re not alone. I’ve come to realize those are going to be constant companions if you’re an artist, and we’re particularly susceptible because putting ourselves out there means having to open up a little bit and let strangers (and maybe even people we think high of) tell us what they think. We’re in one way or another, looking for constant validation from the outside world, but in reality, the worst possible judge is deep inside.
Finding Inspiration in the Cosmos of Ideas
Moving away from social media for a little bit helped too. I replaced doom scrolling with drawing or writing down ideas, even if those never come to realize as anything specific. I created a Notion account and kept different notebooks to “organize” my somewhat chaotic thinking. I used Facebook groups to bounce ideas with niche professionals and artists, and if I wanted to find inspiration to draw I went to Pinterest and found references and cool things that are more tailored to what I want to draw or paint that specific day. It has been refreshing, to be somewhat back in time and find useful things instead of trends that are pushed into my face because of algorithms.
Navigating Self-Doubt and Perfectionism As an Artist
For the last few months, I have been trying to just create art without thinking highly of the results or expecting too much. In reality, I’m not sure if this is the key to navigating the crawling emotions that paralyze me or the feeling of “nothing matters” — a result of a little mid-life crisis that came after moving to a new country and realizing that it was a mistake, coming back home licking my wounds. But the fact is that at least in this area of my life which I like to call my creative journey, I feel free, under less pressure, and if something goes wrong I either go with it and see if it turns better, or I move on to the next.
In the “Space Suit Girl” watercolor artwork I’m sharing here I felt very inspired and happy while sketching (the phase I feel most comfortable at), but once I started adding color, I felt anxious. Self-doubt and perfectionism threatened to derail my process. Questions like “Am I good enough?” and “Will anyone appreciate my work?” echoed back into my mind. However, I kept going and kept repeating myself that if I didn’t like this at the end, It wasn’t the end of the world. I could paint something else later, and no one had to see it if I didn’t want to share! I discovered that embracing imperfections and enjoying the process were key to not only unlocking my artistic potential but would be the foundation for building my self-confidence again.
Embracing the Journey, Not the Destination
Painting the space girl taught me an invaluable lesson: art is not just about the finished product; it’s about the journey. This sounds a little cheesy, but hey, I’m allowed to say this because: a) I refuse to take myself seriously b) I am an aspiring artistso I am allowed to fail and retry forever until the end of time. I have no deadlines and no lords to bow to
Rejecting Society (not really, but let’s pretend)
Society often measures success by arbitrary timelines and unrealistic media portrayals. It is easy to succumb to feelings of inadequacy or failure but over the past months (who knows how many, this has been far too long of a lesson), I have noticed that everyone’s journey is unique. There is not a “right” path or timeline for success. Instead of comparing ourselves to others, let’s celebrate our individuality and embrace our own personal evolution. Your evolution might take the form of creative growth, emotional openness, empathy, growing your family, leaving a toxic environment, or many others. Only you know what it is to be in your shoes, and evolution can be accepting a hard reality, and preparing to take the next small step.
Final Thoughts
This watercolor painting was more than just an artistic adventure. It was another step in a transformative journey of self-discovery and acceptance. Through overcoming negative emotions of self-doubt, embracing imperfection, and rejecting society (pressures), I was again reminded of very valuable lessons that continue to shape my artistic practice and adulthood. So, to all aspiring artists and struggling humans out there, remember that your journey is yours alone. Embrace it and let it guide you through the end of the day. Today might just be a foundation for a brighter tomorrow.
Oh yes, I also made a short YouTube video on this topic with the speed-up process of the painting in case you want to see it, subscribe and say hi there!
Yesterday I seized the strong art wave that presented itself and created three whimsical forest watercolor paintings. But wait a minute… It really didn’t present on it’s own. I told my kid “Hey, let’s set up and paint”, “Let’s listen to Riverside. It is the best music I’ve found for focus”.
Looking for Inspiration
What they say about art inspiration is true: it doesn’t really present itself on it’s own and you have to summon it. I was decided to get in the mindset of art, and I think music really helped too. I started looking at my Pinterest home feed and there are some great aritsts out there! I discovered a few great artists and got super inspired. One that really stood out to me was Matt Rockefeller. He really is inspiring!
From Inspiration to Action
Once I was filled with art ideas I had just so much going on in my head and I didn’t want to lose any time. I didn’t yet knew what to draw so I quickly just drew three frames for the illustrations. Once in the flow, I guess it didn’t really took a lot of effort, just let the pencil flow from one panel to the next until I had all three sketches. I’ve been following the carefree attitude I described in my most recent post to let go of my perfectionism and I must say that all things came so much better because I didn’t have a plan for the artwork in mind, all I knew at this point was that I wanted to create three forest watercolor paintings.
Behind the Scenes / WIP
Without any more words (I struggle). Here are a few photos of the doing!
Fable, first layersFable, backgrounds almost doneFable, finished
Adding the shinny hearts to all animals came as a surprise (more of the enjoy the process, let go): While painting the bodies, I added the shadows first and more blending colors until the center of the animal, where the heart would be, was lighter. It just instantly reminded me of Vasil Woodland’s art. One common topic in their art is the presence of a heart in animals and magic that happens around it. In my version it represents the spirit of their habitats 🙂
Tools Are Super Important, But Not Everything
I bought a few cheap brushes at Michaels a few weeks ago and I thought they were ok, until I took my 30 year old brush (that belonged to my dad) and painting became so much better. About 90% of them were made using cheap crap brushes I wanted to test tho LOL.. anyway back to the magic brush…No wonder why it was my favorite when I was in college. I wish I new what brand it is. It is old, it’s not fancy, it is only the best brush ever.
Final Thoughts
Allowing yourself to make mistakes, to think about having fun, enjoy the process and just pass time doing something you love, it may result in creating something super good. So far, I feel my art is so much better lately, because I don’t care!
By the way, I created a Riverside playlist for all artsy folks. For those who don’t know the band it is prog metal but no growls or shouts or anything like that. The guitar player kind of sounds like he “stole” (inspired from) Al Di Meola and it really puts me in the mood for ultra focus-
In this entry I want to talk about using reference images for creating original illustration. The lines are a little blurred for creating artwork when heavily inspired by other creators, I guess. However, I believe that using references is a great way of practicing, learning, and improving… And there’re many ways to reference real life using photos to create fantasy or whimsical art (my favorite!)
Personally, even when I was in school and the task was to copy images or other people’s art, I always felt the need to create something original or different. The concept phase and sketching is where all the fun happens for me and exploring the real world for fantasy storytelling or whimsical, magical art is a big part of my process.
In the watercolor piece I’m sharing here, I wanted to draw a firefox. Foxes are so beautiful! They have been a common theme for my drawings and paintings for some time now (I think I should upload them in the blog sometime but you can see some of that in my Instagram).
Found pretty good images using our old friend Google and some of them where pretty images from Unsplash (specific reference I used here). Since copyright and fair use is a gray area, I’d suggest trying to use references from sources where the license is free to do (almost) whatever you want. More so if the final product can be compared to the source material and the resemblance is obvious. Depending on the reason for using a reference, if you’re going to share the work online, if you want to sell it, etc. you can be less or more rigid on reference choices.
Another thing I like to do is combine references. Even if I don’t have the fire images I used as reference handy, the images I used were photos and watercolor paintings. With no clue on how I would execute my idea, I just knew I wanted a firey fox. Once my sketch was ready, I had to see how fire behaves, how other artists translate it to watercolor, and how I could make it look “somewhat real” in a fox.
I’m fairly happy with the result and up to the next!
What a good day! This is just a short story about pushing myself to be more creative and engaging with my loved ones as a path to overcoming burnout. I don’t have any answers, but I want to be happy.
I last painted or drew something at the start of this year. I had a few days off in December 2022 and when this year began I had all this motivation and energy to restart my art in 2023. I found this 1 Year Calendar for Art on Youtube, printed the schedules, and was ready to commit to getting better at my craft and being more creative. I didn’t want to share anything as they were mostly just ugly doodles, but I was getting things done.
Err– you might notice that this blog has been abandoned for over a year and that my social media is also being dead for some time. Well… yeah… I won’t go into details but let’s just summarize that my plans went down the toilet, I drew for like a week, and I’ve been feeling a little bit burned out on life.
Overcoming Burnout and Pushing Myself to Be Creative Again
Anyway. Today I went online with a friend on Zoom and we had coffee, chatted, and painted for a few hours. It was so much fun and refreshing! That was the start of my day and honestly, it really energized me more than I imagined it would. After my painting session, my husband and me went out to buy some stuff, and got myself a cheap table to have a dedicated place for creativity. As an introvert, sometimes going out and doing things on the weekend is dreadful– I’m so tired and drained from my work week that I just want to be in a cave and nap. This time it was so different, even with the rain and the chore-shopping! Art really energized me and I hope that doing just a small thing every day will change my life going forward. I think I need to push myself a little to do one creative thing per day. Even if it is writing a line, drawing a quick 5-minute doodle, or singing a song.
Before going out shopping, I told my husband about a video from Boby Chiu I watched a few years ago (sorry, I couldn’t find it but there are many helpful short videos of his in this playlist and maybe this is in that list somewhere). I don’t remember the details very well but it was mostly about doing better at art and that he changed his setup to make his art accessible. We go and do things that are easy and handy, so that’s almost always watching TV or playing video games, but art (almost always) has an extra step to prepare your area, set up, get all your supplies, and then start doing your thing. So we procrastinate. Hubby told me we had to get me a table to get all my artsy shit there accessible in our room. So we did and now I have a small space in our bedroom that is my art corner. Nothing fancy, and I have to improve it, but no more painting on the kitchen counter, YAY!
I’m just restarting this art journey (again) but I guess that’s life, right? Trying and not giving up on what we love.
Cute animals! Just tiny watercolor minis I did back in 2017. Another drop-off project from someone who jumps around between ideas too much.
The deer was adopted by a friend and it gave me that idea of adobtables. I had a Patreon – which at some point I had like 7 supporters :O and they could claim one, and no one ever did again haha
Summary for this story (and probably more to come) is that I suck at commitment. I was talking to my husband the other day, about things I enjoy doing like drawing, painting, playing video games, etc. And I was telling him that I just don’t play a lot of my favorite video games anymore. For example, Zelda, because I feel I need at least 3hr of quiet and no interruptions. He told me I need to chill out and stop turning everything into a project!
I guess he’s right. If I want to do something, I hate interruptions. I won’t watch a movie unless I know N O T H I N G will come and interrupt it. So this is one of my demons and why I never start doing things, or why I loose inertia and track of projects I once was interested and passionate about. Once I need to hard stop, is really hard to pick up things. But I’m working on that hehehe..
I’m going back in time to find old things I’ve done and either taken pictures of, or uploaded somewhere (if I can’t find the actual photos). One day I will stop being lazy and will take the camera and took good photos of things, instead of using my phone with weird lighting/not caring much about the time of day. For now, we only have this.
For now, let’s get into my memory and get a few things here. By the time I did this water dragon, I also did a few sketches and tests with watercolor. I was active in a facebook group called “Drawing fight club” and people would challenge you to draw prompts with a deadline. I think that group is kind of dead now, but I’ll take a look sometime to see if I can pick that up. It was a fun interaction with other fellow Mexican illustrators.
