They say that when we’re on creative block we should try going back to basics. I guess that’s what this is?
I have been doing some studying (so not a lot to show off on my website and/or socials…) So this is me posting some of those study exercises. Nothing fancy, nothing shinny. Just lines, cylinders, and boxes.
So I guess that if you’re struggling with your creative fluids, just go back to basics. In this case, I am not even an anatomy expert, so it is teachable still 🙂
We all aspire to greatness. Some more than others–and it often leads to dissatisfaction, frustration, and burnout. Less pressure works better than pushing to your limits at all times.
I’ve always been a tryharder and often, I felt proud of it. My approach to everything was just to try harder. I made a mistake? Try harder. My client wasn’t as happy? Try harder. My drawing wasn’t perfect? Yes, you guessed it: Try harder.
We love to think that life is simple like that, that we can have a formula for success and follow it to get the results we want every time, but growing up means realizing that isn’t true. Life sometimes gets nasty, and even when we “do everything right”, results can lead to failure. It is ok to try hard but not for everything, at all moments.
I published a video about how the flow has been my friend lately:
Maybe the answer is to not push ourselves all the time. I know that there are moments in life where there’s no way around it, but unlearning the “tryhardiness” has been one of the most difficult tasks of my 30’s.
Be nice to yourself and allow yourself to be OK. Not perfect. Sometimes we can’t control the outcome even if we push ourselves to the limit, so let go of that expectation to be better all the time. You’re a human being that is human just for being. To be or not to be….amiright?
(aka How to Calm the Fk Down)
We’ve all been there: stressed out, broken, ready to scream into the void. Sometimes, you just need a break. So here’s the deal: today, we’re going full-on Druid mode. Or at least pretending to. Because, honestly, the world sucks, and sometimes you need a bit of magic and nature to just breathe.
Here’s how to do it.
A few weeks ago I was drawing a druid in my old sketchbook. Prompted by Paintable’s one week character (although I was doing it months later),It was just a small silly sketch and I liked it, but didn’t really feel the need/urge to finish it or do more with it. It remains an unfinished idea in my notebook… Until today. I thought what would it be to be a “modern druid“? I take this back and edit my post because I am sick of pretending everything is alright. The world is too much and let’s just pretend to be Druids, ok?
I also made this sketch available for free use without copyright at Wikimedia Commons. Maybe one day I will scan it and make it available properly. Bare with me, I can barely exist.
Disclosure: I am mostly thinking about the D&D druid class, and not the Celtic religious leader kind.
Of course I couldn’t resist sharing some of my artwork about the foody-goodies!
Sharing some nature adventures I’ve had. I loved that kitty hat!
At the end of the day, remember that this isn’t about “fixing” your problems. It’s about having a break for a while. It’s not about being perfect or having all the answers…it’s just about existing in the moment, without all the pressure. So when you’re done, don’t overthink it. Just feel whatever it is you’re feeling, and know that’s enough.
Summertime is great. This year I am enjoying the 38ºC more than usual, spending most of my sketching time drawing birds.
Last year I was out of my hometown and when summer arrived in Massachusetts, life begun. You see, I arrived in fall and it was great to see the orange and red everywhere. I felt like in the movies and it was wonderful.
After a few weeks, everything died. Of course, being in a place where scenery changed so much was a novel experience and I loved it. Then the snow and winter was lovely but after weeks and months of being cold (spring was freezing too!) you kind of get used to it. I wasn’t missing much of my home, or that’s what I thought.
Then comes June and July. Massachusetts became a completely different place. People were happy (and outside) everywhere. Festivals, park events, families running and playing on the yards, music, laughter. Warm days not only made them happier, I was also so full of energy, I felt purpose, motivation to do exercise, days were longer, etc.
Summer is a luxury, something to look for to. At least for people with less fortunate coordinates. Now I get why people would say I lived in paradise when they found out I live in Cancun. LOL people would ask me where we came from and I’d say “Cancun, Mexico”. They would be like “Why? Why did you come here!?” I guess snow is pretty and all that, but it can be very boring and cold after years of being isolated home? I don’t know hah I love being isolated home, but weather for sure plays a role in our happiness.
I embrace my luxury. In Cancun, every day is summer. Even in winter, temperatures don’t go below 15ºC ever. And this is probably as low as it will ever go. I don’t need to put boots and a full set of clothes to walk my dogs at 7am. I can go in my pajamas and flip flops, no prep or anything. People are always outside, enjoying weather. I sigh contently (and sweaty).
I know this sounds extremely cliche and cheesy, but it is! While I miss my cold hikes in Mass and the ever changing scenery, I can see so many colorful birds here. There are many yellow birds, but we have so many different ones in all shades and shapes. I need to pay more attention and take more photos. On one hand I love that I often enjoy the moment and don’t waste it in my phone or camera, but on the other hand, I could take more photos and contemplate the world around me with artsy eyes, as it is super fun!
Lately I am focusing on drawing a lot of birds as I am working on my first picture book. Who had the brilliant idea of writing a story about birds without knowing how to draw birds? Of course, LOL.
Enjoy what’s available to you. Sometimes we feel the grass is greener on the other side, but you might be standing on treasure, wasting time dreaming of being somewhere else. Breathe in nature and your surroundings–breathe out art.
I invite you to draw birds this summer. Or if drawing is not your cup of tea, try taking photos, writing a short story, imitate their song. Anything goes!
Sometimes I just burn some time on Instagram, looking mostly at illustration, paintings and sketches. I’m starting to browse on Twitter too, following amazing artists and people that create children illustration or fantasy art. I’m really into whimsical art.
Suddenly I ran into a #fantasy hashtag or something and found @lizabetroberts. I’m totally blown away immediately: strong, warrior women in her photos, awesome mix between beauty, grace and strength. If you haven’t visit that link by now, I’m disappointed.
Anyway, I’m totally in love with her photos and I found one that was just so bold and I knew I had to draw it! I asked her for permission and she also directed me to @queen_astraea, her model for permission. Astraea is super fun too! If you follow her you’ll find the perfect blend between fantasy, glamour, and charisma!
They both were super kind and grant me permission to draw it. It has been a while since I reached out, but I’ve been super busy with work. Ok, I have a sketch now at least. I’m still thinking if I should digital paint it, use water color, coloring pencils, just plain inks… I might make some copies to try different things.
This one was probably started around 2016 and lost my excitement about it because I couldn’t get the legs right. It kind of looks better now tho.
I was eager to draw or paint and I was just checking out the sketchbook and started some drawings here and there… and well, I finished the sketch for my wood warrior elf. I am so happy with the result that I couldn’t wait to share. This one might look the light of day someday!
I always start a bunch of things, but often don’t finish them…
I’ve been posting (and will continue to) older pieces and older insights, as some of them will get lost in time if I don’t document them somewhere. And my own blog made the most sense. Some of them existed in a Patreon page I had a year or two ago but I changed to buy me a coffee instead, and to be honest, I’m thinking of closing that one too…probably just having everything point here makes more sense. I don’t have a lot of supporters these days anyway.
I’ve been having nerve pain (elbow and shoulder) but they are getting better. I’m now allowed to play some games at the computer and drawing has been normal for some time now, so I’m glad. I am working on a few sketches but sharing this one because I’m really proud, even if it is still not done.
Going back to just drawing for fun rather than having a specific purpose or goal is good for my soul. I used to be that way before college but then I feel I got contaminated and unless your work means something or has a purpose, it’s never good enough. Trying to reconnect myself to child-like drawing: just have fun!
Ps. Some day I’ll spend more time planning my photos so they look pretty 🙂
This one started as a sketch around 2016 and it was just there in a piece of paper, not even a sketchbook I think. It went through several trials to get to where it is now. In 2017 I inked it and tried a few different things and again, dropped it for years haha.
On Dec 2017 I was in the middle of moving and even so, I’m not sure how, I did a ton of skeches. Maybe because I didn’t have good internet?
This was inspired by a Disney’s Brave sticker my kid had. She had like a book of Disney stickers. I love Merida and her curly hair. Decided to make this sketch inspired by Merida’s hair and “badassery”. I was into armor and knighty things back then (and maybe even now)
By the time I finished this, it was May of 2020 and I was streaming sometimes. This was finished on stream with some friends hanging out with me. It was pretty cool! Streaming was kind of convenient too, because Twitch would save the video and I could download it and speed it up to upload to Youtube, and that’s exactly what I did.
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.