Turtle Turtle!

This is just a fun little drawing I did.  I was in the mood to draw a turtle.  

Watercolor!

I've always struggled with feelings of inadequacy and low self esteem... My feelings about my ability to draw and paint are no different.  School was really hard at times and I seriously considering quitting several times.  There was a lot of really talents kids that were in classes with me so it made it really hard to feel comfortable showing my face some days.  Having a predetermined mindset that your work is awful doesn't really help you to get anywhere so it's been something that I've had to fight and try to overcome.  When I'm not working or in school I really have to fight to get things done.  I'm extremely lucky to have my husband around who doesn't by into this whole idea that everything I do is worthless.  He has a lot of patience and really encourages me to keep going and that my efforts are worthwhile.  It's completely different when you have someone to report to and when you don't.  It's really easy to just become complacent and let your latest and greatest achievement be enough.  I guess that's my real downfall.  I look at things like my Ryan Seacrest caricature and think why I didn't think I could ever do something that good and just kinda check out.  I spent the first few weeks of summer with that attitude.   I'm learning to have to overcome my self doubt and thinking errors and trying to continue to progress in my artistic abilities.

Since I'm lucky enough to take the summer off I'm trying to learn watercolor.  Up until this point I haven't done watercolor.  (Well I'll be honest I tried it when I was in like 4th grade and that one experience in an after school community center class turned me off to art until my freshmen year of college.)  It's been quite the experience watching tutorials and just trying to learn how the paint works.  It's a completely different approach then how I paint with oil and acrylic so it's been quite the experience.  Here some work I'd just been playing around with... remember I'm just trying to learn how to use the paint so they're not perfect.

While in college I was introduced into Stina Perrson (http://www.stinapersson.com/portfolio/watercolour/) and she's amazing.  If you're not familar with her you should be! Right now.  Her work is beautiful and I've been having a lot of fun trying to replicate her work. 

Fashion Drawings

Right before I graduated I took this amazing class that really encouraged experimentation.  Sometimes in classes you just have to do what you have to do to get the assignment done and you don't get to try new things.  This class was a huge turning point for me.  It really helped me to step back and embrace what I naturally do and I how I naturally draw.  I was shocked to see the improvement I made and was really happy with a lot of my end results.  One of the units I enjoyed the most was the fashion illustration unit.  I'm trying to keep up with my abilities and stuff so I've been doing some fashion drawing and these are a couple of the ones I like.  It's funny how much you can love something while you're working on it and then the next time you look at it you hate it.