I loved drawing and painting since childhood.
But it gradually slowed down in college and came to a halt when I started working. 10 years flew by.
Unlike what most people think, you don't need talent in drawing to enroll in architecture school. They will teach you that. You'll learn during the first year and you'll still be enjoying the freedom of drawing whatever you want (I mean, besides buildings). But as architecture studies continue, computer programs will replace hand-drawn most of the time and you would mostly draw during the initial stages of design. Autocad, Photoshop, Sketchup etc, will eventually take over. The works become more serious, more detailed and with more specific requirements. And doubled with the fact that studying architecture leaves me almost no time for everything else, I just stopped painting. I still draw though. Buildings only :P
I want to pursue whatever hobbies I felt I have long lost. It's left forgotten as other things in life took precedence. Everything was good then but now, I wanted a change.
Due to the nature of my work, I don't really like drawing or painting in detail because I wanted to be more 'free' so to speak. I think this is due to the fact that my work is very focused, very detailed and tedious at times and as a release, I wanted to paint something more unrefined, rough and messy. In other words, my paintings are the opposite of what I do in my profession.
So I used the steps below:
Don't wait for inspiration to come.
I used to wait around. You know, just being lazy. Thinking that ideas will just pop out after staring at flowers, the sky, people, whatever. It doesn't work. Maybe it works for some people. I actually learned this in architecture school (and a little late). Ideas won't come unless we put into action. I have to draw and draw whenever I can and somehow, ideas will form.
Spend a little time every other day if possible.
As a mother, finding time even for 15 minutes is damn hard. You rather spend that time breathing 😂.
I only paint at night after the kids go to bed. And even that was when the kids are slightly older and I have extra help around the house. I would paint anywhere from half hour to 2 hours (depending how insomniac I am). I have to hide my paint and brushes after I paint and hang my painting up high somewhere so they won't lay their fingers all over it.
If you want to start, perhaps you can start slow. It's okay to be slow. But don't feel forced to start. You don't want to feel stressed out by it. And when you start, you may began to be so focused that you can't stop.
Buy new stationery.
I gotta admit that sometimes, I'm just motivated with new things. I have some old paint lying around for over 10 years. Probably a reputable brand is fine but the one I'm using was unheard of so...yeah. I used it to paint recently and it smelled like shit. And that smell lingers in the room for a week.
Watch tutorials on YouTube.
There's endless drawing and painting tutorials on YouTube. There are times when I watched videos on YouTube and I was like 'yeah...I could do that' or some paintings so amazing you'll be like OMG, that fella so talented how the hell am I going to be that good??? Don't compare k? It just makes you feel like crap.
Take photos or videos. And post it on social media.
I was a little embarrassed about taking this step but I thought what the heck. I'm torn between being private and wanting to also show off my work. I mean, at some point you want people to see your work right? Perhaps I wondered if I measured up to others, if my artwork is ever good enough, will people like it...the questions never ends. We are our harshest critic and I kept reminding myself that everyone is different. I also like the idea of seeing my work progress.
I'm currently still searching for my artistic style. Maybe I don't have any. I could like abstract today and something more realistic a couple of days later. It can take months to years to develop for all I know. And I want to document my journey.
Social media is a really powerful tool if used properly. It may take some getting used to at the beginning and some research on which platform suits what I am doing, but it will get better after getting the hang of it. Actually, I'm still trying to.
So yes! That's about it for now. At this time of writing, I'm still learning and still experimenting and I can only hope to get better :)
תגובות