This little business often keeps me on my toes, jumping between writing, illustrating, animating or film editing etc and I am so delighted that there are lots of avenues to turn to and explore.
In the last ten days, I've been solely focussed on drawing (for reasons I hope to share with you soon!) and have created 42 illustrations - and that's not counting the discarded duds along the way! It has surprised me how much it's tired my brain creating these, especially as this little world of drawing began because I loved the calming switch off. It has still been a joyful and focussed way to work but I can tell my brain has been functioning in a way that feels akin to solving maths problems. Certainly, creativity is a series of problem solving, so it makes sense.
But the thing I've loved the most - which I wanted to share with you as a source of encouragement today - is that when I got to the end of my drawing marathon, the illustrations which I'd created back at the start no longer matched. The process had developed and improved along the way, something which might go unnoticed while working on more diverse projects. It was a lovely feeling to notice the progression, although I had to go back and tweak the earlier ones to have a similar feel to what came later. And in plain sight, there was a beautiful reminder of how powerful just taking action is - trying, playing and exploring.
I have repeated the message a few times now that I would love for everyone to believe that they are good at art - because I strongly believe that no one is bad at art. I believe that talent is your own beautiful way of seeing the world, and that your ability to channel that into something shareable is simply a skill to be learnt.
So if this finds you with a metaphorical - or actual - blank page and pencil beckoning you, consider this encouragement to mess it up, make your mark, to have fun, explore and let your own beautiful take on the world shine brightly in any way that comes to mind for you, however it takes shape.
...And more importantly, to keep going. You're only going to get better with each mark you make... metaphorical or otherwise 💛
