Happy new year, everyone! I was quite exhausted before christmas and spontaneously took the holidays off. It turned out to be a very good decision. Apparently I was in dire need of a break and some room to step away to look at the bigger picture. Whether you want it or not, from time to time you have to do that to make sure you are still working into the right direction – that is the direction your set goals are in.
I am happy with how 2020 went for me artwise, mostly, and I’m even happier that in the end one or two good ideas came along on how to do even better in the future.
While I focussed on relaxation and reading, I documented my wellness and mood journey with a couple of post-its. Enjoy and see you tomorrow, back with Street Prey!
The past weeks have been pretty chaotic. You can do a lot of things to mitigate pains from times like that, but you cannot and should not avoid breaks and shut-downs altogether. In the end they happen for many reasons and can be pretty healthy as in resulting in healthy corrections of your priorities and way of working.
Surprisingly for myself I took up crocheting in that time. I hadn’t done that since elementary school. There was no reason behind it, just curiosity.
I was surprised how it went from there. I have collected some wisdoms and analogies from this time, that also work for other fields such as art. See for yourself:
Everyone and everything can be a teacher, if you are open for new experiences.
A plain first impression can be deceptive. You might enjoy the new activity anyways.
Action trumps advice.
Some more explanation for point 3: Imagine watching a couple of crocheting videos and after you have decided whether the video is compatible with you or not, then not crocheting along. You might feel a bit smarter, because you have seen some things that are possible, but you actually haven’t crocheted a thing, either working along the tutorial or trying own things. Your crocheted results will be poor and spending the time consuming the videos will be of no consequence in the end. If you decide to watch tutorials or taking advice…put it into action immediately. You get experience by experiencing doing things (and all difficulties on the way).
Personal note: if you have a tendency to procrastinate by collecting information/preparing like myself, you might try dropping watching tutorials altogether for a while (mental diet). Sounds radical, but try it. You are only allowed to watch a tutorial when you draw along in real-time AND actually learn to solve a relevant problem for your current piece you absolutely wouldn’t be able to solve at all without help from outside.
Have fun drawing!
About the artist
Styxcolor creates freelance concept art and illustrations. She blogs about storytelling and art since 2020.
E-mail: info@styxcolor.com
