MY FRIENDS! I’m so excited to try again. ♥
After another long silence, I’m finally drawing again! And I couldn’t be more thrilled. I know this blog has seen many absences, and with not so stellar returns, but life is a beautiful thing that always has more to teach us, and I'm so grateful to say that I've continued to find joys I never quite imagined before. Each time I've tried coming back to my art, it was after a lot of learning -- learning things that make life only grow brighter and brighter -- but this time in particular, I'm coming back with a newfound passion for my artwork itself, and that makes all the difference.
I'm just -- so happy! And I just want to thank all of you once again for your continued patience and kindness toward me. It really means a lot, and I will be so glad to resume sharing new artwork with you.
However! I've mentioned it time and again, but I also know that I have yet to post the old requests, and I do have some messages to reply to, amongst other things. I still have every intention to catch up on these things, too, but after all these months, I think a confession is in order.
The truth is, I had created an unfortunate loop. Once I got a new job that provided a more suitable schedule, the very first thing I wanted to do was to draw for others; that's a passion of mine, but I made the mistake of turning it into a pressure.
My previous job made it very difficult to have the time and energy for completed art, and so after going so long without working in colour (not to mention switching to a different marker type I have yet to practise with), I just wasn't prepared to do the elaborate backgrounds and lighting that I had in mind for the requests; at least, not as the very first thing I do after a hiatus, much less for other people. I just don't want something meant for someone else to be subject to a potentially messy first try like that.
But... I wasn't letting myself work on anything beyond quick sketches or doodles until I got those requests done -- which I wasn't ready to do, but I wouldn't do anything else, so I couldn't practise colouring and using new media, and there was the loop. How silly!
But I'm ready to set aside my regrets. Even with mistakes like this -- mistakes that feel pitiful, or that we've repeated one too many times -- there's always something new about us with each new try we make, and that can always take us a new step in a direction we never thought we could go. Oftentimes, it's easy to miss the progress and think that there isn't any at all -- until we pause and look back at where we used to be. The only way you won't get somewhere is if you stop, so every step really does count! And faster might seem better to us, but for many things, it’s slowly that makes it surely.
That said: indeed I have not coloured the requests, but I have happily drawn the pencil lines! (I'll post them next in a bit.) I hope, even after such a long wait, that those might be worth a smile. And I think, with some practise, I may be ready to go back and colour them down the road; but at the very least, I'll be sure I'm ready for next time!
(Yes, I’m sorry this is long-winded; please don’t eat me; I’m not really sure how edible I am.)
