Lately a lot of my time has been spent learning how to make my own typography (I am OBSESSED with IG’s of Typography and art) and learning how to digitally watercolor. I don’t know how to draw and tbh I’ve always been afraid to learn. I come from a line of super successful artists from the Philippines so you know, the pressure. I didn’t get the art gene, my brother did. I got the talent of writing instead. But since I needed a new way to express myself I told myself in 2021 we were gonna learn how to draw… or something close to it.
And with the recently loss of my dear cat Sophie (I haven’t written about this yet because I just… ugh) I really wanted to learn how to draw a cat and make a series of illustrations of her. Mari had the super cute idea of making her a kitchen ghost cat and I just LOVE that idea. I’m sure Sophie would too. Considering how much she loved the kitchen and food. Also check out her blog, she’s literally the sweetest person ever. I absolutely appreciate you checking on me all the time!
I’m reminding myself to be kind to myself. Like every other new hobby you decide to learn, it’s going to take a lot of time to learn what you’re doing. In absolutely no way did I learn Photoshop, how to use makeup or how to curl my hair in one day. Or even one year. I took me at least 5 years to learn how to curl my hair right! Photoshop was a thing that I invested years into. I remember the first time I was able to open Photoshop 7 up, I opened a new document and just stared at it. My ex husband (who was my bf at the time) was like “…what are you doing?” and I remember just staring at the screen like “where the fuck do I even begin?” I was so obsessed with learning Photoshop and had so much fun doing it. I couldn’t (and still can’t) do everything but over the years I learned new techniques and I’m still learning! But I am a completely self taught graphic designer and this was before YouTube was even around. So. I really wonder how I pulled that off.
I’m not going to learn how to illustrate or draw or paint likely by the end of this year. That’s just not realistic. But I will be farther than I was when the year started and honestly, that’s all that really matters.
In the mean time, I need to remember that.
And I need to remember to be gentle with myself as I learn.
Nothing great happens overnight. And that’s totally okay.
What’s something you want to remind yourself or manifest this week? I’d love to know!