Hi...I'm an artist who just learned how to draw.
It's funny how the brain works. When I was growing up, my sister was the artist. (She still is. And is absolutely mind blowing at what she does!) I was the nerd with the glasses, the science tshirts and a book always within reach.
I used to make jokes that I could draw detailed stick figures and that was about it.
I was born in '83...so we didn't have ipads, Adobe tools (as we know them today), or much of any kind of a digital art option.
(Source...a Microsoft Paint God from Reddit.)
For the first two decades of my life, I never took art seriously. I never bothered to learn color theory, composition, tones or contrast. I loved reading. I loved stories. And narry the twain shall meet. In my head...artists and intellectuals were two totally different beasts.
And after barely graduating High School...
can I get I "Hell Yeah!" from my fellow undiagnosed neurodivergents?
I started community college...still unsure of what I could do with with zero to no math skills and an insane urge to become the first millionaire in the family. (This urge has NOT subsided.)
Community college didn't help with that much, but what it DID do was introduce me to film photography. I fell in love with the dark room, and quickly realized that composition and color theory was something I was kinda great at!
So, over the next 7(ish) years, I started a pretty successful business photographing weddings both in the states and around the world. It paid well, I LOVED photography and editing, and traveling was an absolute dream.
What I didn't love, however, was the pressure. The pressure to get the perfect shot on someone's perfect day.
What if my camera malfunctioned during "The Kiss"??? (It happened.).
What if my hard drive crashed and I lost everything from the big day??? (It happened.) What if my customer didn't like the final results after spending days editing??? (That actually never happened. I was REALLY good at what I did.)
After 7ish years, I decided to throw in the towel. I moved from Washington DC to Seattle, WA...owned my own cubicle for a time while in a 9-5. Failed in 2-3 different entrepreneurial endeavors that I either didn't have the heart for...or the morals.
And then...in 2020, when the world was burning...I saw the light.
I fell into Print on Demand...specifically tshirt design. It's something, almost five years (and 15,000 sales) later, that I am STILL very much in love with.
My first big tshirt design ideas involved a lot of the neon spray paint look (just tappin' into those 90's vibes).
When those didn't sell, I tried the simple "white text tshirts"...but hated it. It felt like a money grab...and I just wasn't good at mocking them up.
And finally (stick with me on this) I bought a lot of pre-made designs from other artists...which were also being sold by 1,000's of other tshirt sellers. This, was probably one of the biggest steps on my way to becoming an artist. NOT focusing on the art gave me a chance to focus on SEO, pricing, and marketing...you know, the important parts of being an artist. sarcasm, but not really
I threw proverbial spaghetti at my tshirt shop daily, and In my spare time, I started devouring YouTube channels like "Apple Cheeks" and "Katnipp". I took every drawing 101 course on Skillshare...and learning as much as I could about holding a pencil again.
One thing that stuck out through all these courses and videos, were the massive amounts of digital artists online. And when my wallet found out that the Procreate app was only $10??? It was a no brainer. I splurged and bought an ipad (paying it off through our cellphone company).
And now...I don't think there has been a day since 2020, that I have picked up my pencil and drawn something.
I'm still very much behind the curve as far as my personal "aesthetic" goes. I love thick lines and playful narratives. I'm a HUGE fan of color. And I'm REALLY bad at drawing people. (At least...I think I am. It takes me a hot second to get the proportions right.)
This week, I started learning digital gouache and watercolor techniques in Skillshare, and am LOVING the results. I'm going to see how far this new obsession takes me!
To close out, I wanted to share with you "Ari and Gato"! This took me two days to draw and paint in Procreate. I still think plane perspectives are a bit off. (I can't get the lily pad to lay flat on the water.). But, all in all, I'm really proud of it!! I'm excited to work on more little gouache style fairies!
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