"Practice...not magic."

I was never one of those artistic people who have been drawing or painting their whole lives. It wasn't until 2001 when I went with a friend to a legit art store that I thought I'd give it a a try. My friend knew I really love art and said just to go for it.

So, I bought a set of pencils, a beginner learn-to-draw book and a sketchbook, and off I went.

I thought I'd share some old and new stuff I've done here (some on my sketchbooks and some on canvas), not because they're amazing or anything like that. Unfortunately, I never have hours and  hours on end to practice, and have more bad days than good.

It is something I enjoy, however, and I say to everyone (especially those who think they're not artistically inclined) that we all don't have to be artists making masterpieces. There will always be people who will hate and criticize what you do, but sometimes, there are also people who will like it and tell you to go on.

The blog post title is something Zoe Hong always says on her videos and it really inspires me to push on every time I feel disheartened. If we do something we love and we do it long enough, we will eventually get there.

Old sketches

 

Practice using Andrew Loomis' Fun With Pencil book. I highly recommend any book by Andrew Loomis.

 The next two are oil on canvas that I did doing Craftsy classes. This was around 2015.

following Craftsy's Paint and Palette Essesntials class

following Acrylic Landscape Painting class (but I used oils instead)

A recent art journal page (using mixed media) doing Jane Davenport's class 

following Jane Davenport's Supplies Me class

Quick sketch (using drawing pastel and oil pastel) inspired by Aaron Blaise 

(I just bought his Drawing Anatomy course and I'm super excited! Also, I may be addicted to  online classes.)

 Oil on canvas board

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."

                                                                             - Pablo Picasso