Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Day 4

[florianschild]

Is this day 4 or day 2, since I didn't get a post up at all over the weekend? I'm going to say it's day 4 regardless.

One of my goals is to eschew perfectionism, which has often stopped me from getting better at hobbies. I'm really good at researching hobbies, buying all the tools, organizing my workspace, etc. But then I get too nervous about "messing up" that I don't even want to start. Coloring has been like that for me. I hate to waste my supplies or "ruin" a pretty coloring page if I make a mistake. But isn't a book of pages that are never colored in so much worse than a book that shows improvement?

I'm committed to just starting, trying to enjoy the experience of coloring itself, and not caring so much about the outcome. And I'd like to start sharing some of my results as well. Mainly because I think I'd enjoy looking back on them and being proud of myself for taking that leap.

So here's my progress so far (most of these were done a while back but I just finished the most recent one a few weeks ago):


My first page:

This first try was definitely a beginner attempt! I was working on less-than-ideal paper for alcohol markers and I didn't have great markers for blending shades, but I still kind of like how it turned out.

My Second Page:

I was going for a more cohesive color palette in this picture, and I think I did ok given the same limitations in supplies as my first picture

My Third Page:

This was my first attempt at a skintone with alcohol markers and it was really fun to do. I didn't finish the page because it was actually watercolor paper and I was worried about it sucking my marker ink dry lol. But I have more figure pages to try out soon!

My Fourth Page:

This is my first page using my upgraded supplies and I'm really happy with how it turned out. I know there are some blending issues, but I actually like some of the visible texture (especially on the large planter) The bee is a sticker, btw - courtesy of my toddler lol.

Comments

[yourlibrarian]

Good on you for overcoming your concerns. I think your art is cute and pretty!

[florianschild]

Thank you! It's something I'm still working on, but definitely worth the struggle.

[hamsterwoman]

Even the first one looks really nice to me -- they all do!

[florianschild]

Aww thank you! <3

[abyssal_sylph]

Honestly i think these colors are real pretty! Happy you're working on letting your pefectionism go ^_^ good luck with that!

[florianschild]

Thank youuuu that's so nice! I am happy about it too :D

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

Very pretty coloring!

You might explore hobbies where things aren't supposed to look too perfect. Upcycling, rustic, and shabby-chic are good options.

Re: Thoughts

[florianschild]

Thank you!

[panisdead]

I love the shading on the last one!

[florianschild]

Ahh thank you, that's one area that I was specifically focusing on so I'm happy you think it was good. :D

[dividedbyblue]

Looks beautiful, I especially love how you colored the girl with the flowers. Her skin really looks nice! Good choice too on the blue for her hair and dress.

Perfectionism can be a real obstacle… I’ve also dealt with it for most of my life. In my artistic work, for a long time, I was also worried about drawing in a sketchbook, because what if the next drawing messes up the whole sketchbook (or so I thought)?. Or if I started drawing consistently for a while and I made a good drawing, I would get intimidated by it. I started panicking, for surely I wouldn’t be able to make something of the same quality again. Then I stopped drawing for a while because I couldn’t handle this feeling. Nowadays, I am better at handling this, fortunately. When I make a drawing that doesn’t work, I throw it away and start again with the same image as a base, maybe drawn from a different angle or a slightly different reference. Usually, that fixes it.

[florianschild]

Oh thank you so much! The figure coloring was so fun! I'm going to do another figure for my next drawing I think, because I really want to keep practicing with skin tones.

I completely relate to what you said about perfectionism - especially your comment about being intimidated by a something you made that turned out nice! I've noticed that sometimes I'll watch videos of people drawing or painting and they get to a point where I'm thinking in my head "it's perfect omg it looks so good stop right there or you'll mess it up!" but they keep going and they usually make it look even better. I suppose part of practicing and developing as an artist is having the courage to keep going on potentially mess up something that was good in order to make something great.

[dividedbyblue]

Cool that you’re going to do another figure! Looking forward to see it.

I suppose part of practicing and developing as an artist is having the courage to keep going on potentially mess up something that was good in order to make something great

I think the confidence grows with a bit with doing something a lot. Something that I did a year or two ago helped me a lot. I set out to make a new drawing each day in my sketchbook. I didn’t do it for a long time, just a few weeks, but what I saw was that indeed, some days the drawing was awful, but then sometimes the day after, it was a good drawing. Every day you have a new drawing, so the bad drawing you made two days ago, for instance, loses in importance eventually, because it’s just one drawing in a series of drawings. And there will undoubtedly be good ones in the series you’re drawing. I found that really changed my perspective a bit on how I saw my drawings.

[florianschild]

That makes so much sense, thank you for sharing your experience! It's like a paradox of perfectionism: the more you practice and let yourself create something "bad" sometimes, the more likely you are to make something that you think is good. <3

[dividedbyblue]

You’re welcome <3

It's like a paradox of perfectionism: the more you practice and let yourself create something "bad" sometimes, the more likely you are to make something that you think is good

Yes, I think that is correct. It’s something that holds us in, tries to contain us, keep us in line. But it can be freeing if you break that invisible border.

[scripsi]

You have a lovey sense of colour combinations!