I have a bunch of new and exciting projects coming up. Here’s just a sneak peak!
New Projects
Growing Pains
I think I’m going through some growing pains. Learning is exciting, but it also hurts. Making mistakes hurts. It’s frustrating. Being frustrated hurts. I see how I fall short from where I want to be. I feel I should have and could have done more. Obviously I couldn’t because I know I’ve done all I could. But it doesn’t feel good.
So I have to remind myself that the reason I’m seeing all of this is because I’m growing. If I felt nothing I would be on the wrong path. I tell myself “keep going work through it, do what you can and trust that you’re doing all you can and that you’ll be able to do more later”
I feel so much better after writing this out to myself. It can be so frustrating to look at inspiration, to want many things, to feel the burning of ambition, and to not live up to your vision of who you think you should be. And it can be such a defeating feeling if you’re not understanding it for what it is. It’s like the inability to move after a hard workout the day before because your muscles are too sore. Not being able to do a single pushup because your arms are burnt out. If you didn’t understand muscle soreness it would be a defeating feeling, too. Instead it feels good because you know you’ve worked hard and made progress.
Making the wrong choices hurts, making mistakes hurt. But if they didn’t, we wouldn’t be learning from them. Lean in on the pain and learn. Then form new resolve and get back up. You just grew!
Tigersong
This is my latest painting “Tigersong”. More stylized and less painterly than my recent stuff, but I’m kind of liking the direction. Maybe I’ll make some prints soon :)
How to take Better Breaks
Taking breakes has been hard for me. In many ways it’s been so hard that I’ve been trying to avoid them at all costs. Easier to just keep working, since at least I know how to do that. But, through some reading, conversations, and reflecting it has recently occurred to me that I could be much more productive if I took proper breaks. So I started thinking about how I could do so in a meaningful way. Here are some things that I found useful:
(I should probably also say that this is much easier in an office or studio environment that is goal oriented rather than a workplace that is clocking you in and out by the minute.)
Schedule your breaks
It’s hard to know when to take a break, and it’s all too tempting to tell yourself “Just one more little task”. So I found it more effective to schedule my breaks. That way I can make sure the break actually happens, but I also free up that part of my mind that’s constantly asking “Should I do it now?”. I found the 60/10 rule by Robin Sharma has worked well for me. The gist of it is do 60 minutes of focused work and then take a 10 minute rejuvenating break.
Plan how to spend your break
So I’ve scheduled my break, my 10 minutes start now! Go! … Total deer in the headlights moment for me. What do I do? Do I just sit here? Should I go to the store? Get coffee? Do I have enough time? Maybe it’s better if I stay? Aaand time is up! Now I feel like a failure. The best way to avoid this is to know ahead of time what you’re going to do during those 10 minutes. Possible activities could be getting up and doing some stretches, going for a quick walk, or even meditating. One of my favorites is to walk over to the office art book collection and look at my favorite books. 10 minutes later I feel more relaxed and motivated to continue my work.
Avoid Social Media
It’s super tempting to just go and check social media for 10 minutes, and I myself used to think that that is a form of relaxation. But it’s not really. Being on social media actually takes focus and energy away from us as we become distracted and our mind goes off in different directions. The other problem with social media is that' it’s so unpredictable. If I walk over to the shelf and grab one of my books I know what I’m exposing myself to and I can be deliberate about how I want to influence my mind over the next 10 minutes. With social media, sure there’s a chance I might see something awesome and inspiring, but there’s also a good chance I’ll see something useless, draining, or even depressing. My 10 minute rejuvenation break is not the right time for that.
Keep your break free of task
It’s also tempting, to me anyways, to say, “well I’ll just do this easy task, that will be a good break”. Or having a work related discussion with a co-worker, or answering a few emails, or even going to the bathroom. Those are all part of the regular workflow and should not count as your break. None of those things are going to replenish or refocus you. You’re better off doing something that will and then getting back into the deep focus work. If you have a bunch of easy tasks and emails, consider leaving them for the end of the day or even the end of a 60 minute work period when your focus starts to become more elusive.
So set aside that 10 minutes for yourself and really make it count. Don’t feel bad about it. Maybe your overall work hours will be down slightly, but your overall productivity will be up :)
FanExpo 2018
I will be at the Vancouver FanExpo October 12th-14th! I will be sharing a table with my awesome friend Lera Nyukalova. Check out her work here: https://leranyukalova.com/
Sketchbook Sketches
It’s been a long time since I’ve drawn traditionally, pencil on paper, so I wanted to get back into it. It’s a great outlet for creativity and almost therapeutic as it take away the pressure of needing to make a product. It brought me back to being a kid a drawing things only for myself. I’ve missed this! Hopefully there will be time for more in the future!
Deep Sea Siren
"Deepsea Siren" and "Koi Pond Guardian"
Details:
Koi Pond Guardian
Details:
New Painting "Indigo Dreamweaver
I imagine the Indigo Dreamweaver is siren-like creature dwelling deep beneath the ocean. She uses the elements of water to get into her victims minds and conjures up an overwhelming desire to venture deeper and deeper into the sea. Does she eat her victims? Or is she just lonely and wants company? Who knows, nobody ever returns...
New Painting "Tiger Hug"
I finished another painting recently as part of my SmArt School class with Todd Lockwood that I was taking.
A lot of personal meaning in this one... something about being completely on your own and having nothing but your "inner tiger" to seek for comfort and strength :)
I'm hoping to put together a blog post with some process shots soon.
New Website
Putting together a new website to show more of my work. I've been doing so much other stuff in addition to illustration and concept art, I will try to show some of that as well.