The Art of Drawing

I always loved reading graphic novels. But all the ones I read involved Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Yes, I was one of them. And let me just say this, I will always be TeamSpuffy. If you didn’t watch Buffy, teamspuffy is just someone who wanted Buffy and Spike to be together. It’s been years, but my thoughts on it haven’t changed, however, I digress. I loved the attention to detail in graphic novels and found the art fascinating. I don’t really know how to draw, but my sister started drawing and she ended up drawing some nice pictures and painting some as well. I’m a writer, but I really wanted to learn how to draw so I ended up signing up for art classes.

One of the first things I had to learn was that when drawing you have to draw a grid. I didn’t know that artists even drew grids. I just thought that they were naturally talented and it came out beautifully the first time. Yeah, not so. I don’t know why I thought that it just sounds unrealistic as I type it out. The whole entire time I’m thinking- why do I have to do this? Well, you are learning how to draw things according to scale and also it helps train your eye from square to square. So as I look at each square I am able to draw it more accurately.

The other skill that I’m also learning is how to shade. Maybe I really am a novice, but I had no idea there was so much to shading. You have light and dark, and then ambient light as well. I’ll be honest I’m not that good at it, but I am trying. Slowly, I can see some progress, but sometimes it’s hard to see what lighting is what within the picture. But practice makes perfect. So I’m going to keep trucking along.

Sometimes I look forward to my three hour art session and sometimes I’m not. I usually pop my earbuds in and just go. I’m really excited with the art lessons. One of my main goals is to create a picture for each one of my short stories.

If you ever want to try something new, just go for it. You never know what you might actually be good at.

  • FYI I am getting a lot better.

Yoga- Quick Hip movements

After a long morning of sitting at work or at home, your hips can get a little stiff. For me it happens more often then I would care to admit. So if you fall into this category, this one is for you.

In order to get some movement in those hips to help loosen them up here are a few exercises that you can do anywhere, whether you are at work or home.

  1. Hip circles- Stand with your feet hip distance. Push your hips out in front and then rotate your hips clockwise. As you bring your hips into a circular motion take steady breaths in and out. Notice if there is any particular area that gives any discomfort. If you need to hold it in a particular area, then go ahead and do so. Then when ready, rotate your hips counterclockwise and repeat.
  2. High lunge on both right and left leg- Stand with your hip distance apart. Take your right leg and step it out forward and bend. Your knee should be in a 90 degree angle. Come onto the ball of your left foot and bend your back leg as well. You should feel a stretch into your right hip flexor. If you don’t feel much of a stretch gently tilt your pelvis back. Then breath. Hold this stretch for 5 breaths. When ready gently raise yourself up and come back to a standing position. Repeat on the other side.
  3. Quadricep stretches- Stand with your feet hip distance apart by a wall. Place your right hand against the wall to help stabilize yourself. Put all the weight of your body into your right leg, feel the weight into the heel, side of your foot and your toes. Bend your left knee out behind you. Take your left hand out behind you and hold onto your left foot, bringing your heel toward your glute. You should feel a stretch in your left flexor. Hold for 5-10 breaths. Then gently release your foot and place it back onto the ground. Now repeat on the other leg- Place your left hand against the wall to help stabilize yourself. Put all the weight of your body into your left leg, feel the weight into the heel, side of your foot and your toes. Bend your right knee out behind you. Take your right hand out behind you and hold onto your right foot, bringing your heel toward your glute. Hold here for 5-10 breaths.

I hope you found this helpful. If you’ve tried these exercises please let me know how you felt afterwards.

Happy stretching!

Working through the Ugly

Have you ever been working on something and you can’t see the final result? Like you are trying really hard to make your story or art piece great, but you just can’t see it take form yet? This happens to me on almost every short story I write, piece of art I draw, or paint. And it makes me want to stop and not finish it.

My sister said she saw a person doing art on Youtube and they call it working through the ugly. I countered her and said, but seriously it’s really ugly. She just shook her head and told me to keep painting. So I did.

Sometimes I get so frustrated with my work halfway through because I can’t see it coming together. And want to stop. Why? Because I’m afraid it won’t turn out and I’ve wasted my time. One of my biggest issues is finding out something was a waste of time and then start thinking about all the other things I could’ve been doing during that time. It sucks, but it’s true.

If I’m at art class, usually this is when our instructor comes around and asks me how it’s going. And I keep it real with him so I tell him I don’t know where to go from here. He then really studies my art and tells me what my options are. I recently painted a waterfall painting in black and white. I had finished blocking the painting, but got frustrated because I wasn’t able to create the illusion of the water moving. Turns out there is a technique to that. So Greg showed me how to take a clean paint brush and stroke it over the wet paint to soften it and drag it over some of my rocks. Then I’d go back and make the edges sharp again over the rocks. He left and I got to work on what he’d told me to do.

Sometime later as he was going to check up on someone else he passed me and told me to stand back. And he pointed out that now my water looked like it had some movement thanks to the new technique he’d instructed me on. It looked amazing. I was so proud of my art. Now it’s not perfect by any means, but I’ve certainly come a long way. Check out my paintings below.

Overall I’m happy with my progress, I just need to stop getting caught in the weeds. If I keep going and trust the process my work will get better. However, I’ll never know if I don’t continue. So if you are struggling with your art or writing, keep going! You are closer than you realize.

What are you working on?

Art & Oil Painting

I’m still beginning my journey into the art world. I’ve been busy sketching and also trying to figure out what mediums I like best. I’ve even tried procreate for my digital artwork. But as I was finishing my latest drawing I asked my sister what she did after learning the basics and she said she started oil painting. She said it wasn’t hard and she thought I could do well with it. So I spoke with my art instructor Greg and gave me a list of supplies to get started with oil painting.

In order to get comfortable Greg recommended I start with black and white paintings to get used to blocking and then molding. Here in Cincinnati, we have an art supply store with really good prices, Ari took me and helped me pick out what I needed. With a little basket full of supplies (black and white oil paint, Gamsol, palette knife, canvas paper, and palette paper), I was good to go.

Greg provides several black-and-white pictures for beginners to choose from. With each picture, he already provides the image of how it should be blocked with black and white paint to give the students an example of how to do it, and of course, some of the areas may be a darker gray or light gray. Regarding the blocking part, I didn’t have any issues doing that because I copied what he had for us. I really appreciated it, since I felt like I had training wheels to keep me on track. Then I went in and started to model. I was able to finish the first painting in a day. I was quite surprised by how it turned out.

The next class I took I worked on another black and white picture. This one was a little more complex because it had bottles and a bowl with limes. I was able to block it well, however, when it came to the modeling it was very difficult. I wasn’t really sure how to get the slight edges correct and the texture of the limes, but also the depth of one of the bowls. I had to keep painting and repainting certain areas. I was a little frustrated. Greg helped me with the bowl, but some of my grays were a little too dark and got lost in the black. I did the best I could and did finish it by the end of the class.

Before I left I chose my next black-and-white picture- a landscape that included water, rocks, and trees. That was my next one because I want to do more black-and-white nature pictures. This one was a doozy! I had to miss my usual class because I had a writing competition, so I was a little behind, but I was able to start and make up for the missed class. I tried to block the best I could, but there were so many areas that were different colors and I didn’t have a grid. I felt like I was just painting randomly. It got so bad or at least I thought it was bad that I just stopped and started to draw. Greg came by and asked what happened. I was honest and said it wasn’t turning out great. But he said he’d been watching and thought it was looking really good. He said I just needed to keep working on it. That is when I found out that with oil painting you are supposed to continue working when the paint is wet. It helps you blend everything together. That, I didn’t know. So the next time I worked on it, I ended up making the entire painting wet and then reworked it. And I was able to finish it. I still have to work on my edges… but I think I did a pretty good job.

Here’s what I’ve been working on:

Why Kawaii?

When you were growing up was there any cartoon or character that defined your childhood?

Some had Tweety Bird, others Snoopy. But me? I had Hello Kitty. I mean how can you NOT love Hello Kitty? She is adorable and always on some type of adventure. What I didn’t know was that she would still be inspiring me in my adulthood as well.

I just started taking art classes because I wanted another creative outlet other than writing. Mainly because sometimes I’ve written myself into a corner and needed something to help get my creativity going again. I’ve been going on a regular basis for about three months so far and I really enjoy it. My instructor Greg, is really nice and sat down with me in my first session and asked me, “What are your goals for drawing?”

I had to think long and hard. After some time I said, “I want to draw Kawaii, but also learn the basics of art.” Since I do write, I would also one day like to create a piece of work to go along with each one of my stories as well. It would be so cool to actually create the cover of my own books. It’ll happen someday, but back to my first love, Kawaii.

I was not aware that Hello Kitty was Kawaii. I really didn’t. I started to look up what Kawaii was and found out it was Japanese art that emphasizes cuteness using bright colors and characters that typically have a large head and small body. Some examples of Kawaii would be Sanrio characters – Hello Kitty, Pucchacco, My Melody, and Gudetama (the lazy egg). But did you know that the Pokemon characters are all Kawaii as well (Charmander was my favorite), and also San-X characters- Rilakkuma, Korilakkuma, and Chairoikoguma. I love them all! And now I want to draw characters similar to them. 

I love the fact that when I’m drawing kawaii I can escape from my life and get lost in the childlike wonder that we all used to have. I get to be creative and get lost in whatever tale I want to invent with my characters. But to get better at these drawings I’ve started to take some Kawaii art classes online through Domestika. I’ve done two so far and have one more to go. I like that I’m able to learn the background of Kawaii, see how each artist grew in their work, and most importantly see why they love Kawaii. I’m starting to see my skills improve, but some things still need more work. I’m trying, but we will see how it goes. 

Are you into drawing? If so what kind of art do you draw?

How do you pray?

One of the biggest issues that I had when I first became a Christian was learning how to pray. I kept wondering am I doing it right? Is there a proper way to pray? How do I know that he hears me?

I’ve been a born-again Christian for a few years now and am under really strong pastors, a prophet, and an evangelist. And honestly, by going to church and watching these people of God, I’ve been learning how to pray.

So here are some tips to help you:

First, find a nice quiet spot where you won’t be distracted or bothered. Then find a comfortable seated position. Most people kneel, but I’ll be honest with you after 5 minutes my legs start to cramp, then I switch to sitting with my legs crossed over. Whatever works for you.

Two, I like to praise and worship with one to two songs. This helps me to get into his presence and allows me to lose myself in the worship. If you have trouble finding a song just go on Youtube and type in worship music. One of my favorites is, “Our God is Awesome,” by Michael W. Smith (it is on Youtube).

Three, you should pray for the will of God over your life. What does that mean? You can’t be praying for unscriptural things. They have to line up with the word of God. I like to pray certain scriptures over my life- safety and protection: Psalm 91, protection against enemies and slander: Isaiah 54:16-17, and my money because I tithe: Malachi 3:10-11. And of course, I also pray over any minor irritations that may have come up. I say minor because at the end of the day, God gives us victory in everything.

And four, be honest about the prayers you pray. If you are hurting in a particular area ask God for help. If you need something come to God about it. He wants to hear about any of your anxieties, worries, and fears. He doesn’t want you to carry that burden. This may be difficult if your earthly father was absent or extremely harsh, but God isn’t like that. He’s a father that wants a relationship with you. Call on him, he’s waiting for you like it says in Jeremiah 33:3 – Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

And five, the final point. Know that God hears you. For in his word in James 5:16, he said that the prayers of the righteous availeth much. If you’ve recently sinned, quickly repent. And get back in with God. We are human and sometimes we fall short, God knows this. He doesn’t want you to run from him when you mess up. Instead, run toward him and tell him what happened, and apologize. He is not going to throw it in your face like people do. After you repent, sit quietly with him and see what he wants to talk to you about. He’ll help you.

If you are new to Christ I hope this helps you. Please comment below if it has. I’d love to hear from you.

Mountain Cabin Meditation

I don’t know about you, but there is nothing better than being outside and enjoying nature. But it’s even better when you can go to a cabin and sit by the window drinking your coffee. Come join me for this mountain cabin meditation. Feel your stress and anxiety ease breath by breath.

You wanna be a writer?

Have you ever told someone that you dream of writing a book? And then they immediately proceed with, so you wanna be a writer? But there was a level of disdain in the way they asked that question. I have. And it sucks. What are some common things that you right after you told them you wanted to be a writer?

Did some of them question you? For instance, “How can you make money writing? Its gonna take more than So what do you do?

Well, I’ll be honest at first I was questioning myself. I was really wondering can I do it. Because guess what? The people who have never gone for anything they truly want in life will always try to get the ones that have the courage to go for what they want, to doubt themselves or their ability. Why? Misery loves company. And a majority of these people think that if they had to settle, why can’t other people settle as well. I can’t stand that!

People near you may not believe in you or just be disinterested. Some may not like the genre you write. For me, that’s my parents. I’ve asked my parents to read my stories before. I like the paranormal romance genre. So when I started to write my own story about it, after a few weeks I finally asked my mom what she thought. And I was met with oh yeah I read it. But then didn’t give me any feedback. She was completely silent. Finally, I asked, “Did you even bother reading it?” And I was met with- I don’t like this genre. It’s too creepy. I’m not going to lie I was mad. So, instead of just being honest with me, she lied about it. I just told her don’t worry about it. You don’t have to read anything I write ever again. So be aware some of the people closest to you will not be that supportive or doubt that you can do it. Just do what I do and ignore them. My dad decided to lecture me on how vampires are out, speaking as if he was an expert. I even told him, no they aren’t. But he just kept talking as if he knew what he was saying was fact. The funny thing is, he hasn’t written anything or applied himself to the field of writing. And I even asked, what have you written?

I need you to remember this, you don’t take advice from people who haven’t been where you want to go. If you listen to voices that have no expertise in the field, you are just going to end up frustrated and writing in circles, or worse give up. And let me tell you the latter is not an option.

For those people who think you can’t do it or think that you should be doing something else with your life, ignore them and I would honestly limit your time around them. I know my parents don’t like what I write, so when they “act” interested I know it’s a ploy at this point. I just say “it’s good,” and move onto a new subject. They will not have access to any of my writings, they made it clear. So I’ll respect their decision, but if they ever want to read any of my work they can purchase it like everyone else.

I sound harsh, but I need to protect one of the things that truly brings me joy. And if someone is going to try to make me doubt myself, I will get rid of them before I stop my writing.

Now of course, there are some ride or dies that you will meet. I’ve met a few in my writing classes and we constantly send each other our works in progress. We support one another in the trenches. But sometimes you’ll also have certain family members support every work you do, for me that’s my twin sister. She is my beta reader, editor, and cheerleader all in one. I feel bad for her because she sometimes has to reread my stories multiple times. But I really value her opinion and she catches stuff I don’t. And of course I promised her that when I do finally write a novel and have a book tour, she will be coming with. After all, she did edit my work before anyone else did. It’s only fair.

Writing can be tough, there are days you won’t feel like doing it. But imagine what it would feel like if you never wrote another sentence, paragraph, page, or story? To me that’s the worst feeling in the world. Each one of my characters that run around in my head deserve to be heard, but the millions of people that may like my character deserve that chance to meet them too. Writing is an outlet and a form of expression for me and I can’t give that up. Sometimes I’ll take a break from it, but it’s because I need space to think about where the story is going and how the plot will unfold.

In a nutshell, keep writing. It’s hard, but there is nothing better than looking at a polished story and reviewing it, only to tell yourself- “This is the best thing I’ve written so far! I’m only getting better!”

So keep writing! And know I’m rooting for you! There is room for all of us in this field!