Actually, it doesn’t come that easy to me…
I was never a doodler in school…never doodled in the margins or around my note-taking while listening to teachers or professors lecture. I was actually the orderly girl who kept her notes super neat, in the margins, certain parts highlighted with color coordinated highlighters. My thinking was linear, symmetrical and organized. In other words, I strived to be a perfectionist.
And I think that’s why I like mixed media art so much…it’s pushed me beyond my comfort zone and has forced me to be messy, un-calculated and spontaneous. It’s helped me to loosen up. But doodling does not come naturally…I’m actually having to learn how to doodle, as crazy as that sounds. Swirls, checkers, patterns, flowers, hearts…feels very elementary, but also very fun and freeing.
Since I’ve been feeling a little funky with all that was going on and because I recently made the decision to leave art licensing altogether (as it unfortunately changed my style of artwork as I was being conditioned to create commercial artwork for a mass market – one of many reasons I determined that I wasn’t suited for art licensing), I felt like I needed to take some art workshops. It was goal to not only learn new techniques, but also open up my creative portal once again create from the heart (rather than what I thought would sell or work in the licensing world).
As such, two of the classes I’ve signed up for are an art journaling class and a lettering class. I’ve just started, but am really enjoying the process so far…especially the use of watercolors!
I’m hoping that art journaling will allow me to freely create and express myself in a journal that incorporates all sorts of mixed media, just freestyling…no pressure or expectations.
It’s been about 2 years since I last took a class, and I tell you, I love being a student and exploring. Have you thought about taking a class, either local (adult ed., community college, through your parks and rec. dept, etc.) or online? When it’s something you love doing or want to learn about, it’s that much more exciting and meaningful. So what is it that you want to learn?
