That's why it is called the present.

I have been struggling with something inside me lately. I feel I cannot work on my art as smoothly as I used to as in months ago. I keep thinking of improving my art and shop and have a lot of sketches in my sketchbooks but somehow I cannot produce them into final artwork. I discussed my feelings with my friends and they kindly pointed out why I have become so slow.

First, I'm trapped in the attempt to be perfect. I don't think I'm a perfectionist but maybe I'm subconsciously trying to be. Strangely enough, I went through this kind of perfection struggle once already when I decided to open my shop. Now it comes back to me.

Second, I have been absorbing too much of information. I took e-courses, read a lot of creative business blogs and books. All these information are good helpful things and I'm learning a lot. But it can be a double-edged sword when I cannot organize things in my head well enough. Plus, during the process of learning, I get to know a lot of people and I can't help comparing with them. I know it's a no-no thing for those who work in creative business. Comparing doesn't help, instead, it slows you down and even paralyzes you. I know this too well but still...

I miss myself when I could draw without thinking, just drew and posted my doodles on my Page almost everyday. When I just had fun and get excited with occasional Etsy orders...

But I guess there's always a cure for a problem. Now I know my problem. Someone says that guilt and comparison are not productive. So, I'm going to let those unproductive feelings go and live with the minutes of joy when I draw and paint. Learn as much as I can but won't put too much pressure on myself. I want to be successful in creative business but not as much as to be happy with my art in the present moment, I realize :)

By the way, the drawing above I drew as a sample for a book illustration project. The idea is based on the famous quote :

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it is called the present.
---Alice Morse Earle

The illustration will look different in the final but this is already perfect for this post and my MerryDay :)

Thanks for coming. I hope you have a merry creative day :)

Keep calm and merry on and my self-exploration

I have been reading a lot lately. Both books and blogs. Most of them focus on illustration, design, creativity and art business. I have begun to be addicted to reading artists' lives/behind-the-scene since I took Creative Courage class, in which several insightful artists' interviews were provided. Before that I basically browsed blogs by pictures as in leisure time. Long English-written posts always got overlooked. Until I got serious about my dream.

I remember my very first dream came to me when I was a little kid drawing repeatedly similar big-eyed dolls imitated from several sets of paper dolls I collected. The dream was to be a fashion designer. Then being a kid who didn't think much, I forgot about it and drew less. I just lived my life reading books, studying languages which I knew I liked but not really knew exactly what I would want to do with them. I got in a university majoring in English and selected Spanish as minor, still not sure what I would work after the uni.

Then one day in an English poetry class, I suddenly felt like the big white ceiling of the classroom was pushing down on me. I felt suffocated. I began to get sleepy in classes and question why we had to interpret some old poetry so seriously (maybe the poet might just want to express their emotion purely, with no serious meanings?)

I still liked books, loved to learn more languages. It's just that I couldn't see myself working in the field. Not sure how I came up with the idea of working as a graphic designer. Maybe it's a combination of two things that I love, drawing and reading. After graduation, I took another degree in graphic design then worked as a freelance book designer and now I think I'm becoming a stationery designer.

Why do I suddenly talk about all of this? I don't know. It seems that I have developed some kind of self-exploration lately. Before Make Art That Sells class, I was lucky to work in the field that I liked but they were all clients' works. I hardly had my own design, my own projects. Now I become more acute of what I like and dislike, what I want to do and don't want to. I have said no to some job offer and really focused on my MerryDay, my own stationery brand.

I am taking a risk but, strangely, I think I'm happier than when I knew exactly how much I would be paid for my freelance projects...

This year is my learning year. I take e-classes, read several books and blogs about art business and artists behind the scenes and give myself more time to work on my illustration/stationery design. My next drawing collection should be unique and wonderful enough to make more people recognize my MerryDay.

Am I too ambitious? Can I make it happen or will I be still be blogging this same thing next year? I don't know but the latest Etsy order I have just got today tells me that it's no use to worry about what have not come yet. The only thing I can do right now is keep working :)

Keep calm and merry on, that's what I'm saying now :)

Thanks for coming. Again, I wish you a merry day :D

MerryDay Goes to School : worries, distractions and what I think about Make Art That Sells Class

Life always has unforeseen interruptions. Last week I was very excited with my carefully laid-out plan for my future business. This week I spend all of my time at hospital taking care of my parents who get sick at the same time. It scares me a bit. It's inevitable fact that old age comes with sickness. My parents are quite old right now and I am already in thirty-something. A woman who decides to go back to the very first stage of building up her new career path, which will take years to accomplish. Life's getting shorter everyday and I wonder if I can make it happen at the end...

But that's only one of million things in life that I'm worried about. I'm glad that I have aged and learned enough to know you should not add worries to worries.

I have just read Noreen's post of Winston Churchill - 6 Things to Do. The very first is "Focus on what you are doing right now." and someone commented on this post with "80% of what we worry about doesn't come true."---Two statements that I need to focus :)

So, enough with my worries and distractions, I'm coming back to focus on my illustration and design work skill now.

Above is a compilation of all my assignment done in Make Art That Sells class (Click to see the larger image here). Things haven't changes in term of design and style but I think there's a lot of improvement in details and background, which I used to consider as my drawback. I generally drew my subject in kind of stand alone format---no background and not a lot of details and sometimes didn't even have a story. So doing more details and building stories and backgrounds is what I intended to improve from the very first week of the class.

This comes to my main topic for this post : what do I think about Make Art That Sells class?  It's the question I have been asked often. To answer it properly, let me start with the question of "What did I expect from this class?" first.

Before starting this class, I expected that :

• I would learn more about art business in general.

• I would learn about how to use my art in different products.

• I would get to know more people (and get people know more about me).

• I would improve my skill in illustration and design (doing more details, backgrounds and stories)

Then when the class finished, I found that :

• I think I learn more of art business, not in specific details but I have a glimpse of what art business is like and how I can learn more about it.

• I definitely learn more about how to use my art in different products and markets. Lilla had planed this course neatly by categorizing each week into different markets and she did wonderful job in giving us details of how each market worked, how to get your work into that kind of market (although this requires personal talent and hard work too) and there were tons of beautiful art samples to keep us excited and inspired.

• I'm not sure if fellow students know more about me but I certainly get to know more people and being with those who are also in creative journey really helps me focus and stay on my track. I have to say that the class student group is the best supportive art community and I am glad I'm a part of it :)

• I think my skill in design and illustration has been improved, not technically but in term of thinking and implementing more details which is exactly what I want to improve.

This post is getting long now. I think I'm going to break it into 2 posts. The next post will be about the big question "do I think this class worth the money?"

Thanks for coming. Have a merry day :)