It's time to take grasp, and run.

Photo credit: Kitty Gallannaugh


Lately it's struck me that I need to work harder with a LOT of things; but, not only personal or relational things, but, in aspects of what I love to do -- as a career, or as interest.

As in, my hobbies and practically my lifestyle... art.

Being an avid member on deviantART for about four years now, my eyes soak up all the beautiful art and photography it displays, always of such a wide variety and complexity. However, just on this one site, I see so, so much talent that just blows my mind sometimes. With photography, I see so many amazing images and styles of photography that I always itch to have one of those cameras in my hand to toy with. With art, I see breathtaking digital AND traditional pieces that I just gawk at; how did they do that? What did they use? How long have they been drawing to achieve such beautiful work?

All of this has me coming to the conclusion of one thing; I'm in such awe not only because it's all just amazing in general, but also because I know inwardly I'm no where NEAR at this level. I have all the potential in the world to do so many awesome things with art since I have a passion for it, but, I don't pursue it enough, I don't follow through enough. I don't experiment enough, or draw enough, or take my camera and snap tons of pictures, mess with angles, lighting, read up or research things. I don't invest in mediums of art, or invest in a nice SLR camera or lenses. I don't go out and place myself to just draw for hours on end, I don't go out and explore my environment enough to be inspired and want to take even more pictures. I just sit around on the computer and gawk and wish and dream, but never pursue and chase.

That's changing today.

I don't want to be amateur anymore; I want to step it up. I want to do better, be better, be more. I've always loved taking pictures; I adore fashion, high fashion, editorial fashion; however, I'm not a tall, slender Amazonian like woman who can do modeling, haha, it just isn't going to happen. But being on the other side of the camera would be just as pleasing for me; I'd love to pursue that more and really dive into the world of professional photography. I need to invest in one of these professional cameras as a start, and develop my own style of photography that will set me apart from just the typical "point and shoot" type of photographers. I want to be dynamic and create interesting images.

I've been drawing for about eight years now, and I honestly feel like I've only truly progressed slightly, in the sense of the rendering of my pictures and ideas. I have so much inspiration and concepts; but technical skills, and putting them on paper, and finishing them is what separates my work from the beautiful work that is constantly popular on art sites. My style may be of the Japanese anime style, but, that doesn't mean it can't be taken just as seriously as realism. I need to mature it a bit more, work with new mediums, coloring styles, ways of drawing and rendering. I need to sketch, sketch, sketch, and practice, practice, practice. My hands need to be stained with graphite and cramped from holding a pencil.

I have tons of other passions in art too I need to work on; dancing and clothing construction/fashion being the other main two. I absolutely adore dancing, and have such a passion for it, but it's just not been convenient in my life to join a dancing studio, and I'm just now taking legit, professional classes. I'm way behind any dancers that are truly amazing now, but I can be truly amazing too. I need to stretch more, work out, keep myself healthy, keep searching for a way to maintain some sort of dance class even through college. I need to watch dancers and just enjoy practicing on my own, and actually practice; not just sit around. And with fashion and clothing construction, I need to learn my sewing machine; I need to be able to read patterns, understand them myself, build up my technical skills even better. I need to draw out designs, sketch out outfit ideas; try new styles and new stores, not be afraid to put something together that I may not normally wear, or that may not look good. I need to be more experimental and less cliche.

With all of these, I need to just go out and take grasp of them for all that they are. All of these, besides dancing to a sense, can be very beneficial to my future career/major pursuit as a graphic designer and illustrator. Pursuing these forms of art can really enhance my hobbies and my life when it comes to how I spend my time, and culturing myself. I want to be a fully developed person, not only in the sense of maturity, faith and spirituality, but also with what I love to do, my skills, my hobbies. I want to take grasp of the talents God has created with me, and run with them, clutching them tightly and only growing more adapt to them and grow with them.

This has always been on my mind, but now, it's time to take it somewhere and actually do something about it.