#creative joy

I just finished the draft of Legend of Ruin.

I've been writing this story off and on for 3 years now. I started writing it in a really dark time of my life, a few months after my dad passed away.

At the time, my relationship with writing was somewhat fraught: lots of wishing and wanting that ultimately went nowhere due to internalized perfectionism.

Shortly after starting this story, I wrote my first fanfic. And then another. And another. And suddenly I was writing! A lot! And finishing projects with low stakes, thanks to fanfic, which made it all so much more approachable.

And here I am. My original story; first draft completed. This is so bizarre, it's something I never thought I would manage to do.

And I'm really proud of that.

Sure, it probably won't sell. Sure, it won't even be read by many people, if any.

This month Ko-fi put out a challenge about re-discovering your creative joy that lined up nicely with me getting a new tablet and being able to draw again in ways I'm finally enjoying once more.

So I put together a few ramblings.

anyway i want to talk about the fun things this in process:

getting inspired people in completely different????? and then getting to laugh with myself about it. 

j cole re: the off season (i think?) and the dreamville doc like i look at him and im like i cannot wait to have my own little 'the secret recipe' but if we wanna talk BISNISS it's -

schoolboy q's work - every time i listen to one of his songs or watch one of his videos i hope that one day my paintings could be as fire his like i want people to look at something i mae and feel liek they are activating and dusting off parts in their brain and soul that hadn't been connected to before.

kobe bryant's work ethic... what can i say except wow. so from like 3 to 5 hes already awake and jogging, then after that he goes to work out in the morning BEFORE PRACTICE???? then his coworkers show up for practice nad theyre liek what the fuck how he always here before us?? then after practice i cannot remember what he does but allegedly he was going to work out some more. idk this is all alleged im not going to go out and watch him all day. so i draw nearly every day. i paint nearly every day. if im not making im looking at it. but most of the time im making it.

traditional and digital artists:

watching digital artist's and learning from them (ex: michulrichdraws, sermna who i recently just did a study on with their OC horror stuff, rozenkranz-does-things, ratajota, 8pxl, frannie, [dude who i can never find but draws a lot lot of dragons like individual scales possibly by hand? then colors it in digitally in usually nice gradients])

i have friends who also are artists but i dont feel like complimenting them right now so shout out to bifi. ifi can find aleks and junes @'s one day i'll throw them here.

As March 1st approaches, we find ourselves eagerly anticipating a day dedicated to celebrating the creamy, nutty goodness of peanut butter. National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day is more than just a chance to indulge in our favorite spreads; it’s an opportunity to revel in the versatility and comfort that peanut butter brings to our lives. At PlayfulSparks, we’re not just passionate about…

Mums the Word! #wordlesswednesday #flowers #maryoliver #mums

Maybe our world will grow kinder eventually. Maybe the desire to make something beautiful is the piece of God that is inside each of us.

–Mary Oliver, “Franz Marc’s Blue Horses,” Blue Horses, 2014

Today’s blog post is brought to you by the autumn flower–mums!

When we celebrated my aunt’s birthday this past weekend–social distancing measures in place–I knew I had to capture the mums welcoming us…