Practice, practice, practice!

 I've been spending time playing around with my new Prismacolor pencil set, as well as experimenting in Photoshop with brushes, blending and textures. Here are my best results with each medium after one week. There are so many tutorials available, and lots of inspiration to be found online, my current favorites being Matt Kohr's Ctrl+Paint and Instagrammer/artist Mia Lynne.  Go check them out and gain some knowledge!!

A note on rejection...

        It's okay! Fear of rejection is a constant struggle for every artist, especially those who are just getting started. My very first rejection came during a previous job as a caricature artist; a day I had dreaded would come for some time, but didn't happen exactly how I had imagined it.

         The smiling couple shown above came back a full hour after purchasing their drawing asking for a refund. What!? They had seen it, liked it and purchased it - then decided later that they really didn't like it after all? I felt rejected and confused, and above all incredibly embarrassed. The man demanded a refund, then verbally accosted my other customers, warning them not to buy drawings from me. Yikes!

         It was a scary situation, but the important thing that I was able to take away from it was this: it really can't get any worse! Having a horrible rejection (in person!) right out of the gate means that any other rejection I get after this one shouldn't be nearly as bad. Sometimes its just better to jump right in than to dip your toes in the water. SO, it is with that mentality that I begin my blog, how bad could be?