Doing Art my Own Way

            There are a lot of things I like to do with computers. I enjoy listening to music, watching movies and TV, simply browsing social media and the Internet as a whole, uploading and editing photos, and writing (which of course includes writing for this blog of mine). But I wouldn’t consider myself the most tech savvy or even the most tech loving person in the world. For example, at one point I attempted to get into coding and turn it into a career (which didn’t turn out well and is a story for another day).

            One thing that I do enjoy doing “the old way” as opposed to doing with a computer is drawing and painting. In the past I have experimented with drawing software, and even with a tablet, but for some reason I greatly prefer to draw and paint with actual pencils and paints rather than a computer program. Perhaps this has something to do with the way my brain is wired, or maybe my hands just like the way paintbrushes feel rather than a digital pen.

            Maybe this has to do with the timeframe in which I grew up. I was born in 1987 and my family had their first personal computer in the 90s. Also computers and the Internet were becoming much more common in schools, so we went to computer labs beginning in elementary school while Jeff Bezos was starting amazon.com in a garage. From an early age one of my passions has been writing, and I never grew up in a time when typewriters were commonly used to do this. So I’ve pretty much always have written on a computer, along with sometimes writing in an actual notebook with a pen or pencil.

            Art though was a different matter. Now on the old 90s computer that my family had, there was some (now surely primitive) drawing software that I remember playing with and having fun with too. But my real interest in art truly ignited in the eighth grade, when I took a drawing class as an elective. That’s when my love and appreciation for art and making it began in earnest. And since then, I’ve always enjoyed actually making art with paints and pencils.

            Now don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with making art on a computer. I’ve seen several people, both professionals and amateurs (like the artist Pernille Orum), make great works of art with a computer program and iPads. But for some reason I personally prefer to make art with actual materials rather than pixels. Before moving abroad for my current job, I looked into buying an iPad for myself, and experimented with the drawing software on it. While people are again able to make great stuff with it, I’m not sure it’s for me (plus I like to be able to use a sizeable keyboard, so for now I’m sticking with my trusty and reliable laptop). Instead I treated myself to a really awesome camera rather than an iPad, which for me was the much better choice (I’ve been able to take amazing photos with it!).

            You know, at one point I was actually considering trying to go into animation. While I love art and animated films, looking back I’m not sure if I would have been a good fit for that field, at least not as an actual animator. While I was living in the state of Washington, I actually applied to animation programs like the infamous one at Cal-Arts; at that point I was mostly focused on trying to be a flight attendant, but I was looking at other opportunities too. In fact previously I had experimented with making short animated films, although I hand drew them (I still used a computer to edit them though). I didn’t get accepted into any of the programs, whether this was due to there simply being better artists applying (or at least ones whose style fits with their aesthetic better) or for some other reason.

            One reason I honestly don’t think I would have been a good fit looking back is because of my lack of skill of making art on a computer. While every artist at some point uses actual sketchbooks, more and more animators are using iPads and laptops to create their animations. I’m not sure if I would have felt the same joy from doing that as I do from sketching or painting “in the old style.” And while I would probably have felt some honor at being an animator helping to make films, I’d have ultimately been a small part in telling someone else’s story, rather than someone telling their own.

            Currently I’m trying to get my novel “The Princess of Infinite Tomorrows” in a more polished and ultimately published form. I’m thinking of self-publishing it if I can’t find a publisher or literary agent, although for now I’ll keep looking for one. I’m also thinking of illustrating it myself, perhaps having one per chapter. And somewhere down the line, I plan on writing and illustrating a graphic novel (something that’s on my bucket list). And for both, I plan on using actual paints and supplies to make the illustrations.

Sample of my Art (made without computers)