Learning New Things

When I was younger, I used to drive my family absolutely crazy with my constant stream of questions. We couldn’t get through a movie on a Saturday night without me wanting to know how they made movies, how they memorized their lines, and how long they had to wear that makeup for. And don’t even get me started on animated films! As soon as I could tell a slight difference in the way they drew the forest background and the way they drew Bambi, I needed to know how they made that happen.

(Side note – I totally bought the Anniversary Edition of Bambi so I could watch the special features, but made it look like I bought the DVD for my kids’ own enjoyment.)

This didn’t stop at movies – I would grill my Dad on how he knew which wall to put together first when he was building a house. Mom would get interrogated every time she made a big meal because I found it absolutely fascinating that she knew when to cook everything so that all of the food was ready to go on the table at the same time.

I’m sure my parents thought my endless curiosity would wane as I got older. They were wrong. Only now, it’s my husband’s problem. Lucky for him, the things I am curious about these days are things I can usually tinker with and figure out on my own.

Working as a Graphic Designer full time is extremely rewarding to me. I have been fortunate enough to work as a designer since I graduated high school and it is one field where constant learning is a job requirement. Lately though, I have found myself feeling drained after staring at a computer screen for 40+ hours a week.

I was dying to get my hands dirty.

A few months ago, a started sketching more at the end of the day, after the kids had gone to bed. It was the one thing that seemed to help me unwind.

sketchbook
I seem to only want to draw song lyrics in black marker at this point in my life, but at least it’s something.

The satisfaction of putting pen to paper was great for a while, but it wasn’t long before I was ready for something more. I liked those fancy swooping letters, but I wanted to learn to make them the right way. After a quick Google search, I settled on a Skillshare class and ordered my materials.

And there they sat. On my desk. For weeks. I finally had all of the tools I needed to make pretty letters and I was terrified to start.

Until this weekend. My kids were drawing at the kitchen table and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to pull up a chair and join them. And you know what? It was so liberating.

practice_sheet_close-up_01
The kids joined in toward the bottom of the page, because kids ALWAYS want what you’re playing with. Gosh!

practice_sheet_close-up_02

practice_close-up

I’m still SUPER shaky and inconsistent, but I’ve finally made the first step.

And in case you’re wondering if endless curiosity is encouraged in our house…

sailboat

…absolutely, positively, yes.