ralidraws

Hey, everyone!

I haven't updated my journal since last year, so I thought it was about time I did, as a lot has changed since then — and I think I say this in almost every entry. So yay for being original.  

Usually summer is the time when I focus 100% on art and get forward with the goals I set at the beginning of each year. But when September hits and uni starts, it all becomes a bit to much to tackle. This summer was quite different, however. Not bad different, just different.

The good part is that I finished a small sketchbook I had started — sketches done in the bus mostly, as well as some studies I did during July. And I started two new ones. Lots of basic stuff — boxes, rough sketches with bad anatomy that I still haven't sat down to study seriously, and some sketches from imagination for a personal piece that's still in the works.

The bad part, perhaps, is that I haven't been much active on the net for quite some time. A kind of general hiatus. I haven't updated my SBs or uploaded anything new on here, and I can't keep up with anything going on at the moment.

That's why I had to find a way to make more time for art and getting better at it. Making general changes in my life is the only way I could think of to get there. After failing and trying out stuff, it's a lot easier to filter out the things I don't like or imagine myself doing in life — and keep only what's meaningful and worthwhile to me.

And that's where the last bit of my summer went. It's all still a work-in-progress, and it probably will be hectic for the next couple of months until I get it all sorted out. In the meantime, even if I'm away, I'm not giving up. I'm just carving out a way to the kind of life I'm after. On my terms.

Doing too many things at once, and wanting to get above average results in some magical way, just isn't the way. No matter how many goals or priorities you set for yourself. You want to do so many things in a single day, and it's just not physically possible: the stress piles up, you can't focus on anything, and it all just becomes too much. Sound familiar?

So either declutter and re-evaluate the situation, or.. well, there is no alternative. Declutter and find a system that works.

For anyone feeling overwhelmed and having trouble balancing art, life, work, studies or whatever your personal circumstances may be: take a deep breath, and try to find out what your priorities are.

Based on those, draft a plan of action and follow it. If that means deactivating facebook, not going out for a month or getting used to new ways of doing things, do it. Five years later, you'll wish you had done something sooner.

If you got a goal to achieve, isn't it worth it to give it your absolute all?

This is the part where you nod.

Let's do this, then.  


Talk soon,
Rali 


PS. What's the one thing you did this summer that made a difference in your life and/or your art journey? I'd love to know.

Regardless of time and the occasional daily obstacles - make time.
Do what you have to do to accomplish what you've set out to.

Hey everyone,

Happy summer to you all! It's finally here, so enjoy the sunshine, soak it up and let it charge you up!

No progress done the past couple of months due to some important exams I had to take, but I'm finally done and ready to dive into the ocean called improvement.  Time to learn a lot of new things, get better, and get that mileage.  

Speaking of which, I've been meaning to post something that I think a lot of us can really benefit from regarding perspective. Marshall Vandruff is currently offerring his perspective series for $12 - 12 great lectures that will probably be like a treasure chest full of bits of knowledge and perspective-awesomeness ready to be digested and applied - it definitely was for me. I've already watched the whole series while I was on my little "break", but they're so good I'm going to have another go this summer when I attack this perspective business. Seriously, check it out, it's worth so much more that what it's offered for, and Marshall Vandruff seems like a really fun instructor to have. You're going to benefit big time.

Hope you guys are working hard to reach your goals and that the summer supplies you with all the motivation you need to push forward. Let's get workin'!!

Things are slowly moving towards their end, and all I remind myself is to be patient and that it will only be "just-a-little-while-longer". I probably have until the end of this month to do what I can, as from May things will get even busier. Hopefully, for a good reason. And hopefully all the hard work of this last couple of months will pay off.

I am staying true to my New Year's resolutions, and that's definitely something I am happy about. It probably comes at a certain expense, but for the sake of progress, I wouldn't want it any other way. It was about time I made some decisions and let go of anything preventing me from moving on, including myself. And while all this might sound very vague, I only tread lightly, because I don't want to jinx anything. It's like that really great saying, don't get all worked up before you've even made the jump yet.. or something similar. Well, I want to make sure I land where I need to after the big jump.

For now, all I'd like to share is.. Leave your fears at the door and attack your insecurities, your shortages and your weaknesses head on. There's no other way to succeed in whatever you've set out to do. Be genuinely interested in what you do, absorb everything around you, question it, think about it, learn what you can from it, and form your thoughts and actions accordingly. And don't facebook/tweet/social-network it like there's no tomorrow. Let yourself be inspired by the colossal social media, without losing yourself in the process, and put those sites into good use. No one cares, and no one remembers. It's just a simple, honest truth. And the time you waste comparing yourself and your life to others' is time you can invest in yourself. Just saying.

Edit: On that note, here's something worth spending 4.5 minutes on.

Hope Spring's arrived where you are. If it has, please send it this way, too.