Hello again!! I hope your weekend is starting on a positive note 🙂

Time to get a bit candid in this one!

Fear of failure has been a significant struggle of mine for far too long – at least as far as mid-teenage years. Half-blessed, half-cursed with often picking up new skills easily, but not always, it has discouraged me from putting more time into the ones that took more effort.

It has unfortunately also affected my art, to the point where the purpose of starting anything at all was lost in the apprehension of it not being perfect, which is quite an obstacle to thriving in general. Skills have eroded during that dormancy as well, so I’m currently unable to create at the same level I once did.

And so! In order to go back to basics, and probably learn several things along the way as I was largely self-taught, courses and tutorials will become regular items in my schedule.

I currently have access to Skillshare until May and will take advantage of the teaching format it offers, but the hope is to diversify and hopefully include in-person classes as well eventually. Suggestions are also always open!

For now, the 5 first classes I have bookmarked :

  • Learn To Draw : Daily Practices To Improve Your Drawing Skills, by Gabrielle Brickey (1h24m)
  • Learn To Draw : A Comprehensive Intro To Drawing Foundation & Style, by Mimi Chao (4h22m)
  • Mobile Photography – Your Complete Guide, by Phil Ebiner (3h3m)
  • iPhone Photography : How To Take Pro Photos On Your iPhone, by Dale McManus (55m)
  • One-Line Drawing : Cultivate Calm And Creativity, by Altea Alessandroni (30m)

The current plan is to complete one class or course a week, but as you can see, the length varies quite a bit, so that might change!

I obviously can’t really share the contents of those classes here, but I can share the results and my own highlights 🙂

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School has been fun for me, mostly when it involved learning theory and understanding principles. But art-related classes require the application of skills that my brain cannot “cheat” its way through, so while the subjects often interested me, the fear of feeling inadequate, of not succeeding as quickly as I felt I should, always stopped me from both learning new techniques, and progressing.

Perfectionism actually doesn’t help anything.

So this year, let’s make things imperfectly, rather than not doing them at all!