Discovering My Art

I can blame it on recent trends. Those creatives online who are popular for the creative things that they do—which can either be inspiring or destructive, really. The former, because such brilliance can push me to do something with such impact like these people, or the latter, for it makes me realize that there are some things I have not accomplished… yet. Thankfully it’s more of the inspiration part than the pity party (which usually happens when I find out that said accomplished, creative person is younger than me, but let’s not dabble on that).

On Instagram alone are very talented artists who continually inspire me to do more. There’s Jasmine Dowling (@jasminedowling), an Australian graphic designer who does brilliant brush work typography (and is just a twenty-one-year-old student at that… did I mention earlier that we’re not going there?), and Fozzy Castro-Dayrit (@thefozzybook), a designer and calligrapher who does sophisticated and flawless calligraphy. Plus points also go to Fozzy for her generosity when it comes to sharing what she knows about the art form.

Safe to say Fozzy made me do this. Do what exactly? This.

I heART it! Went art material shopping these past few weeks!

Where does this lead me, knowing that I cannot draw? Closest to it is calligraphy or typography—which is apparently something that comes natural with me. This motivation came from showing my SNote typography to my co-workers. Our art director commented that I had it in me, and that gave me the confidence to pursue “lettering” seriously. I just have to learn the basics of calligraphy and immerse myself even more in typography trends and designs. This also means that I should be more consistent with my Typography Tuesdays posts if I decide to pursue the non-digital form of the art, because there has to be proof of improvement. #evercompetitivewithmyself

For my calligraphy shopping list, I took screenshots of Fozzy’s IG to have an idea of the good brands to get. I’m fully aware that using the same materials as Fozzy does not mean I will automatically be as good as her, but at least I will be able to start off pretty well. After all, if I use something that can easily frustrate beginners (especially one who is after quality), then that alone would discourage me to continue pursuing this.

The calligraphy stuff came from Scribe Writing Essentials in SM Aura Premier. I bought a Speedball set which contains a nib holder and two jars of calligraphy ink in metallic hues.

My attempts on using nibs plus a quote from poet Lang Leav

Days after, I stumbled upon another Scribe branch in Glorietta 5. That’s where I impulsively bought another jar of ink, this time in black (because finding blacker-than-black paper for my gold and silver inks for practice is quite a headache), as well as two more nibs (the Hunt 99 and 101). Resisting the urge to hoard tools is soooo hard.

Although I know I have good enough control of pens, I am having a hard time with the requirements of calligraphy—the proper angle for writing, the consistency of letters, the ink flow, and so much more. Even the scratchy sound of the nib against paper drives me nuts!

That hopefully justifies another major purchase. In true Fozzy fan mode, I went to Deovir Arts in SM Megamall to check out some art supplies.

Painting supplies from Deovir Arts

I sought a smoother and much more silent alternative to the scratchy nibs (calligraphers might find this funny; I hope that I would be forgiven for my newbie whining) in the form of brushes. I initially wanted to buy a Koi Water Brush by Sakura but decided against it when I was already in Deovir Arts. Had to remind myself to stop buying a lot of cool stuff because I needed to learn how to properly (and manually) mix water with the pan colors first. For the watercolor set, I went with Prang because I see it used by a lot of people. It’s also relatively affordable and beginner-friendly compared to other paints (those in tubes). Currently regretting that I bought 8s instead of the 16-color set, but I guess I’ll get an upgrade (and artist-grade at that) once I become a master of this art. Well, nothing like a Master of Arts degree holder cannot do. Tall order, self.

You might wonder why I decided to pursue this art all of a sudden. I may be old by society’s standards to learn something like painting, but I don’t care because I know I can do it. If there’s one thing I learned in recent years, it’s to simply go for it. Take chances, especially with things that have potential to prosper. Call it a calculated risk or purely a case of #YOLO. It’s also nice to be busy with something else aside from work. Don’t get me wrong—I love my job and indicative of that is my eagerness for Mondays. I also appreciate the free time that resurfaced after completing my master’s degree recently, but it seems like I got used to juggling a lot of things at the same time. Really funny, considering there were days I just wanted to flip the table and sleep early. Oh, the problems of being aggressive and overly ambitious at times. LOL

Hopefully, I will not be using work or lack of time as excuses to pursue my personal projects. Haha!