A Visual Art Journey
Practice really does make...better!
This is the story of how I drew these book covers.
The Beginning
Before starting The Artist’s Way for the first time in 2022, I would never have said I was a visual artist. I was a musician, maybe a composer, possibly a writer, but not an artist.
My first artist date was making a painting following a Youtube tutorial. I didn’t look up how to paint, I just used some old acrylic paints and paintbrushes I had from some social work project, plus q-tips, and gave it a try. I often find it helpful to start on a new craft without too much instruction. Then, after a few intuitive tries, I’ll look up some tips.
Through the next couple of years, I experimented with different techniques and visual art styles…
Women at Play
This year I moved to Tacoma, Washington in May. Over the summer, I was walking along 38th street and found the Fab Lab studio and an advertisement for a weekly “Women at Play” art class. A few weeks later I found myself walking into the little space - part art studio, part gallery, part classroom.
My companions in art class are the loveliest group of mostly retired women who are dedicated to coming together weekly for crafting and community. They are sweet, funny, and creative as all get-out. In the first week, they had me dive right into an art form I had never even heard of: wet felting. I decided on a landscape of Mount Tahoma, and watched as strands of wool magically turned into a coherent piece of art.
From there, the crafts got even more interesting…
My art class has also made me think more creatively about my past works. For example, I recently created this collage that incorporates a drawing I made almost two years ago:
The Percy-Verse Podcast
Which leads me back to the book covers I shared at the beginning. I drew both of them for my podcast with my sibling Alisa - The Percy-Verse Podcast. For Season 1, we created a theme song accompanied by a stop-motion video. I made all the art and was very proud and excited to make my first stop-motion art piece! For the first line of our song, “Deep dives into hero’s lives,” I drew us falling into the cover of The Lightning Thief.
For Season 2, we wanted to include scenes specific to the Sea of Monsters. This included drawing a new cover for the second book. Now that I have gone to my weekly art class for several months, I found myself noticing more of the tones and shadows as I drew the cover. When I had finished and stepped back, it hit me. I had gotten better at art!
For so long, I needed to focus on making the “shitty first drafts” that are seemingly part of all creative advice. I am sure that I will need to continue to uproot perfectionism in all of my artistic endeavors - and that I will make many more shitty drafts. I am also sure that I will look back on this book cover as just one step in my visual art journey. But this was the first clear moment that I experienced the way in which putting time and energy into an art form, especially a new one, could translate into new results. It’s exciting!
Questions for reflection:
Do you have a favorite art piece I shared in this post?
Is there an art form you’ve worked on and seen change in over time? Or one that you’d like to?
Have you listened to our podcast yet? ***Shameless plug for The Percy-Verse Podcast! Available on all streaming platforms and on Youtube.***
Wishing you warmth, cheer, and creativity this holiday season!
Ana Vidina Starlight
Check out my catalog of posts on Substack.