The good. The bad. The artist.

Hi – I’m Christy and I’m an artist. 100% self-taught.

I don’t fully understand anatomy, color theory, or composition.  

I haven’t fully found my style, I like to draw a lot of different things, and am on the millionth time of redoing my website.

I feel like a total mess.

I am constantly learning, studying, and trying to figure out what it means to be an artist all while working full time, taking care of a family, a house, a car, and never forgetting how incredibly lucky I am that I get to share everything with the guy that I have called mine for the past 22 years.

I think it’s important to show the good, the bad, and the ugly of what it means to be an illustrator. We get so caught up in the idea we think being an illustrator means but our perceptions and the reality are two different things.

Plus, being romantic about the idea of being paid to draw and paint is really a set up for failure.

The main purpose of me starting this blog is because it’s not easy being an artist.

It’s not easy being a mom, a wife, a friend, a human. It’s just not easy.

Or being anyone that takes a piece of themselves and shares it with the world. It makes us vulnerable, naïve, and seemingly weak.

However, someone that cries shouldn’t be considered weak and someone that shares shouldn’t either.

When I first started drawing, I didn’t even know what an illustrator was. So, I emailed as many artists, magazines, newspapers, etc. trying to get some sort of light at the end of the tunnel. What I received in return was a lot of support and being told ‘just draw’.

As someone who was in college for graphic design and who later became 100% self-taught, this was excellent advice. I just didn’t realize it.

I drew crap.

And none of my crap told a story.

Which, I later found out is EXACTLY what an illustrator does. They take words and create an image to help add life to the words.

I’m not here to bad mouth any artists for what they do.

I’m not a full-time artist but one day I hope to be. I just know that when I look at a lot of other artists, I don’t see anyone like me. And that stinks.

Not everyone has been drawing as long as they can remember, since they first could hold a pen, or any of that other stuff.

It’s great if you have, please don’t get me wrong. But besides a few coloring books, a couple of art classes in high school, and the occasional arts and crafts session with an aunt or two, it wasn’t until I was in my 3rd year of college that I realized I like drawing.

And that’s another thing; I don’t always love being an artist. I don’t always love creating. Some days I just don’t feel like picking up a pencil.

It doesn’t make me any less of an artist – it makes me human.

This past year has taught us all a lot of things but the one thing I’ve taken away from the pandemic is that some days I just don’t feel like doing much of anything.

Some days are really hard.

I don’t have to lie to myself and tell myself that everything is okay when it’s not, that I want to paint when I don’t, that I need to do XYZ to be successful.

The fact that I keep trying to find my own unique voice in a world full of boring, dull robots has to mean something. One day I would just like my bank account to reflect my effort. And I am hopeful it will.

I’m starting to realize I have to be my own cheerleader.

But for right now, I want to have a place for new artists (and struggling artists that are frustrated and fed up with their own creative journey) to have a place they can come and realize they aren’t alone.

Because believe me, there are more people out there that are lost, frustrated, and confused than we realize.

I will share my ups, my downs, my frustrations, and excitement. And I encourage you to do the same.

I’m not perfect. I’m human. Flawed, weird, and sometimes just plain nuts.

But one thing about me is I’m not fake. This might be my own journey but for the longest time I’ve felt like I’m alone in my worries, fears, and frustrations.

My goal with this blog is to share the struggles, the battles, the successes, and everything in between. I didn’t have supportive family, encouragement, or any of the fairy tale things everyone wishes they had.

I’ve done all of this with my own grit. And it hasn’t been easy but just because I was born into a hot mess of a life doesn’t mean I don’t deserve a successful life. It’s just going to take work.

But I can do it. And so can you.

So please, come along with me on my adventure to finding my own creative style and expressing what it means for me to be an illustrator.