Art and Growth

The first time I was introduced to art was when I was only six years old. Art was a way I expressed my feelings even though at first they were nothing more than meaningful scribbles on a page. People have their own views about talent, but I am a huge believer in hard work, motivation, and dedication. My interest in art started as a means to express myself and evolved into an undeniable passion. When I fell off of a bed or hit something hard, as a toddler, I would always keep to myself and find another way of expressing the pain. It was often hard to express myself in traditional ways, but art provided me an outlet. It started when one day; my sister showed my family a painting she had done--. Amazed by this showcase, I started to practice drawing. I learned a lot from watching my sister and in secret I imitated her. I had no idea this early form of imitation would develop into exceptional development of skills.

Like any adolescent child I loved watching cartoons and I also developed an interest in music. This helped me process an artistic view to the world and helped my imagination amass. Early in my life I took my love for cartoons and tried emulating the character design on paper drawing my favorite cartoon characters over and over—just as I had done with my sister’s designs years earlier. I challenged and dared myself to be better, and did so. Dragon ball Z became my cartoon of choice and because of my daily viewing; it left surprising and clear images in my head throughout the day. Sitting on the floor in my bedroom, I drew pictures of the Dragon Ball Z characters in action poses. I watched carefully every morning and afternoon noticing all the lines and curves used to make this cartoon. Surprisingly some of the simplest methods were used to make each character, which made it easy to draw the character over and over. Each and every time my art would start to look more like the images on television. I kept repeating until the pictures started to look consistently perfect.

I grew and made art my own skill by imitating other’s works. I am now able to craft pieces of interest from simple ideas of my own. Although many of my designs end up in the trash, my heart and soul goes into each and every picture I create. I work with effort on every piece giving me more satisfaction for each one and I have now explored new mediums of artistic expression. I have discovered how to use clay, charcoals, paint brushes, random household supplies and even online software to create art. Viewing my older pieces still presents a powerful reminder of the path I have created for myself. My interest in art has evolved from imitation of others into polished masterpieces. If you say I have talent, I will tell you "I believe the talent is not art but the perception of it and molding it to how you want to express it". In my opinion everyone has a unique extra skill that must be developed. Talent is useless without hard work and persistence this is why I describe myself as an “artist under growth.”