New Class, New Hobby, New Art: Drawing

I have adored Mari Andrew's drawings for quite a while now. She is one of the few people who's Instagram I check daily. I have always felt her work was quirky, honest and relatable. I never thought of creating my own because a. I just didn't think about it, b. I'm not very good at drawing and c. I felt like that would be too much of stealing or direct copying. But! Then the heavens aligned and Mari released a course on Skillshare and started teaching her technique, which is very simple, but more than that she is sharing her inspiration, her how to, her thought behind her art. I cannot finish the class because for every short video lesson I watch, I spend a few hours doodling new pages and have a whole notebook now dedicated to ideas for new drawings.When I started taking her course it was like a light went off for me. In real life, I'm a pretty humorous person, but writing and making witty quips on the spot in conversations are not the same. But, this art form allows me to sneak in that bit of sarcasm that I love, but also be more personal, vulnerable and create cute art - all at once!The class is short and easy to digest, but like I said, it sparks so many ideas it's hard to get back to the lessons until you've fully fleshed out the ideas from the current one. Her lessons are delivered in short videos where she shares some of her art, gives you a prompt and then creates a drawing in front of you. She has great advice and is really easy and fun to follow. This course has by far topped my list of favorite and most valuable courses I have taken in a long time. You can use this link to get 3 months of Premium membership for .99cents and I get one month free. Win, Win! This drawing is not one from a prompt, but just something I started musing on this weekend as Terrell was taking out the food trash and I told him he was my hero because that shiz is Niz-ass-ty. Then I started thinking about all the other nice things he does and how he really is the hero of our house. Instantly I knew I needed to make a little doodle for him to express how much I appreciate all he does. Like I said drawing is not my greatest strength, I would say it is one of the skills where I am lacking most. But with some simple googling (and emoji studying) I was able to simply represent each trait. The beauty of this art form is that simplicity is the key to making it relatable and understandable. This drawing is also one that I dreamed up as I was sitting and watching the snow fall and felt like I lived in a snow globe. I thought about a few of my favorite moments ever and they seem to have that effect, where I am standing still, on the outside, and watching the beauty of life happen in front of me, almost in my hand, like the observer of a snow globe. This is certainly the least cute of the drawings, but it represented a really special moment for me and I was able to convey my message with very few words and there was a positive reaction to this on instagram where others were able to relate. Which is the goal of art!The mental notes were semi from a prompt in the course. I was working through the course, made the mistake of checking my email and got a super annoying request. The thought 'I wanna stab somebody' immediately came to mind and I got right to work. After creating this I felt much better. This art form is nothing if not therapeutic and I am now thinking in these drawings...The Heart Inventory is taking directly from Mari's class. She gave multiple variations on this one and I feel like I could make a new one every day and I quickly realized that taking an inventory of your heart is not for the faint of heart. Mari explains how she uses art to process her life in the course and I can absolutely agree and understand how powerful these simple exercises are. The Resilience prompt is from lesson 1 and my mind exploded with pie chart options! SO. MANY. IDEAS. Who knew pie charts could be such fun art?! Clearly, you can see how much I am loving this course and am very excited to keep working through it, creating new drawings, executing more of my ideas and sharing them all! I would love if you joined me and can't wait to see your drawings! Be sure to tag me on instagram if you join @laurenlikesblogYou can use this link to get 3 months of Premium membership for .99cents and I get one month free. Win, Win! Happy doodling!