cheyenne barton
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blog: on the subject of growth 🌈
🕑 Added 2021-04-19 22:15:51 +0000 UTCHi friends!! I just wanted to pop in and say hellooo and LOOK AT WHAT I MADE !! I just finished a redraw of this piece from March 2020 — I drew it in March, again in May, and now (almost a full year later) I had another go at it!! I really love doing redraws~~ They're a great way for me to track my progress and growth, and also it's a great way to just..make art without having to think up whole new concepts hehe. Kind of like a "draw this in your style" but just for me :D
A question I get really often is "how do I find my art style? I feel like nothing ever sticks/I can't find it/etc." and the advice I always give is "keep drawing!!" and never more have i realized that to be true than in the past few months.
I feel like it's only been in the past couple months that I've finally gotten over the fear of drawing things I'm not good at (mainly, practicing bodies and poses in a more focused manner, though I have a loooong list of other stuff I wanna improve at but I've been working on character stuff~) and in the past few months I feel like my art has improved more quickly than ever!! I've talked for a long time about wanting to let go of the fear of being "bad" at art, or drawing ugly things, and I think I've finally been able to take my own advice. I draw and scribble in my sketchbook, and some of the stuff looks weird and bad, and I cringe looking at it, BUT I know it's a part of the process and it's all valuable.
I've been consuming a bunch of art via Instagram and Twitter, and carefully analyzing different styles that I admire and trying out their techniques in my sketchbook. This is something that Austin Kleon says in How to Steal Like An Artist (which is a great, very quick read): he says that you should copy your heroes and figure out where you fall short in these replications. These shortcomings are most likely the things that define your work and instead of seeing them as failures, you should lean into them and work to amplify them !!
For instance, an artist I've been talking about a lot lately is Maud Bihan — I love love love their balance of soft, watercolor-y textures with bright colors and clean shapes. And the fact that they're able to do it all digitally! I've tried a handful of times to replicate their style, and I have found that without lineart, I have a hard/weird time trying to navigate a canvas. So, I've embraced my love of lineart in my work, and now I get to use that as a fixed navigation point in my journey to become better at digital painting!!! (which is...v slow going, but it's going!! digital painting is so hard oml)
I think this sort of jumping in headfirst approach has been the scariest and also most rewarding move I've made with my artwork. (well, that combined with how I've scaled back on things and now actually have time and energy to draw hah) As Ira Glass says, we're constantly working to close the "gap" between our taste and our work, and I can see it closing a bit now — I know it'll get wider again soon, and I'll have to keep pushing forward, but seeing the progress is thrilling and incredibly encouraging for me. ಥ‿ಥ
I hope you're doing well!! Happy happy Monday xx 💕💕💕
Love,
Chey
Comments
Mandi Farrell
This is beautiful! Seeing your art makes me smile! :)
B Grace
im late but ur growth is spectacular and everything u make makes my day
Luna Robinson
so so so so so cute....!
Radhia Rahman
YES we love to see it!! I'm so happy you're also seeing the growth for yourself too!!
Rachel Witort
I am so happy to see your art grow and improve over the years. I know it's tough, but you have done incredible work and made significant progress. You doing this is inspiring me to think of how I could do a "remake" of old songs I've written, to see how I've improved in my own art.
cheyenne 🌠
i can see this so clearly in my head and i'm honored that i got to be yelled about XD THANK YOUUUU SWEETPEA
Hannah Willard
Chey, I literally showed your Instagram to a friend the other day because I was so excited about how much you’ve grown, just saying to my friend “CAN’T YOU JUST TELL?? HOW MUCH SHE’S GROWN!! AND COME INTO HER OWN!!!” And once my friend got past my yelling she told me “bro you can even tell in the way the colors changed on her Instagram.” Your growth is showing babe and we’re all in awe!!
Tas Needham
Absolutely stunning! Always enjoy watching your journey with your art, you’re smashing it! X
Taylor
You're a gem Chey! I love your advise on 'leaning into and amplifying' the differences between your art and others. Very thoughtful. Taylor xx
gardn
the growth is so inspiring to see, esp when it comes to reworking the same piece overtime! i have a similar thing i’m trying to work through— more so fear of sharing my process and giving background/story to my work. i have peers who are growing as artists and a lot of it has to do with being vulnerable about their work and sometimes i’m just not like that when it comes to my art u.u i love your work and your vulnerability with sharing your fears and trials as an artist (and just in general) are v inspiring! thank you ✨
Lauren Fernandez
this is so lovely and so applicable to my fear of discomfort with things im bad at. i made my second attempt at crocheting when you started up for the first time and it felt so nice to know that someone who struggled with giving up when they're not automatically good at something was pushing it through it "with me". anyway, i love your art sm n im so appreciative of you talking ab this in the way that you do. you have helped me so much! <3
DonnaLeny Hansen
Thank you for sharing!! It’s been so lovely watching your style grow this year alone! Super inspiring 💛
