My First DTIYS | #bunnytraildtiys800

 

I know I have mentioned this before, but I am a huge fan of “Draw This In Your Style” challenges. They are a super popular thing on Instagram where an artist will share an image and prompt others to draw it in their style (with permission to change things as long as the source image is still recognizable). I just think they are such a fun way to challenge yourself as an artist and treat it as a study of someone else’s approach to art (while not completely copying). Doing these challenges has helped me grow in my style and technique, as well as skill through getting myself to try different subject matter that I might not normally draw.

All this being said, I’ve had a dream of hosting my own challenge for awhile now, and this past April I made my first attempt in celebration of reaching 800 followers on Instagram. I posted the image below with so much excitement and anticipation! I couldn’t wait to see how my illustration would translate in someone else’s style! 😃

And while I didn’t get a lot of participation, I did get THREE incredible entries! The feeling I felt when I first saw each of them was pure joy… someone had taken the time to study my illustration and create something beautiful from it in their own way. And while I was hoping to see more entries, I am so so thankful for these three… they mean so much to me, and the artists behind each are incredible!! So please take a look at the three beautiful entries to my first DTIYS below and show each of them some love! Thank you all so much for your participation! 🥰

I definitely plan to host another one of these challenges in the future (maybe when I hit a few more followers), but the experience of hosting this one will forever remain special! 🐰

 

May Recap

 

This month, I was able to finish up going through all the Immersion lessons and make the final tweaks to my first collection (which I will be revealing in it’s entirety later in June)! It’s so exciting for me to be able to check off these boxes and start taking steps towards the next thing and I’m already brainstorming for my next collection! But as Bonnie tells us in Immersion: focus on “one thing a day”. This is something I have to constantly remind myself of or else overwhelm can so easily settle in. It feels like there is so much to do (and not enough time), and I have days where my head is buzzing… where I’m not sure what to focus on first. I’m learning to be okay with setting some things aside until I have the head space to approach them with the care they require. I don’t want to rush through and risk leaving things unfinished… I want to tend to each thing on my to-do list with the care and attention I need to give it. All these things I have to do WILL get done (in their proper timing), I just have to keep working at them… one thing at a time. 😅

I honestly feel like I’m really starting to hone in on a style to use when drawing in Procreate. It gets me excited and makes me want to draw even more! Here’s a look at some of the challenges I participated in this past month:

The last illustration reminds me that gardening season is upon us!! I bought my flowers last Friday and I really need to plant them! It’s not supposed to rain this Friday, so that might be a good time to do that. I’m looking forward to the warmer months and spending time in my garden! How about you? ☺️

 

Spring Creativity Challenge

I love participating in #dtiys challenge, don’t get me wrong, but I think my favourite drawing challenges are the ones that give you prompts to work with (rather than an image). These challenges become an exercise in not only style exploration but also conceptualization. The #springcreativitychallenge was such a joy to participate in and I can start to see my style becoming more consistent. I also had so much fun exploring colour because so many beautiful colours come with spring!

Thank you to all the lovely artists that hosted this challenge. You helped bring a lot of beautiful to my Instagram feed these past few weeks! Which of my illustrations from this set is your favourite? You can let me know in the comments if you’d like! 🥰

April Recap

 

Well…

…we got COVID this month… and it sucked. 🤒🤧 My husband got sick a few days after my birthday, and I lasted a week before I started showing symptoms (I was starting to think I wouldn’t get it, however, I didn’t get so lucky). About 4 days in bed followed by a week and a half on the couch popping lots of vitamins/supplements, drinking lots of fluids and fighting off fatigue. I watched a LOT of movies, played my Nintendo Switch (which I hadn’t picked up in awhile… yay Animal Crossing and Super Mario Galaxy!) and had a few moments where I felt I had enough energy to pull out my iPad and draw. I definitely did not work on Immersion, so I fell behind… but it’s okay, because I’m on my own timeline. This just means I will have to go a couple weeks into May to finish going through all the course material. That’s perfectly acceptable… I can be okay with that… I have to be! 😅

And while I couldn’t keep up with the scheduled release of the modules, I still enjoyed listening to the Q&A’s with Bonnie every Monday/Wednesday/Friday and popping into the community here and there. Also, my beautiful student packet finally arrived!! Only 5 weeks late, but it was worth the wait! I had a lot of fun opening up the last two envelopes with everyone else in the course! ☺️

My Immersion Student Pack finally arrived! 🥳

Matcha got something special in the mail too! 😉

April 27th was the official graduation ceremony for Immersion, and while I didn’t quite feel the closure I should have (because I hadn’t finished everything yet) it was such a lovely experience. Bonnie had written each student’s name on a piece of seed paper at the beginning of the course, and she shared a video with us of her going out to her garden and planting each one. What a beautiful gesture! We have all come so far just by taking this step to learn and grow in our creative journeys, and now there will be flowers growing in Bonnie’s garden in honour of that. I may have gotten a little teary eyed… 😭

Bonnie’s wall with each student’s name written on a piece of seed paper. My name is there somewhere! ☺️

Here are a few illustrations from the challenges I managed to participate in this month. I wish I could’ve done more, but I’m just happy I was able to draw a little bit while I was sick!

Now that we are on the mend, I’m happy to leave April behind… looking forward to having more energy to get more things done in May! 😄

 

March Recap

 

It’s hard to believe tomorrow is April already! March went by so fast! I know this is because most of my time has been spent engrossed in Immersion, but I still managed to find a few moments here and there to do some drawing just for fun. Below are a few of the challenges I participated in this past month! ☺️

I only managed to complete a few entries for another challenge called #meowgicalmarch (hosted by @everything_a_cat and @robotdancebattle), but I had fun creating these two illustrations with cats in mind! Speaking of cats… these two are patiently waiting for the snow to melt. They can’t wait to go outside! 😅

 

February Recap

 

Today is the first day of Immersion! I’ve already gotten through the first few lessons. Not only do we get right into learning all about Illustrator, but Bonnie also makes sure we are coming into the course with the right mindset. Mindset is so important for an artist because the creative journey is NOT an easy one (putting artwork out into the world can feel extremely vulnerable). I love that Bonnie sets this foundation before we hit the ground running. I’ve already learned so much! ☺️

In February, I was able to participate in a few more drawing challenges and I can definitely see something happening in my style (but I’m still having fun exploring)! March is going to look a little different for me (with most of my efforts being put towards Immersion), but I’m hoping I will still find some time to do more of these challenges… they are such a good opportunity to practice.

A Debonair, Well-Read, Tea Drinking Tiger
#drawmoor prompt hosted by @beckamoor

I’ve also been doing some sketching for a new batch of products for spring! They will be listed in the Etsy shop around mid-March, so stay tuned! Here’s a little sneak peek in the meantime! 😉

In other news… my orchid has bloomed (which always feels like such an event)! It’s so pretty! Do you have any plants in your home that you get excited about when they bloom? 🌺