Practicing Consistency

Something that resonated with me after the last post I made was about practicing consistency and following through with something to the end.

Both of which I have always had trouble doing. I was always driven by passion or curiosity, jumping from one thing to another. I think this is why I always jumped to different studio classes in my major (furniture design, product design, even slipcasting and silkscreening). I have many 3/4 finished pieces and before I used to attribute it to not being satisfied with the outcome but now I feel like its just due to lack of confidence.

When most people ask me why I chose the art field or what I want to do, I would give a vague and nondescript answer because I did not know myself. Perhaps I still do not know. But what I do love is listening to people's stories and creating an illustrative narrative (like my 'depersonalization' piece). I have always been a more visual learner and interpreter so those visuals would always swarm my head when I talked with someone.

I would always encourage others that art is subjective and that the only way you could ever fail is if you had nothing to share. I feel that most of the time that I'm encouraging someone else, I am also telling this to myself. Just because I went to a design school does not mean that I have no fear. It means that despite my fear, I decided to leap into the chaos. I still question my self-worth and my art. I don't fear the criticism of others but just mostly of myself. I know what I lack the most and to have it confirmed in an illustration, a design, a job, is my literal nightmare.

But without practice and without time, you can't possibly expect to achieve the greatest. So hopefully I can eat my own words that I preach and take the time to become shameless in my creativity. I hope whoever reads these will find their own consistency project (because passion projects need 90% consistency as well). Let me know what your consistency project is and we can keep each other accountable!

xx, oj

ps. I highly suggest you to watch Kiki's Delivery Service if you feel like you're in this rut as well. It's a beautiful animation and really touches upon self-growth and learning to stand alone.