Final Reflection

“Life is a journey, not a destination.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson -

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I learned a lot throughout the process of writing this blog.  One, that I have the ability to achieve what I set my mind to, well, and I’m being graded.  Two, I haven’t spent a lot of time reflecting on who I am as an artist, this particular assignment allowed that and more.  Three, I created a lot of referenceable work, which in any case is movement in what I love to do.  Four, I found out so much about what it is to hand-letter, how to do it well, and a load of tips and tricks for practice, ease and ideas.

I don’t believe that I have changed much as far as my aesthetic, but I do believe that I have improved my artistry, especially as my particular blog subject was concerned.  All of the practice, research and application really took what I used to think looked good, to another level.  I am still no expert by any means, but I definitely have a new-found confidence behind my hand-lettering work and feel that I could take on a project of the sort and finish it fairly well.  That said, I do feel like I have become closer to the person that I want to become simply by putting pencil to paper everyday and, for the most part, letting my inner self direct the result.

I will definitely continue the activity I chose for my 40 days.  I felt that my journey with hand-lettering is not over and will never be. And, even though I was able to take letters & simple words and stylize them, I never really did much with creating a “full” piece.   Partly because a few blogs in, I realized that I could only really dedicate about an hour to each blog and with that time-limit, I never felt like a design was able to be totally realized.  In continuing this hand-lettering journey, I will probably split work for a full piece over a couple of days, just so I can complete a design that in my mind would be ready to sell.  I also would like to practice hand-lettering using a Wacom tablet, which during these past 40 days, I had not had the chance to do.

Overall, I loved the experience of trying something I had never done before, even on the days that I felt like I just couldn’t keep up or that the work I had done was not good enough.  The fact remains that all the work I did was “good enough.”  At least for that moment in time until the next days hand-lettering venture.  Moving forward, I hope to keep pushing myself in this manner and ultimately become the best possible version of me within my Graphic Design journey.  Peace and Love, Renee

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