...and now for the sketches...

I talked a little bit about Monica Zuniga on Wednesday. She is an amazing Mixed Media Artist, who lives in Mexico city. I am taking her Mixed Media Faces class, and within this class we practice drawing faces with pencil, creating textured backgrounds, and much much more. She inspired me to try drawing realistic faces, but it was a real struggle. I realized I like my dolls, and although I love her realistic artwork, it's not me. It's difficult, sometimes, to accept your style, especially when the devil on your shoulder is whispering "that doesn't even look real." I even had a friend tell me, "her nose looks alien," about a recent sketch I drew. It hurt, but you can't change people's perspectives, you can only change how you feel about yourself. I would rather create my dolls, than struggle to create something that I don't have the passion for. I like my "alien" nose, and that's all that matters.

My sketches are just the beginnings of things to come... not a lot of shading, just the bare minimum of some inspiration that came to me at 2am, after watching one of Monica's videos. I usually name my girls, but because we're in the first part of their creation, they haven't spoken to me, yet.

Have you ever struggled to learn a skill or technique? Did you stick with it, alter it slightly to make it yours, or both?