Day 15 (Inspiration)

So today me and one of my best friends went to Comic Con in Boston.  I am not a big comic book fan like he is but I love the art in it.  These artist have some serious talent and a lot of them are very down to earth cool guys.  I am a guy that is more likely to just examine the drawing style, technique, detail and more on each frame than really even read the comic book.

Though I had many short conversations with different artist displaying their work I was blessed to have one extended conversation.  This guy really inspired me today as we got into a deep conversation about the struggles of artist trying to be perfect and finding their identity.  We talked about that push to always draw like the greats in the industry.  We talked about how big companies don't really want you to have your own drawing style (he used to work for some and a lot of his friends still do).  We talked about finally getting to the point where your art can just flow and it is no longer forced through fear of rejection, and ideas of perfection.

One thing he told me he struggled with was someone he admired told him "the best thing about you is you don't draw like anybody else, and the worst thing about you is you don't draw like anybody else".  He struggled for years with that thought of it also being the worst part about him.  He fought with the struggle of trying to just be like everyone else.  He did this until he finally realized that is not the worst part about him at all, but it was only the best.  He freed himself so he could be himself.  That was inspiration on many different levels.  It was just a reminder to just be me, and to let myself shine.  Be myself in my art, in my business, in my every day walk of life and try not to just conform to what everyone else thinks I am supposed to be.

Though I am not there yet, it is motivating to see and talk to somebody who has struggled and overcame it.  It lets me know that I am not the only one, and that I can do it too.  He always was nice enough to give me some tips on how to do it, as far as my artistic skills go.  I gratefully got to purchase some of his work so I could support his dream and also remind myself of the lesson I learned today.

-Tali