Today, I found some drawings I made a while back, and finding them made me realize I may have kept some of my potential under the bushel all this time. And now I wonder what I may have become—and who and where, too—if I had invested anything I could into it.
I had always loved cartoons as a kid, so much so that I got grounded a couple of times because I put them above my responsibilities some times. I would lose sleep so I could catch my favorite shows; these included the likes of Ben 10, Cow and Chicken, and Courage the Cowardly Dog, to name an infinitesimal few. And because I loved how these shows made me "happy," I would often draw them when they came to mind.
At some point growing up, some of my classmates, when I was in primary 5 in elementary school (maybe grade 5 to some people), literally named me "Ben 10" simply because I drew too much of Ben and his aliens whenever I found the chance to. I probably had one of the shows' merchandise as a bag.
At that time, I never considered the fact that I did have some talent with art. I just saw it as a reflection of my mind and thoughts. And to some reasonable degree, I did have some high levels of accuracy—to the best of my knowledge at that time, anyway.
I used to have a drawing book where I kept the majority of my drawings. I just don't remember what happened to it. It was a creative little space of mine then. I also had random drawings around on papers and cardboard, many of which I cannot even find now. I must have misplaced them, as we have moved residences twice now.
 Some experimental long-exposure shot of mine... |
Even though most of my drawings were copies of things I saw around me (and my favorite cartoons), I could still draw from my imagination and even replicate things I had drawn before from memory. Still, I didn't see it as something special—only as something I could do—and didn't think much about it, like making a career out of it.
As I grew older and older, I began to draw less and less. Yet, I still had a knack for being creative. My drawing abilities still show in certain areas. Every diagram I drew in school was never mediocre; there was always that touch of creativity. Not that I went overboard with them, but that they were often good, even if I wasn't trying.
In my last days of being in high schoolne, there was a time when I was bored to hell. We had taken the most important examination of our lives at that time—the one that would determine our entry into the university—and all we were waiting for was another one that was like it but not as important. So, there was this big gap in time between them both that consisted of a series of boredom, and one day flair for drawing kicked in again.
I went out during school hours, when I could (because I was in a damn military school), and got myself a white cardboard and some pencils too. I could afford to lose my sanity, and so I picked up a page I had previously found and kept. It was a page from a novel about Peter Pan and his arch-nemesis, Captain Hook.
Rather than wait till the day was over, I began to draw again. It took a really long time to get it finished, but I made sure to indulge myself in the experience of being an artist.
I had miscalculated the scale of my drawing, as the page I was drawing from was really small compared with the cardboard, and I wanted it large enough on the cardboard. Apparently, however, it was a little too big, and I couldn't draw half of Peter Pan's body. I improvised and added paper to complete the drawing. In your face, boredom!
I made sure to finish the drawing, as I was indeed enjoying it. I chose to use shades for contrast, but then I was horrible at using water colors to paint. I had learned from a previous experience to only start painting when I learned to actually paint.
This other drawing of mine, as you can see, was sabotaged by my very own self when I was being overconfident in my "excellent" ability to paint with water colors. Clearly, it was a total flop trying to paint it. Other than that, however, the drawing was a good one of Avatar Aang, the last Air Bender (another cartoon show I loved).
This drawing happened at a much earlier time than the one of Peter Pan and Captain Hook, I think. I was way younger then, but it's an example of how I loved to draw. You would even see Spongebob Squarepants at the bottom right, and an incomplete drawing of Dora the Explorer at the top right corner.
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It's still in me, I think. I haven't drawn anything for a very long time now, but in my days at the university, I was excellent with engineering drawing. Although that one required a lot of late nights of study and practice, I think my ability to draw influenced my understanding of it and accuracy.
While at the university, I was also introduced to 3D modeling. I took a lot of interest in it, unsurprisingly, and did well in the course. I continued from the software I learned (PTC Creo) to a different one that is more versatile, intuitive, and flexible (Blender).
At some point, I stopped learning. But recently, I got reminded about the thrill and excitement I had learning (before I stopped), so I am jumping at it again in hopes of making something worthwhile out of it. Let's see how it goes.
[ See you in the next... ]