I’m back.

Sketchbook, brushes and watercolors. A tiny collection, a very minimum supply. But I’m enjoying my time (a surplus of anything won’t guarantee your happiness), making a mess in my room. During weekends, the windows are wide open. The sunlight is pouring in. On weekdays, arriving at home late at night, I’m embracing the light bulbs and the sound of the cicadas. Sitting in front of my dressing table, I’m coloring some of the drawings I’ve made the previous days, while waiting for my hair to dry. The sweet smell of the shampoo is wafting over my head.

I take the luxury of ordering beautiful illustration books, which are so darn expensive. But I am saving my money to get these books onto my working desk, with the same amount of determination that may be possessed by a woman who has been craving for a pair of branded shoes for years. Books, of any kind, have always become my most valuable possessions. Especially when the books are beautifully illustrated!

Lately, sketchbooks and journals of artists and painters draw me in. It’s like peeking into their creative minds and nibbling at it (hmm, sounds zombie-ish, but no, it’s actually ‘nibbling’ in a rather cute way!)

Thus, I’m back with my sketchbook, brushes, and watercolors. Something I’ve given up hope for long ago. But now it feels exciting and dear to me again, all of a sudden. Travel journal catches my heart as it captures three things that I’m so in love with: traveling, writing, and drawing.

So, I’m starting to paint Hong Kong while preparing myself to paint my future journeys.

Painting is just another way of keeping a diary | Pablo Picasso

hanny

8 Responses

  1. Picasso once said “inspiration exists but it must find us working”. I believe we are all born having to learn to write and to draw. For years I used to look at my work to compare it with the likes of say Renoir, Monet, Michelangelo, Da Vinci and more. Now, many years later, I realise I was so busy comparing my work with these great artists I forgot to look at the marks and the emotions that came through in my own work – I no longer want to draw like anyone else, I want to draw like me, and very day I work a little more, to grow a little more, to learn a little more about how I draw. As with life we always gather new expeiences and so drawing is the same, we continue to find ways to further ourselves in the process of it to portray the moment we try to capture. I wanted to say all this before telling you this; I love the image here you have done of Hong Kong, it’s so, well, it’s so you! It’s honest and matches everything I know about you despite it being a short time. I am so inspired to hear you get excited about your little but growing collection of paints and paper and books. Knowing you is like meeting a kindred spirit, you see the beauty in the little, and then it transforms into something so big and meaningful. Keep drawing your moments, there is beauty in it. (truly uplifting your words are)

    1. true! :)) :)) :)) everyone has their own style, and the interesting part is that no matter how bad it looks to you, there will always be others who find it pretty and enchanting! 😀 I draw simply because I love to do it, so doesn’t really matter if it turns out pretty or ugly, so long as I’m having fun! :)) :)) :))

      1. I think we all learn, with time, to see beauty in our own work, I think its important that we do, and thats not being self centered. I hope you will too, there is magic there in the mark making and the memory you have planted onto paper : that is beauty : that is art 🙂

If you made it this, far, please say 'hi'. It really means a lot to me! :)

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I took another digital detox this weekend—I limited myself to a 5-minute screen time on Saturday and Sunday to quickly check my business account. I closed my social media account for the rest of the days.
Hanny illustrator
Hi. I'm HANNY
I am an Indonesian writer/artist/illustrator and stationery web shop owner (Cafe Analog) based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I love facilitating writing/creative workshops and retreats, especially when they are tied to self-exploration and self-expression. In Indonesian, 'beradadisini' means being here. So, here I am, documenting life—one word at a time.

hanny

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