Here we come to the end of the Week of Sketches. And to end it, I'm going to show you all some very very personal sketches. They're not the greatest. They probably won't make sense without context. But to me, they are some of the most important drawings I've every done. They represent something very, very important to me.
I'm going to give you all a warning right now. I'm about to get into some dark personal stuff. If you don't wish to read it, just skip down to the art.
So... back in my Return to the Internet post, I mentioned that I had been going through some very serious medical issues. The most serious ones being the discover I had depression, and a sudden spike in my anxiety disorder, among other things. And though I'm not completely ready to go into everything, I want to at least share this story with you.
During my medical time off, I literally could not draw. I don't mean that my hand was injured. I mean that I did not have the will power, nor the physical power to HOLD A PENCIL. I had to keep a journal, and just trying to write one sentence was extremely difficult and took all my concentration.
This went on for months. If I drew something, I literally don't remember what, because my memory was part of the issue as well.
Then, last year, in the summer, my family and I went to Europe. We had been planning this trip for years and everyone hoped it would help me. I brought my sketch book with me, and a bunch of pens... but I still couldn't draw. We started in Rome, then Florence and then Venice... Oh Venice. All the museums where fun but in Venice, I got to meet modern craftsmen. Making books, blowing glass, painting masks. And one little paper shop, where I bought a little handmade sketchbook.
After Venice was done, we were exhausted, Paris was our next stop. To get there, we planned to go on a train that would take us through the Swiss Alps.
On that quite, smooth driving, air conditioned train, we settled in.
I pulled out my new Sketchbook. Turned my music on random. And started to
draw.
I don't know if it was my family's support, my meds, the trip to Italy, or the book, or the train, or just good timing, but after months and months, I finally jumped a hurdle that was keeping me from doing something I love. And I kept drawing. The whole trip. And after.
There's also... another reason they are so personal. I have family in England. And I was able over come some of my anxiety and showed all my relatives what I had been drawing in that book, unsure if I would ever see them again. And after my return the Canada... two of them passed away. One not long after the trip... and one this past Friday. Canada Day.
These are those first initial drawings. And with each one, is a song that inspired them. Please Enjoy.
As you can tell, there's a lot of Steven Universe and Gravity falls, as well as my own original characters. And Beast Wars. Always Beast Wars. That's because SU and GF were two shows that actually helped me through my medical leave.
Thats it for now. It'll be some time before I'll be posting again. Talking about this took a lot out of me emotionally. See you all later!
Bu-Bye
Tegan aka The SlugLady
