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Coloring Outside the Lines.

A work-in-progress life

By Hannah Marie. Published 2 years ago 3 min read
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What Makes an Artist?

I received my own artist/author business cards today. Yet I have never finished writing a novel or won a prize for my art. Unless you count the state fair when I was ten. I did win first place for drawing a girl in chalk. What a proud moment…until I found out that I was the only one who entered that area of art for my age group.

Life is like that sometimes, with ups and downs, creating anticipation that makes me feel really good in the moment. Then I realize that the only reason I get applauded for a certain feat was because those who notice have never seen something like that before. As I’m learning this creative thing, I am also trying to be less critical of myself. I create art because I think it is gorgeous. I write, really, for two reasons: 1) I am passionate about a subject which might be better told from another person’s perspective or 2) I want to put into words a scene which I have envisioned and there is no other element that does it justice. For these reasons, I create.

“The most beautiful stories always start with wreckage.”

Jack London

That is why I made myself a business card! I wanted to build a platform, a way for others to be inspired by my art and to share it with their friends. If my work remains in my head, it might help develop personal insight, but it does nothing for anyone else. I— like anyone creative, I imagine— want to share the ideas that resonate deeply within me. The idea is to peer into someone's soul through seeing that person’s struggle, leap of joy, or sour frustration and match it on the page. I don’t think I’m at that level yet. I follow amazing artists on Instagram who make creating art look so effortless. I’m not there yet, but I’m getting closer. I want, as my motto to my current website states, to share stories through art. Sometimes it takes thoughtful scenes woven together in succession to build a novel. At other times, words just won’t suffice. For that, I turn to my pencil. I know my drawings won’t be perfect, but neither is life. My concept is to allow the subject’s attitude to shine through so that the viewer gets a glimpse into a life that might have occurred before capturing that expression.

#penandpencil

That glimpse is where my words come in. How can I share a story that impacts someone’s life and creates a connection because of the unique, explicit storyline? This and other questions I can answer with a pen and my pencil. I’ve often started including a hashtag #penandpencil on my Instagram portraits, not because I am always drawing in pencil and tracing over it in pen, but because I write and draw, each in harmony with the other.

Do I know what this business card, writing on the weekend, portrait-drawing thing will become? Absolutely not! But I do know that I enjoy the challenge and embrace the mystery of creating art. In the coming months, I will continue the motivation I’ve set for myself in 2021, but also branch out into new avenues of writing or challenge myself with my art. On the practical side, I know I could plan out a path, but most likely I would deviate anyway. I have the terrible habit of wanting to embrace every rabbit trail that jumps out at me.

Instead, I have a couple large goals for next year: 1) To finish and attempt to publish my young adult graphic novel, 2) To write the first draft of a narrative non-fiction that I’ve had my thoughts on for several months, 3) To read more expansively, hopefully whittling down my TBR shelve(s) in the process! All in all, I can see that where I’ve landed is great, even if some improvement is needed! I have continued good habits and strengthened weak areas.

We all, just like my art, are a work-in-progress!

art
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About the Creator

Hannah Marie.

Storytelling Through Art.

My goal is to show experiences in a meaningful way through short stories and hand-drawn sketches.

Find me on IG too! @Hannah_Marie._Artwork

—Hannah Marie.

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