I remember a conversation I had with my mom 3 years ago about my art skills. When I told her about how I felt like I couldn't draw well anymore, she told me it was because I didn't keep practicing to maintain my skill level. It's true. The frequency of drawing went from drawing everyday any time I was near a scrap of paper with a pen/pencil in hand (middle school & high school) to drawing once a week if I was lucky (college). Once you stop drawing, you just don't draw as well as you used to.

My art style has matured over the years despite my severely deteriorated technical skills. I don't draw characters that look very cutesy anymore (although I can still draw them). Maybe it's a sign that I'm getting old. LOL. I do notice that my art is sort of a reflection of myself. I know many other artists would say the same thing. The fatter I got, the curvier my girl characters became... unlike the skinny sticks they used to be. (Just kidding. Sort of. More like, I stopped drawing shoujo-style and started drawing more shounen-style characters. All of my favorite artists draw shounen-style anyways.)

During this past Thanksgiving break, I looked through my drawings from high school... only to be surprised that I wasn't as bad as I thought (back then). Sometimes, I think my art back then was better than my art now (especially with body proportions!!! I could draw bodies just fine! I was shocked. O_O). Then again, I think it's because my skills were somewhat better back then compared to now.

Anyways, over winter break, I'm going to practice drawing as much as I possibly can. I need to get past this hurdle that has been blocking my way for the past 4 years. College took all my creativity away, since I never really needed it in any of my classes. :<

I also need to stop being reluctant to draw fan art. I'm not sure why I hate drawing fan art or drawing from sources so much. That's the only way I'll get better. But for some reason, I just feel like that's cheating 'cause drawing original characters is much harder. Hahaha. Silly me.