July 24, 2024

STORY TIME- WHO I AM , WHAT I DO AND WHY I DO IT “With a creative mother and a father full of dreams, I was born with creative hands and a mind full of dreams.” Hello to all my fellow creators who love all things about creating art and print designs. I’m Nanditha Vijayan, an artist and Print Designer who loves turning a plain white paper into something magical by creating ART inspired by my daily life. I grew up in a traditional South Indian family where I have seen women who had dreams but were not allowed to work or be independent in their lives. But as I grew up, I wanted to change that system. I wanted to WORK, BE INDEPENDENT and FINANCIALLY STABLE by creating a career I love. This was my BIGGEST GOAL. I always loved designing, and art was one of the things I ever loved doing right from my childhood. Ever since I graduated from college as a Fashion Designer, got married and came to Germany,I wanted to figure out how I can pursue my career as a Designer. Along the way I had many roadblocks to start a career , naming a few would be like not knowing German language, and technical skills like Photoshop and Illustrator. Motherhood was playing a huge role on the side too. As I searched my way through these roadblocks, I got to know more about Skillshare, a platform to learn and teach. This was my Trumpcard. With the help of my husband financially backing me up, I finally started learning and teaching on Skillshare. Moving through each roadblocks I have had, helped to build a career that I love. Educating myself, exploring my skills, and finding my answers to that big question, allowed me to fulfill my dreams of becoming the designer I had wished to become. And along this journey, I have started to help women who have big dreams of being artists, designers, and entrepreneurs, who do not know how to get there, and who wish that there was someone to guide them along the way. As a stay-at-home mother, I invested my time, efforts, and money into self-learning. This is why I like to share what I have learned. As a first step, I have built A to D ACADEMY, Art to Design academy, an online academy, where I can share my knowledge and all the answers to your questions after doing years and years of exploration with brushes, paints, and patterns in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. I am sharing everything that I have learned in this journey so you don’t have to look for answers throughout the internet as I did, fail an interview not knowing your answers, or spend years trying to explore the right techniques when using tools like Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator that you need to know when building your career as a graphic or print designer. I want to make sure that there is someone to help you with the process, with tools and techniques, so you could become the artist, designer, and creative entrepreneur that you envision for yourself.

 “Before I Started, I Did Not Know if I Was an Artist” As a child in school, I remember drawing and feeling a deep affection for it. However, I knew nothing about creating artworks. All I had was a love for drawing portraits, so I drew portraits of my grandfather, my brother, friends, myself, and other people. I used to draw using a grid technique, which I learned in a two-month course during the school vacation back in 9th grade. It always gave me immense pleasure to draw faces. (Check out my class “ANYONE CAN PORTRAIT” on Skillshare to learn an easy technique through tracing to create portraits). As a college student, I loved fashion illustration and was a fan of the world-famous fashion illustrator Arturo Elena. The funny thing is that I didn’t even realize I looked up to him as an inspiration until I met Anna Sokolova (a story I will share with you soon). I did not know that I could look up to someone for inspiration, and this realization took almost 7 to 8 years until someone pointed it out to me. I never found books interesting unless they had good pictures. I was a visual person. Can you relate? My Acha (dad) bought me books as a child, but I never developed a habit for reading, except for Harry Potter. The deep, dark, magical story of J.K. Rowling always inspired me to read her books and watch her movies. Books became interesting to me once I found a reason to read them—when I found art in them. I love reading and looking at illustrated books. I just love to buy and own them. Through them, I am learning about new people, new artists, new creatives, and new authors. Now, I find books interesting to read and learn from because I have finally found my reason to read them. Art, illustration, and design are topics that deeply interest me and help broaden my imagination. My mom, Amma, used to tell me, “You have beautiful skills. Why don’t you create paintings and teach others? You keep searching everywhere for an answer, like the musk deer that searches the woods for a beautiful smell only to find that it comes from its own body.” Amma was right. We all are like musk deer. We keep searching for an answer without focusing on the strong skills deeply rooted within us, without knowing the artist in us. If you are an artist, if you can create paintings, create strokes, create photographs, create music, if you like to act, if you can sculpt, dance, write, sing—what else can you think of? If you are a creator, then you are an artist!  Exercise: 1) Answer these questions: – What do you want to be in life? – What do you want to do in life? – Why do you want to do it? My answers would look like this: – I want to be a successful Surface Pattern Designer creating artworks for products I love to see in the world and an Online Educator teaching women Internationally,  – I want to create artworks, turn them into designs for branded products, teach women how to create artworks and designs, and work with clients internationally, thereby helping myself and others to build the best creative career that we all love and enjoy doing. – Through this, I want to build a career, have a consistent income, be financially stable and independent, bring my dreams to reality, and be able to take care of my parents and family. What does your answer look like? Write them down one by one. 2) Draw or paint one artwork that speaks to you about what you want to become or is related to what you want to do in your life. It does not have to be an obvious answer. You can paint your dreams as aptly or as a vague picture

If you are a stay-at-home wife or mom who wants to start creating artworks and build a career as an artist, designer, or creative entrepreneur, begin by telling your inner mind the very first affirmation: “I am an artist.” Let’s start taking baby steps towards that big goal that will transform you from a stay-at-home wife or mom to an artist the world is ready to know. Tell yourself, “I AM AN ARTIST.” Let it be loud enough for your ears to hear and your mind to take in. Start creating one artwork every single day. As a stay-at-home mother, I always thought I didn’t have time. But then I realized that if I kept saying I didn’t have time, I would never find time to do anything in life. So instead, I started telling myself, “I will find time for the things I want to do in my life.” This was the first mindset shift I made, and along with it, I slowly figured out areas in my daily house chores that I could tweak to bring in more time for the things that would help me achieve my big goals. Here are a few things I did to create more time:

Being a woman, you shower everyone around you with love and happiness by adorning different roles—mother, wife, daughter, sister, etc. But have you ever considered that the most important thing in life, or something to prioritize, is to start loving yourself? As a mother, you have been caring for and loving your child. As a wife, you have been giving love to your husband. As a daughter, you have been giving all your love to your parents. As a sister, you have been showering your love and care on your sibling. You have been giving importance to everyone around you—both family and friends—and treating yourself with the least interest. But now it’s time to show yourself some love and care. Give yourself a pat on the back and say, “You have been doing great.” You have to tell yourself that you are beautiful, amazing, loved, and you are a CREATOR. There were many things I used to hate about myself. The list was huge. I used to say, “I hate my forehead because it’s too big,” or “I hate myself because I’m too short.” These were things I was made fun of as a child and even during my growing years. But one by one, I started working on them and began turning those feelings of hate into love. I now tell myself, “I love myself for who I am, the way I look, and for what I do and create. I am a BEAUTIFUL CREATOR.” When you find something you don’t like about yourself, identify what it is, why you feel that way, and what you want to change. Write these down so you can see things more clearly. For example you can tell yourself, when my skin has worsened with pimples, I will work on it through food habits and medicines to help it heal. I hated myself for not being able to find a job in Germany and start earning, but I began teaching online and took small steps toward building my career, earning small incomes. And now, I love myself for taking those small steps and creating each course and piece of content for my students, helping them find answers to their big questions through my explorations and processes. Whenever I start my day, I make a cup of tea for myself to show some self-love because it helps me relax and calm down before I start working on my personal projects and artworks. I make sure to apply moisturizer to help my skin tackle winter dryness. Each time I find myself worrying about something, I make sure to tell myself, “It’s okay, I am doing great at what I am doing and write those thoughts down to help get better clarity on what they are.” Help yourself by giving some self-love and care every day. Help yourself heal and help your inner artist breathe and live. Actions for Today:

“It is time to clean out the rusted brain”. As stay-at-home mothers, the one feeling we think we have is that our brains have rusted!! When I became a new mom it was joyful, but hard for me! Suddenly everything changed around me—my time, my space, and me – myself. So many changes were difficult for me to adapt to suddenly. Are you in the same boat? Well, along with that feeling, the most disturbing fact for me was that I was not working. I got married after graduation and in a year, I became a mother. Ever since, I carried a dream of becoming a designer for almost 7 years. In 2018, when I joined Skillshare to learn and brush through my skills, I felt like a rusted brain.  Why?… Because, after graduation in 2013 and until 2018, the only thing I did was cleaning my house, washing the dishes, changing diapers, taking care of my husband and little one, doing the laundry (which mostly my husband did). Well, all of this is important, but my skills were forgotten with my daily chores, and all of a sudden when I started learning, it felt as though my brain was rusted and I felt the difficulty to start. Well, if you are rowing along with me on the same boat, then I would say, “Just Start, Don’t hesitate!” Regularly, giving yourself that time and effort will definitely help you to clean up that rusted brain and make it more active and useful. Take Action:-

Have you ever felt the way I did?’   Exploration is one essential part of every creative’s life. If you want a creative life, you have to explore and experiment. I knew nothing about exploration when I started out. I always had ideas coming in and going out. The moment I do it is when that idea comes to life. Being a creative person, it is important for you to keep your creativity alive and work with your ideas. I must also say that I have always responded to my creative calls. I was married off to a young chap right after my graduation. Having graduated as a Fashion Designer, I always felt that there was something missing within me. Although I loved fashionable clothes and dressing up well with red lipstick, chunky bangles or neckwear with my attire, I always felt that I didn’t belong to the fashion world or felt that I had very little to contribute there. My journey of exploration started in 2013 after my graduation. I had a creative idea that struck me and soon I started exploring with different materials like embroidered borders in various sizes, brocades, chiffons, silks, cottons, all pretty materials that had beautiful prints and designs. I combined to create them into sarees and sold them to many customers who loved the “bright” combinations. Unfortunately, I had to stop this idea when I received my visa to go to Germany and join my husband. Being the new wife in my life, I was trying to get settled in a place that was completely new to me. Within a few months, I started getting bored as I had no job and did not do much. It was hard to find a job without knowing the language. I had another creative lightning that struck me at that time. I went to an Art store and took my inner self on a date (like what Julia Cameron speaks about in her book – Artists Way) Together, we found something new to experiment with – Polymer Clay. Soon, I procured the skill to handle it and started creating cute animals out of it. Months later, another creative call came to me and I started creating jewelry out of it. This became a hit among my friends and soon I started selling them online through Facebook. I started getting product orders from The USA, Dubai, Germany. Not much time had passed and “I got Pregnant”. I kept working on my beautiful Polymer Clay Jewellery until I was eight months pregnant. Then, just when I was about to pop, I stopped. Almost a year went by and I just did not want to start this again. I had lost my interest. There was no more life for that idea. I felt as though it was gone forever. No job, no income, no creative sparks and lightning. I was worried but was busy being the new mother of a baby who was now 8 months old. Upon realizing that I was not doing anything creative, I took out a large canvas, poured paint on a paper plate and started playing with my baby. He was excited to use the paints and crawled on top of the canvas spreading paints here and there with his tiny hands and feet. Finally, we created a painting together, completely filled with scribbled strokes which I later added a quote on it using a white paint which says “Life is What You Create” So, if you have been stuck with a creative lightning, or lately encountered a creative call, don’t fret and sit there scared thinking. “Get up and just go do it” I love what Elizabeth Gilbert says about leaving an idea unattended for a long time. Some ideas are patient, they wait for you for a long time and some just die or move on to finding other creative souls so that they can still be alive. So, never hold yourself from creating and exploring. It will open new doors for you. I believe in it! The question is “Do you?” When you dig deeper into your curiosity and explore, you end up with new beginnings and it can take you to the next level. This is one thing that I always had my spirits racing for. Creativity keeps flowing when you keep exploring and it could be anything. It could be learning new mediums to paint, trying to propagate your succulents, maybe baking cakes or decorating them with fondant or creating tiny figures out of polymer clay. Well, these are the things that I had explored and they were all the best things I created in my life as a creator. No matter what I did, they just helped me to keep my creativity alive and most importantly, they helped me to be “ME”. So, here is your task from today onwards, Ask yourself – “What will I start doing to explore my creativity and help it to stay alive without holding myself back?” Find one thing to keep it going and you will see the MAGIC happen!! Here are some things to explore and experiment to get started with your art journey. Paint mediums like watercolors, gouache, acrylics, brushes, markers, pens, papers, inks, digital painting etc. Let me know what sparks you to get started with and get your creativity flowing.   Exercise “Exploration can always lead to new possibilities and it has the magic to open a new unknown world.”  

Exploration can always lead to new possibilities, and it has the magic to open a new unknown world.” So, never hold yourself from creating and exploring. It will open new doors for you. I believe in it! The question is “Do you??” When you dig deeper into your curiosity and explore, you end up with new beginnings and it can take you to the next level. This is one thing that I always had my spirit racing for. Creativity keeps flowing when you keep exploring and it could be anything. It could be learning new mediums to paint, trying to propagate your succulents, maybe baking cakes, and decorating them with fondant or learning to do fondant art or creating tiny figures out of Polymer clay. Well, they all are the things that I had explored, and they were all the best things I created in my life as a creator and a beginning for me to unfold my true potential. No matter what I did, they just helped me to keep my creativity alive and most importantly, they helped me to be me. So, now you tell me, what will you start doing  to explore your creativity and help it to stay alive without holding yourself back? Find one thing to keep it going and you will see the MAGIC happen!! Here are some things to explore and get  started with your art journey Let me know what sparks you to get started with and to get your creativity flowing. If you would like to get something started, you can check out my classes like More classes can be found on SkillShare Exercise Don’t let the unknown stop you from progressing’

Today’s topic is how to illustrate a flower. You will learn: Let’s start by finding inspiration. You can find it in books, your garden, photos, or on Pinterest. I’ve created a complete board on my Pinterest for you. Tools you will need: Step 1: Start with Basic Shapes Take off your fear and start with a basic shape. From your reference image, identify the basic shape of the flower. Draw a circle (the flower) and a line (the stem). Step 2: Identify the Center and Directional Lines Relax and find the center and directional lines from your reference image. Draw the basic shape with its stem and mark the flower’s center. Notice how the petals form and fall around this center. Draw the petals’ directional lines within the circle. Step 3: Practice Petal Shapes Figure out the shapes and sizes of the petals. Practice drawing petals, focusing on their shapes. Look at the reference image and refine the shapes. Keep the darks and lights as close to the reference as possible. Practice drawing different petals to prepare for the next stage. Step 4: Develop the Floral Combine the steps you’ve learned so far: Look at the reference image and build the petals one by one. Keep your pencil marks light. Focus on the placement and layers of the petals. Step 5: Have Fun with Inking Now, outline your florals with a pen or ink. If using ink, use a nib and holder. Draw lightly and start from left to right if you are right-handed, to avoid smudging. Erase unnecessary pencil marks once you’ve finished outlining. Step 6: Refine Shading Refine the edges of the petals and start shading with a black color pencil. Keep the pencil tip sharp for better control. Shade from the darkest to the lightest areas of each petal. Follow the reference image to understand the light and dark areas. Apply the shading techniques to bring your petals to life. Use a fixative to seal the illustration and prevent smudging. Practical Applications Now that you’ve learned how to illustrate a floral, you can use these skills to develop patterns as a Surface Pattern Designer. Keep practicing, and you’ll build confidence and skill in your floral illustrations. If you are looking forward to learning this in detail, make sure to join my online course-How to Illustrate florals in 6 simple steps.