I’ve always been terrible at 2D art forms. Painting, drawing, you name it - I remember being as young as fifth grade, sitting in art class, trying to sketch something and feeling like whatever was in my head just wouldn’t translate to the page. It never came as naturally to me as other crafts or 3D art forms.
In high school, I had the opportunity to take a 3D art class all four years as my elective, and I absolutely ran with it. I learned woodworking, turned pens on the lathe, tried ceramics - basically anything that wasn’t 2D. We were tasked with sketching out our pieces before creating them in a 3D form, and I avoided it like the plague, always waiting until the last possible moment to do that part of my assignments
Fast forward to this November. I was having a really tough month for personal reasons, and during a conversation with my partner we decided, almost on a whim, that we both wanted to try watercolor. We were standing in the aisle at the store picking out paints and paper when a pad of watercolor postcards caught his eye. Into the cart they went.
So I set a little challenge for myself: one watercolor postcard a day for a friend or family member throughout the month of November. At first, the plan was just to paint anything, but then I thought - why not paint things specifically for the people I love? That turned it into a really fun challenge each day: think of something that person enjoys and figure out how the heck to paint it. I ended up doing everything from flowers and trees to Pokémon and fans.
And somewhere in the middle of all that, I was reminded how important it is to keep trying things - even the things we think we’re “bad” at. It’s good to always be a beginner. Make art just for you. It doesn’t need to be displayed or perfect or impressive. Just follow what inspires you. While 3D art will probably always feel the most natural to me, I genuinely enjoy sitting down with my watercolors, and I want to keep practicing.
I hope this gives you a little nudge and some inspiration to try something you’ve always assumed you wouldn’t be good at. You never know what might surprise you.