How I build confidence in drawing?

Confidence is simply the willingness to TRY.

Recent practice

Hey friends!

Last month, I signed up for drawing live portraits for guests at The Lowry, an art museum/theatre in Manchester. This is i-n-s-a-n-e. I have no idea why I sign up for that. I still think this is ridiculous.

Two of my biggest fears—analog drawing and humans. And I decided to tackle both in one go.

I never have the confidence to submit an artwork using analog materials only. And…I’m going to do live portrait for real human beings? Live? Being stared by others? To be honest, people used to be my least favourite thing to draw because I’m not good at human anatomy, and I only know how to draw dot eyes. Seriously, what were you thinking AU HOI CHING? (Au Hoiching is my Chinese name and I talk to myself using that.)

King, my partner, said I looked like a doctor writing prescription in a clinic. I'll take that! hahahhaha

The only photos I’ve got—thanks to

Navya Raju

who came by and said hi to me! It’s so comforting to see a familiar face when you were screaming inside!

So, here I was, sitting in front of kids and parents drawing non-stop for almost 3 hours. Although children and babies were challenging to draw—as they have less patience, the most challenging part was definitely the pressure.

The stares.

When a family of 4 wanted a family portrait, with kids and parents around who were also curious and excited about the drawing. 20 people, 20 pairs of eyes staring at your tiny paint brush. And you had to draw as quickly as you can because there’s 16 more people in the queue, waiting for theirs. That pressure was another level. My hands were shaking at first but what else can I do in that situation? I just had to bite the bullet. I focused on the drawing ONLY and ignored everything else. I know I can draw.

The definition of confidence is not believe in yourself.

Confidence is simply the willingness to TRY.
Even if you might get it wrong. Even if you might mess up.
By taking ACTION, you are building the skill of confidence.

—Mel Robbins

Just like that, I have survived.

That being said, I enjoy the event. People were friendly and everyone was happy with their portraits! It’s SOOOOOO rewarding to see people smile from their hearts when they hold their portraits in their hands. I remembered there was a little girl asked if I could draw her toy, Sheepie, in her portrait. She had a beaming smile when she received the portrait. It’s all worth it.

I’m glad, and very proud of myself that I tried that because we cannot grow without trying new things. Confidence is simply the willingness to try, right?

Shop Update:)

Speaking of confidence—I’ve just finished a new A5 print called Confidence Soup! It’ll be available in my online shop, starting August 11th.

As a dear reader of my newsletter, you always get early access to shop updates—before I announce anything on social media. Shuuuuuuu…shhuu….

This will be a limited edition of just 20 prints, as each yellow label (as shown) was hand-drawn by me. The shop will be open for one week ONLY, from August 11th to 17th, so don’t miss your chance to grab one!

There will also be other goodies available—prints, greeting cards, and wooden pins—so have a browse while you’re there!

New print—Confidence Soup

I apologise if there’s any grammatical, logical or slpeling mistakes because it’s written by me, a human being who makes mistakes.