Bloom

When I paint for practice, I don’t start off knowing the story I want to tell. I pick the reference solely on vibes, and focus on 1) skill building and 2) having fun. 

Those were my goals when I painted “Bloom”. It seemed like a good challenge for me, pushing me to practice specific skills I’ve been working on, and also very, very fun. 

I didn’t start off with a story to tell, but one has emerged. A story about transformation. 

In the gif you can see me build up from draft to drawing and then different layers of paint. I love how the linework makes the florals really POP. That’s one layer of transformation, turning a rough, white watercolor page into a clump of chaotic cacti in bloom. 

The other transformation is in the story of the cacti flowers themselves. I see four different things growing from the cactus, four things blooming despite the arid conditions and rough spines. The flowers slowly bloom, transforming. 

But they were always meant to transform. They didn’t turn into something else, but into a greater fruition of what they already were. 

Maybe that’s true of us, too. When we start to change, both preferences and habits that don’t serve us anymore, it can feel unnerving. Like we’re becoming someone else. 

But if we’re making those choices of our own free will, perhaps we aren’t becoming someone else. Perhaps we’re becoming more of ourselves.