Have you ever wanted to learn a skill, but then said to yourself that it's too late, that it's too bad you didn't start when you were young, or that you wished you had the talent for that? 

I have... I drew a lot as a kid, and I was quite good for my age as well, but for some reason I stopped when I was around 10-11. We moved to another city, and I just got other interests, I guess. I had always wanted to pick it up again, but somehow it just never happened. Partly because I figured it was too late to be any good at it anyway. Well, I was wrong.. Sure, I would have been a lot better at drawing if I had started (or never stopped) when I was a kid, but so what? This is when I wanted to draw, not back then. I have gotten a lot better in only a year, and I'm so proud of my progress, but more importantly - I'm enjoying myself, I'm enjoying the learning process, and I'm enjoying creating art.

My tips for anyone wanting to learn a new skill:

• Start now, don't procrastinate – just do it!
• Challenge yourself, anything that help you stick with what you want to learn.
• Your mistakes are part of your learning. Allow yourself to make mistakes and learn from them. They will teach you a lot.
• Try not to compare yourself to others, but instead look at others for inspiration and learning.
• Talent only describes one persons potential, practice and hard work is what eventually matters. Skills are the result of hours and hours of hard work, so work hard, and you will see improvement.   
• There is no right way to learn a new skill (although some ways are more effective). Do what feels right for you, whether that is attending a class or learning a skill by yourself.   
• Document your progress. This can be really encouraging at times where you feel you're stuck and not getting any better. Look back at where you were a couple of months ago, an I bet you'll see some progress.
• Practice does not make perfect, that is a lie, but practice sure makes better.
• Most importantly – Have fun! ^_^ 

One Year Progress

July 2015

Link was the first drawing I did. It took me a whole day to draw, and it is copied (not traced) from a picture online. I still think it's a good drawing for a beginner, but it's very encouraging seeing how much I have progressed throughout the year.

Link - Made with cheap colored pencils on regular copy paper.

August 2015

I pretty quickly stopped copying or heavily referencing other images, but went over to using several different references for my drawings. This was more difficult, but it was a lot more fun drawing my own designs.

Shinx, Luxio and Luxray - Made with Prismacolor Premier Pencils on Strathmore Toned Tan paper

September 2015

This took me forever to draw. I think I used 6-8 hours on each of the characters, and the whole drawing is a bit bigger than an A4 paper.

Eeveelutions - Made with Prismacolor Premier Pencils on Strathmore Toned Tan paper

October 2015

Amaura - Made with Prismacolor Premier Pencils on Strathmore Toned Gray paper

November 2015

This was one of my first Copic Marker illustration. The blends came out looking horrible, so I had to cover a lot of it up with colored pencils. 

Autumn Leafeon - Made with Copic Markers on Strathmore Bristol Smooth

December 2015

Eeveelution cards. These were my first illustrations where I finally had some success using Copic Markers.

Eeveelutions - Made with Copic Markers on Strathmore Bristol Smooth

January 2016

The Original Starters - Made with Copic Markers on Strathmore Bristol Smooth

February 2016

The Second Generation Starters - Made with Copic Markers on Strathmore Bristol Smooth

March 2016

Vaporeon - Made with Copic Markers on Strathmore Bristol Smooth

April 2016

Joltic and Venonat - Made with Copic Markers on Strathmore Bristol Smooth

May 2016

Togekiss - Made with Copic Markers on Strathmore Bristol Smooth

June 2016

Rowlet - Made with Copic Markers on Strathmore Bristol Smooth

July 2016

My first realistic drawing. I really enjoyed trying out a completely different style.

The Steem Wolf - Made with Copic Markers on Arches hot pressed watercolor paper 

August 2016

The Giant and the Universe - Made with Copic Markers on Arches hot pressed watercolor paper 

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SteemMag

I'm also so grateful for being featured in the last SteemMag.
For those of you that haven't read it yet, check it out: 

SteemMag – Steemit’s Weekend Digest #6 – X-ray on A Pioneer Tag…. Chats with Top Artists on Steemit….. A New Mentorship Channel….SteemMag in Chinese……Behind The Username…This Week On Steemit and lots more

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If you want to know more about me, check out my:

• Introduction post
• Steemit blog
• Instagram: @pixielolz
• Etsy: www.PixielolzArt.etsy.com