Shoutout! Brad Woodard.

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know after the emotional rollercoaster that was 2022, I began re-evaluating all aspects of my life.

I lost my love for graphic design – it became emotionally draining and brought me no joy – and so I stepped away from my career. After thoughts of regret, self-doubt, and feeling like I was a fraud, I decided to escape my downward spiral and returned to my Frida Kahlo bubble. There, I found the inspiration to put pencil to paper again, going back through my old portfolios and creating for fun.

Inspiration had been restored. Now I needed to find my joy.

I joined the Domestika community, deciding I wanted to build my skills in Procreate. I had no idea where to begin, so signed up for Brad Woodard’s Procreate for Beginner’s Course. Through his step-by-step lessons, I found the confidence to keep going, and my creative passion reignited. I finished the course within a month and have just signed up for two more. I’ve even added a bit of animation to the mix!

Moving from a state of doubt and apprehension to one of excitement and stimulation is one we all struggle with. So, I wanted to share a short visual summary of my Procreate progress – which I’ll add to as I keep learning. From the default brush library, blending modes, layering, masking, selection and transforming to drawing guides, animation assist and time-lapse videos (which can be found over on my Instagram story highlights).

While it may have felt and sometimes still feels daunting, I’m glad I took that step back…to move forward.