DRY HAIR, REALISM ART, & MANDALA COURSE

    I woke up today with super dry hair. Like...drier than I experienced even when my hair was blonde! I know it sounds - oh, it's just hair - but it isn't to me! My mom always had beautiful long hair and I had always admired her for keeping it long, even when it was hot. So, I've always wanted to do my best to keep my hair healthy, even when I dyed it blonde, I went the extra mile to keep it strong and moisturized.

    Today though, that wasn't the case. The ends of my hair were extremely dry and weren't holding any curls. No matter how much Shea butter I applied to my hair, it wasn't holding any of the moisture. So I went on my phone to look up some natural remedies and realized I had a few of the products to try!

    I decided to go with an apple cider vinegar wash since it seemed like my hair was suffering from a Ph issue. So I put two tablespoons of apple cider into a cup of filtered water, wrapped myself in a towel over the tub, and poured away. Five minutes later, I washed out with filtered water and blow dried my hair with no products added. 

Before

After

    I could immediately tell the difference by how my hair felt while I was drying my hair. The curls held, my hair was less frizzy, and it even had a nice shine to it. The feel was significantly different too, almost silky, which left me really impressed. My hair didn't smell like vinegar at all, even though I didn't add any products to my hair afterwards. It's definitely going to be part of my hair care routine!

    I also have been wanting to work on my realism. It's a great way for me to practice my attention to details, and while it generally takes a long time and my color pencils are nearly all short - I have always found it fun to do. So I found myself after breakfast on Pinterest looking for things to draw. I decided to go with a colorful Dahlia flower. 

    If I have the opportunity, I'll do everything with colors. I don't know much about color therapy, but I know when I work with colors more, it somehow lifts my spirit up; have you ever felt that way? I used to be so afraid of working with colors, out of fear of not using them right, but since I've gotten over that fear, I can't get enoug of them!

Dahlia flower drawn with Prismacolor Pencils

Working on blending

    I mostly likely wont finish it for some time but I will make sure I do! I really think it will look so pretty when it's complete! I also have been getting so much better with my digital skills. Every now and then I draw a character out of my own imagination and it always amazes me to see it come to life.

    I started this digital illustration of a witch a week ago, but I didn't get a chance to finish it due to lack of inspiration - yes, it happens! Today though, I came up with an idea for colors and ran with it. Within several hours, I was able to complete her and I was so impressed!

Summer Witch

    Another thing that I'm super excited to announce, is that a few days ago I had the idea to work on a Mandala course for beginners. I thought about it for some - even talked myself out of it too - and finally came to the conclusion that I needed to make one. I have so many young artists who wish to learn about to draw mandalas, that it only made sense to make a course.

    So, these past few days, I have been recording, editing, and uploading courses onto Udemy. It's a long process really, but it's exciting to see the final product. Sometimes, I'll spend a whole day at the desk working on one chapter, and I have to remind myself to eat!

    Subscribers on YouTube took well to the idea which has inspired me to complete the course soon. I'm hoping by the next week or so, I will be able to post it live for my subscribers to check out. I am planning on making it discounted for the first 100 people who join. It will be affordable and packed with great information!

Editing Section 5

    With a course on it's way, I'm doing a lot of self-development behind the scenes that I'm a bit hush hush about. I realized that there are parts of me that have been negatively impacted by some of experiences I've had to go through these past few years. I've never told anyone, but at times, it's feels like my body is going through withdrawal from all of the drama I've had to experience. 

    There are times where I doubt my decisions, where I doubt myself and my own passions, and it feels horrible. After some thought provoking conversations with Mitko, he agrees that it's my bodies way of adjusting to peace. Which is weird to think about, but I actually knew someone who told me that they do better when they're stressed out...what?

    Either way, to put my mind at ease, to be the confident person I know I am, I picked up a book off of the book shelf in the living room and began to read. It's called, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey. I just started the book, but he talks heavily in the first chapter on how we have to reprogram ourselves so that we're meeting our needs, and not someone else. 

A highly rated book!

    Nothing leaves me more impowered than finding a book that leaves me inspired - that leaves me listening and engaged. I love finding books like that and I can think of a few that have done that to me. So if you're ever in a place that's dark, spend less time thinking and put new knowledge inside that brain of yours. Sometimes all we need to hear is a voice other than our own.

Castle In The Sky by Studio Ghibli

    If you'd like to, you can watch the vlog I put together for YouTube below!