I love monsters, and Bela Lugosi’s Dracula still holds a special place in my heart. I remember watching it when I was a kid and being so nervous. Of course it lacked the real sense of terror I’d become accustomed to with my vampire flicks (Fright Night, Lost Boys) but something about that movie stuck with me and I love the iconic imagery of Lugosi as Dracula. I’ve had this image with these colors in my head for weeks, but I was too scared to put paint to canvas, because I’m not a painter. Comfort zones are cozy, but every once in a while it’s good for us to take a look around, stretch our legs, and try new things. Once I told myself to get over it and got to work, it was like anything else in life. Mistakes, trials, errors, discovery. That seems to be my common pattern.
- Step 1: get an idea or be confronted with something I need to do, but have never done before.
- Step 2: Distract myself with life, while simultaneously obsessing about said idea or new responsibility.
- Step 3: Take the plunge and do the thing, because if I don’t, I might go well and truly mad.
- Step 4: Succeed (or at least survive the experience to try again)
It helps that I have an adjacent skillset honed by a natural ability to break things down into shapes and a desire bordering on obsession to improve. It helps that I have a body of knowledge to work with, and the kinda give-em’-hell gumption you get from being the product of a public school system with an arts program.
