So in the town my husband and I live in rural Japan there is a cake shop just up the main road. Bonbon Maman has beautiful delicious sweets and kind people. The owner, Mari-San, helps me with my Japanese sometimes and is very sweet.

Over Christmas, we exchanged some little gifts, but this Valentine’s Day unexpectedly she gave us some of the expensive imported chocolates from France! ???? It was Sooo yummy!

I was so touched she would do something like that for us I got to work on this piece of art as soon as I got home!

I introduce to you the one and only, very first, Bonbon Maman Mascot character????????????

???????? I’m going to print it out in a picture frame as well as an apron and give them both to Mari-san soon! Stay tuned on TikTok to see her reaction!????

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If you’ve been reading some of my blogs here, you may remember how I talked last year about the fact that I can’t draw. If you don’t remember, I’m not going to talk too much about it here, but you can see what I mean from this previous blog, pointedly titled:

I’m Bad at Drawing

But, to summarize, I’ve never had what you would call a “natural talent” when it comes to making shapes, colors, and lines come together to create pictures in what could be conceivably be called art. Oh sure, if you were the encouraging type of person, you would say my first attempts at drawing people “weren’t that bad.” But, you would be forgiven for thinking “they’re not very good, though.” Because it was true! It’s not something I’m ashamed of. Here’s something I drew back in 2009 when I was a 14 year old high school freshman, and first truly began my journey as an artist:

See what I mean? Not very good, eh?

Thankfully though, I did actually have some very encouraging people in my life, who supported my desires to improve as an artist. But, if you haven’t learned this already, progress tends to come much, much slower than any of us would prefer. It took me awhile to learn this, and it was frustrating to say the least. The sooner you can accept this fact, the more content you will be with all the learning you will need to do.

Fast forward five years to 2014, when I had finally saved up to purchase my first digital tablet (A Cintiq from Wacom), and began venturing into digital artistry:

Wow! That’s a bit of a jump, right?

Though, also still amateur looking. Don’t get me wrong, I may sound harsh on myself, but I also tend to be my own harshest critic.

And, believe it or not, I am still quite happy with this piece for one huge reason. It was the first piece of art of this sort that I was legitimately proud of, and didn’t feel afraid of showing people. It really was my pride and joy for awhile.

However, it most definitely was not the final product I was looking for.

As I stated already, progress takes much, much longer than we’d hope. And, it would be another 5 years later to the present day until I had a style that consistently satisfied me, my own harshest critic:

That’s quite a bit better, yeah?

Yeah, I think it is.

Well, that’s all I wanted to share with you today, honestly.

If you’ve recently just begun your journey of becoming a Splendid Artist™, don’t you dare ever, ever, ever, ever give up! It may seem super hokey, but that’s really all it takes. Ok, it’s 90% of what it takes (not an exact percentage.) You’ve still need to practice! Unless you’re some ridiculous prodigy, or something . . .

I wish you the best.

Stay strange, Strangers!

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