I really like how this week’s Make Your Mark turned out, and I especially like this Teddy Roosevelt quote. When you’re a creative, it is so easy to fall into the trap of comparing your work to others. I look to lettering for inspiration and I almost always think to myself how their work is better, they know what they’re doing, they have a definitive style, they are going places. But everybody has got to start somewhere, right? “Comparison is the thief of joy;” so true. You are never going to learn and grow when you let your work be muffled by the creativity of others instead of speaking for itself.
Hope everyone had a lovely Valentine’s Day. Have a great weekend!
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Make Your Mark is a weekly series in which I post a bit of handlettered work in the form of an inspirational, go-get-’em-tiger quote. See previous entries here!
Adore this! I love the watercolors and the simplicity of the type. Have a great weekend!
Thank you, Angel! Appreciate your input!
Absolutely gorgeous! *Pinning*
haha! thanks, Natalie, I appreciate the support! 🙂
I really love this, Laura. You are so correct.. comparing ourselves to others is AWFUL. However, if we don’t keep working at what we love we’ll never get better. Plus, who knows.. there may be someone starting out that is comparing themselves to us!
The background is gorgeous! Is it watercolor?
I’ve never thought of it that way!! Hmm… an ego-boost from a hypothetical fan never hurt. 🙂 The background IS watercolor – not my own, though! I downloaded a texture. Makes me want to break out my own watercolors!
Thanks for your thoughts as always, Kory!
Laura this is such a good quote! Thank you so much for making and posting this. It’s almost weird to see you post it – I have been struggling so much with this over the last year or so. Grad school has been this weird thing for me where I’m really happy, like… in a vacuum? But the second I start thinking about other people, and where they’re at in comparison to me, everything falls apart. This is true professionally AND personally. (“Why are you doing ABC and I’m over here doing XYZ? Should I be where you’re at? Am I doing something wrong?” etc etc etc.) I need to keep these exact words in my head at the beginning of every single day and I think this will help me do that because I’ve never heard it so plainly stated. So at least in some tiny small part, you have indeed “made your mark”. 🙂 🙂 🙂
(Also, it’s really pretty! Your lettering is looking fantastic. But my non-graphic-design-y eyes are only able to comprehend things like “OOOH PRETTY” so I don’t think it’s super helpful!)
Yes, thank you. I need to keep this in mind more often. 🙂
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