Walk with me

I am a Graphic Hi, I'm Romica, a 26 year old Austrian living in the UK, and I want to be a graphic designer.

By official education I ought to be an  accountant, businesswoman or anthropologist.

By passion I'm a creative mind with a backpack full of other great stuff I've learned.

Now I'm going for my dream

  • I want to prove to you that going for your creative dream is worth it.
  • I want to prove that overcoming fear to fail is worth it.
  • I want to prove that whatever you have been doing before, if you are passionate about it, you can become a graphic designer.

How? By inviting you to follow me on my path to success. I will share honestly with you, my fall backs and challenges but also what I've learned, what worked well and what's essential in my opinion. ----

Why not way before?

  • Early discouragement
  • Fear of survival
  • Lack of confidence

Let's say I always wanted it but now I want it more.

Suppressing my passion hurt - for many years. It hasn't been that obvious. I did enjoy life and aspects of my education in business and anthropology. However, there was this dull pain when I saw people going for their dreams, when I couldn't find my courage to even try. I felt unfulfilled but I denied it. In all kinds of ways I tried to prove to myself that it was better and safer to forget.

Thoughts such as these were in my mind:

  • I am too old now, it's too late to try.
  • I will not be able to deal with critique.
  • I am not as good as all these thousands of other students.
  • Design is so competitive that I will never find a job.

Did any of these used to be something you thought or still think to be true?

So this was what I believed to be true for many years of my life. Kinda depressing, right?

However, things have changed. I had some dramatic changes in my life and through a lot of thought and prayer (yes, it works for me) I gave my life a new and positive direction but also with a seemingly uncertain outcome with no guarantees.

----

My new mottos:

  • Don't live with regret - take risks! _ I just couldn't stand the thought anymore that I haven't even tried
  • Always remain a student and never stop learning! _ I realised that there are so many ways to learn new things
  • Feedback helps you to become even better! _ I can work on my weaknesses and develop
  • Enthusiasm & effort is more important than previous education!
  • Competition makes it exciting!

Follow me and learn with me through the early stages of preparation, through uni, early career and my own business ... all to come in future posts.

Following me as a blogger is - somehow - a long-term commitment. You will see no instant changes or receive all the wisdom presented at once. But you will see a process of progress. You will see how I grow, improve, understand design and live more deeply and I believe you and me, we can learn together, support and encourage each other on this way. So, ...

Walk with me

feb/march 2014 sketchbook

More sketches and drawings of February and March 2014. Still need to practice perspective, different paper formats (I worked on only one size of paper so far) and portraits.

jan/feb2014 sketchbook

jan/feb2014 sketchbook

Don’t only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets, for it and knowledge can raise men to the divine.” ― Ludwig van Beethoven

I'm back from my first meeting with the professor and try to practice what I'm still lacking - drawing from life. I never really did drawings that weren't out of my imagination. It wasn't so exciting to me ... and another reason probably, you would be able to have a reference to my drawing, and be able to see flaws more? I don't know why exactly I never put much effort into it, but now I'll take this new challenge!

Here is a first update on what has happened. At the moment I try to train my eyes to draw what I see, not what I think should be there - and that's more difficult than is seems ;)