GUEST DOODLEWASH: My Drawing Journey

Hi! My name is Maria Christina Dina (follow me on Instagram!). I’m from Indonesia. Born and raised in Jakarta and currently living in South Tangerang and working as a piano teacher. I’m very enthusiastic and passionate about art in general. I’ve been drawing a lot since I was three years old. I draw everything that struck my mind; animals, landscape, human figures, nature, anything! I used to paint a lot using oil paint and oil pastel since I was a kid. I just love drawing so much, so in my childhood I entered a lot of drawing and coloring competitions. I didn’t really care if I would win the competition or not. I remember I often gave my teachers at school my own framed drawing or my painting as a gift.

Drawing and painting used to be my number one hobby, though it suddenly stopped when I started to learn classical piano. Eventually, started this year, I started to draw again and make it as a routine. Somehow I felt a sudden urge to draw again. I made my Instagram account and started to draw and doodle everyday and posting it consistently. One drawing a day.

Drawing is so liberating for me. I consider drawing as my therapeutic routine. It’s such a great feeling to know that my drawing can make someone smile or feeling happy. I’m self taught. I don’t have any specific style yet as I’m still learning, exploring and practicing a lot of different techniques and styles. These past few months, I’ve been into portrait drawing, botanical and food illustration. One thing that I’m really eager to try for now is urban sketching. I also entered a lot of art workshops in order to improve myself. I just love learning new things.

Right now I tend to do small drawings, on A5 or A4 paper. Though sometimes I did an A3 and A2 size drawing for commissioned portrait drawing. Usually I draw the rough sketch with 2B pencil and outline it with pen or just coloring it with watercolor. Currently I love using watercolor as my main medium. I love the delicate, soft and transparent colors of it. As for my art supplies, I use Sakura Koi, Pentel and Phoenix for the watercolor. Faber Castell and Sakura Koi brushpen for markers. Snowman drawing pen, Sakura gelly roll and Pigma micron pen. Canson Mix Media 300gsm, Canson Montval 300gsm and Canson 220gsm for the watercolor paper.

I found inspiration from everyone and everywhere, including Pinterest. My current favorite illustrators are Lieke Van der Vorst, Jun Kumaori, Lisbeth Zwerger, Jiwoon Pak, Yuko Higuchi, Yelena Bryksenkova and many more. Basically I love whimsical, colorful, fairy tale like illustration.

I’m glad I could start to draw again after such a long time. I enjoy every moment of it. Even though I’m not good at it yet, it is such a wonderful feeling to be able to create something. For everyone who just started to draw again; don’t be afraid to create your own art. In order to make a good art, you need to make a bad one. It’s all part of learning process. You don’t need to care about what other people think about your art. Drawing is supposed to be fun and liberating! Just pick up your pen or your brush and draw. As simple as that.

Maria Christina Dina
Instagram

Charlie O'Shields

Creator of Doodlewash, founder of World Watercolor Month (July), World Watercolor Group, and host of the Sketching Stuff Podcast. Sharing watercolor illustrations and stories while proudly featuring talented artists from all over the world!

See author's posts