I drew it. Candice colored it. I photoshopped it.
Water color pencils, wet brush, photoshop.

True story.

I love coffee.

There’s a great blog post, (via my friend, Marvin Tabangay) on Fast Company about the failures of successful people. We’ve all heard the timeless list of cliche’s about how there’s no success without failure.

Failure is ugly. It’s heartbreaking and sometimes debilitating. For me, it can incapacitate my mind from functioning properly. It clouds judgment, foresight and intuition, which contribute to the confidence needed to move forward and achieve something. When those control systems are down, navigation is out the window, backtracking to the beginning or completely lost somewhere else.

Failure, however is not the end.

“If I find 10,000 ways something won’t work, I haven’t failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.” – Thomas Edison

There have been many times where I have not started things or followed through on projects because I was too afraid of failing. But now, after a few bouts with life and one too many wisdom concussions I realize that there really is no success without failure.

I was having lunch with my father and older cousin, who in this case is pretty much like my big brother, albeit one that I rarely see or talk to, but as determined by cultural law, one I should respect greatly. I expect my father to throw me the same diatribe of my station in life which includes marriage, career and money. None of which I have, all of which I am striving for. So here’s my “big brother,” who is very successful in life, gets paid well, works for a reputable company in a very high position, is raising a family and would think was a little more akin to my generation than my father’s. I was very wrong. Forget about what I want to do, it’s all about the money, power and stability and having a woman raise the household. Forget about my goals and dreams. In fact, he thought it was ridiculous that I cooked, because, it’s something a wife should do for me.

I bit my tongue. It’s my only option. I may have grown up in rebel town America, but I still live strongly by my roots. But it made me want to succeed in my endeavors even more. Josh Linkner, the author of the blog post I mentioned earlier said, “We often celebrate companies and individuals once they’ve achieved undeniable success, but shun their disruptive thinking before reaching such a pinnacle. Before Oprah was Oprah, before Jobs was Jobs, they were labeled as misguided dreamers rather than future captains of industry.” And that’s exactly how I feel. My father is doing his best to understand, coming from the old world he has come from, raising a child man in today’s economy, he has every right to be concerned and only want what’s best. So I don’t find it surprising nor do I hold it against him when he finds me, “disruptive.”

I want to succeed, so I will leave myself open to failure. Like love, you can’t experience it without heartbreak. And while I whittle away at the wooden stick that may or may not be my masterpiece to one day play a tune of sadness and defeat or happiness and triumph, like love I cannot simply give up or settle for what doesn’t break my heart. If I want to find true love, I must in fact endure all kinds of pain and sorrow, so that, if anything, my song can be sung.

Failure isn’t the end of success. Giving up, is.

Traditionally people give up or sacrifice something during the Lenten season, but for years now I’ve always done something of the opposite. I try to add something fulfilling to my life. This year I’ve decided to do a drawing a day.

Day 40

Thanks to Candice for the sketch!

Traditionally people give up or sacrifice something during the Lenten season, but for years now I’ve always done something of the opposite. I try to add something fulfilling to my life. This year I’ve decided to do a drawing a day.

Day 39

Enjoy the show – while you’re still alive.

Traditionally people give up or sacrifice something during the Lenten season, but for years now I’ve always done something of the opposite. I try to add something fulfilling to my life. This year I’ve decided to do a drawing a day.

Day 38

Lens flares are cheesy when they’re fake, but they’re really effective and add a nice touch when they’re real. This is somewhat in between…somewhat. I lifted this scene right out of Star Trek as well, JJ Abrams being notorious for his lens flares and all.

Traditionally people give up or sacrifice something during the Lenten season, but for years now I’ve always done something of the opposite. I try to add something fulfilling to my life. This year I’ve decided to do a drawing a day.

Day 37

This scene is pretty much lifted from Star Trek, but I wanted to see if I can pull off the effect. To be honest, I didn’t spend much time with it, I imagine it would look a lot better if I did.

Traditionally people give up or sacrifice something during the Lenten season, but for years now I’ve always done something of the opposite. I try to add something fulfilling to my life. This year I’ve decided to do a drawing a day.

Day 36

With a collision of color an illusion arrives.

Traditionally people give up or sacrifice something during the Lenten season, but for years now I’ve always done something of the opposite. I try to add something fulfilling to my life. This year I’ve decided to do a drawing a day.

Day 35

Eh, I can’t ink for shit, but here’s to tryin.

Traditionally people give up or sacrifice something during the Lenten season, but for years now I’ve always done something of the opposite. I try to add something fulfilling to my life. This year I’ve decided to do a drawing a day.

Day 34

A friend of mine suggested that I do Cowboy Bebop for a daily doodle. While looking for images for inspiration, I came upon a piece of Spike from the movie. I really liked the limited use of color and just ink. It’s so simple but it creates a stunning effect. That’s the kind of simplicity I want to capture so I tried to mimic the piece.

I pretty much copied this directly from the original. I just wanted to see if I could recreate the look. I could definitely see where it needs work. While I was making it, it was hard for me to grasp the lines and the way the light hits. But after I was done, I could definitely see where it can be adjusted.

In the end, it sits well with me and that’s part of the grand experiment. It’s a matter of mastering suggestion through simplicity.