Journey of my Debut Coloring Book: Ornate Designs

Part 1: Finding Inspiration and Beginning a New Adventure

Hi Friends! I am back with my second blog! And I know it has been a while since my last one!! My next book has kept me from reaching out to my beloved audience but that is no excuse for me to keep you from my updates! I know you all have been eagerly waiting for it... So here it is.

In this one, I would like to share with you the details of what went into the making of my first book!  Although, as I started writing about it, I realized that there's just so much to write that the blog would become long and unreadable. And so my dear friends, I have decided to split this topic into a three part blog series. 

Part 1: Inspiration for my first book

Part 2: Dispel Doubts, Start writing, Trailblazing

Part 3: Publish my first book

So here goes…..

Part 1: Finding Inspiration and Beginning a New Adventure

“It is 2AM,  I found myself staring at a complete coloring page on my laptop screen. It may not be flawless, but the tranquility it brought me ignited an irresistible urge to continue drawing”

The Spark of Inspiration

From Restlessness to Doodling

It all began during my toddler's sleep training sessions. My little one would ask me to sit for a little while outside her room while she slept. While waiting for her to drift off to sleep, I found myself restless and frustrated, thinking about the never-ending to-do list constantly running in my head. To distract my mind, I started doodling on a notepad, creating intricate designs like flowers, ink bottles, mushroom houses, and 3D figures. This simple act made the hour fly by. Soon, the doodling experiments moved from notepad to a laptop. Before I realized, I ended up creating hundreds of such designs.

Unleashing My Passion for Art

Even before I started creating the doodles, art had always been my passion. I have been doing Oil painting and pencil sketches for a long time. And even though I never had a formal degree in art, I wanted to take my skills further. However, my day job got in the way and I could never pursue it seriously, until the `sleep training doodling` sessions.  Those sessions encouraged me to explore a lot of pattern-based books like mandala and geometric patterns. The more I looked and created, the more I felt confident in creating original artwork. However, I faced a big challenge of transforming my designs into professional, high-quality pieces. Before I tell you how I conquered that challenge, let me share with you a bit about my mindset growing up.

Reevaluating Priorities and Self-Worth

Breaking Free from a Structured Path

For years, my life had followed a well-defined and structured path, where the pursuit of financial stability took precedence over all else. Even in choosing my profession, I prioritized arenas that provided greater chances of financial stability and success. I had a different definition of success.. Or rather, a specific definition of success was ingrained into me growing up. However, as years passed, this approach left me feeling disconnected and unfulfilled. Even though I found myself doing relatively well in my career and going above and beyond what was expected of me, I realized that I had been executing decisions made by others at the business level. At some point, it left me questioning my own worth and value.

Insecurity and the Quest for Identity

Add to that, there was this inherent feeling of insecurity and the constant fear of losing my job (many times, an unfounded fear) or being confined to a predetermined path set by others began eating away at my confidence and self-esteem. Many times, I wondered, if I were to remove the part of me defined solely by my profession, what would be left? Would I ever be able to build something by myself outside of all the professional comfort? What were my core competencies outside of my day job that could potentially pave the way for building my own business?

Section 2: Discovering the Power of Art

Finding Peace through Art

Amidst the turmoil of self-doubt, I found solace in the realm of art. It became a source of deep peace and contentment. With every stroke of my pencil or brush, I felt a connection to something greater. I became increasingly confident in my drawing skills and the ability to compose captivating designs.

Exploring Endless Possibilities

As my artistic journey progressed, countless ideas flooded my mind. I envisioned photo engraving on wood, creating digital prints, and designing captivating wall art. However, translating these visions into reality and fulfilling orders seemed overwhelming. The vast array of unknown variables felt daunting, particularly for someone accustomed to thinking like an engineer.

Battling Perfectionism and Social Media Phobia

One significant challenge I faced was my innate perfectionism. I had a tendency to labor over every detail, causing projects to extend indefinitely. Additionally, my presence on social media was practically non-existent. The thought of sharing my work and clicking the "Post" button filled me with terror. I hadn't even ventured into the realm of Instagram.

Embracing the Uncertainty and Unleashing Creativity

Unbinding Artistic Expression

In spite of my fears and reservations, I made a conscious decision to let my creativity flow freely. When I embarked on this journey, I never imagined it would evolve into a coloring book project. My primary goal was to allow the art to flourish without constraints, unbound by predefined notions and to explore the full range of ideas that danced within my mind.

My flawed Mantra

I grew up with this idea drilled into my head that failure was not an option. But now, as I set out on this new adventure, I had to face and recognize that there's a good chance I'll stumble and fail before finding my groove. All sorts of thoughts flood my mind - what if nobody buys my book, or if people trash it with bad reviews? I will be a total loser. Additionally, another constant thought kept running in my head that my husband and child have invested their time and energy in helping me achieve my goal. Will that go to waste if I give up or fail?  Before becoming a mom, I had all the time in the world, but now I've only got pockets of time and limited energy. I took a moment to let it all sink in. And I told myself -

It is better to give it a shot and fail than to never try at all.

At the very least, I know I'll gain some useful skills from this:

• Figuring out how to manage my time effectively, especially for long-term projects. How can I tackle today's tasks to achieve a goal a year from now?

• Understanding the idea of return on investment: When should I learn things on my own and when should I hire someone to get the best bang for my buck?

• Starting something totally new from scratch and taking on the challenge.

• Putting myself out there for both positive and, let's face it, negative feedback.

• Building connections with like-minded folks.

• Accepting that failure is just part of the learning process.

• Letting myself learn a new skill just for the sake of learning, with no pressure or strings attached.

So, even if success isn't guaranteed, I know this journey will bring me valuable skills and experiences that will make my life richer.