Just Keep Painting

One of the principles we're taught during kendo training is to keep pushing forward. When you make a mistake, keep pushing forward. Act as if nothing happened. However, make sure that you do better in your next attempt, that you don't keep repeating your mistake, and that you continuously improve yourself.

Now, one of the things I really love about kendo is that I am able to apply many of its principles to everyday life. Case in point: painting. 

I don't consider myself *that* good when it comes to art. I mean, I know a bunch of people from the College of Fine Arts and certainly my art is a far cry from theirs. Also, come on, there's a reason why I studied engineering haha. Nevertheless, I keep pushing forward. I keep painting and making art because I like it and it makes me feel better. And here are some of my works recently:

Three days worth of backlog in my watercolor diary

I also made an attempt to paint my favorite hero these days: Peggy Carter. You ask me why she's my favorite? Well, you have to watch the Agent Carter mini-series to understand. (It's just eight episodes and it's amazing; you will not regret it.)

You see, we rarely get female heroes and I love Peggy because she's super smart, she can beat the crap out of guys heavier than her, she doesn't give up despite the misogyny in her male-dominated job, and she protects the man she loves (Steve Rogers a.k.a. Captain America) although she lost him eventually. I also love that Peggy is portrayed like a real person. She's tough as nails but when things get too difficult to handle, she also knows how to cry. Plus, she fights wearing red lipstick, a-line dresses, and high heels. Now, I guess, that's ultimate girl power.

It's like a grade school student's work but I'll keep painting anyway.

I painted flowers too.

And just today, after watching the latest Arrow episode, I just had to write the quote that stuck to me.