Hey I'm Shiba

 I've been making art for as long as I can remember. I used to dislike the idea of painting or utilizing colors; all I wanted to do was sketch with a pencil and leave it blank. If I make a mistake, I can just erase but with paint, you cannot remove it. 

 When I first started painting, I discovered that the beauty of painting is that even if you make a mistake, you can turn it into something beautiful; art is not something that is rigid and has rules; it can be anything you want it to be, which is why I do it. I can't express myself any other way, and for someone like me who struggles to communicate their thoughts or emotions, painting gives me the freedom that I don't feel I have.

​​ It was comparable to how I regarded my life; I was constantly afraid of making a major mistake that everyone would notice and discuss. The idea of being perfect had become deeply ingrained in my mind. It begged to be obvious in my art; if I had too many erase marks, it was trash it and try again; I didn't want anybody to realize I had made too many mistakes to correct the drawing. If someone discovered anything, I would stress out and correct it; even if I saw something, I would call it out and criticize it to the point that others will say, "What I don't see anything wrong with it, it's lovely." It came to the point where I didn't care what other people thought of me. After all, you're your own best friend/enemy, and no one knows you better than you know yourself. 

 At the end of the day, I don't need anything else as long as I know who I am and keep true to myself. You have to love yourself first, then you can love anybody or anything else.