Ok, sorry for the shaky AF handheld video 😂 But I just couldn’t resist impromptu filming this crisp white ink on this vibrant blue paper and the phrase that popped into my head. — The important shit - what is that to you? It’s so easy to get lost in the doing if you don’t lift your head every now and then and stand up and take a deep breath and ask yourself WHY you’re doing it in the first place. 🤔 — For me, the important shit is 1️⃣Giving and experiencing Love, 2️⃣Learning all the time, and 3️⃣Creating to SHARE 💕 — You guys help me to do ALL FUCKING THREE so thank you. You are some of my most important shit, so no matter what else you’re feeling about yourself in this particular moment, remember that you’re significant to me. 🙌
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Hi. 👋 I’m the very real person behind this account and sometimes I wish I could reach out through these little squares and connect with you all as my true, flawed little self. So here are some real things about me: (If you’re just here for the shiny calligraphy, enjoy the video and skip the caption 😉) —— 1️⃣My name is Shinah and my parents immigrated here from Korea. I used to reject my Korean heritage and now I wish I knew more about it and, above all, I wish I was better at the language so I could really talk to my parents 2️⃣I thought I was fat and ugly for the longest time. I’ve had to unravel a LOT of unhealthy dieting and exercise patterns and I still feel the most comfortable sitting with a pillow over my stomach to hide it. But I’m really learning how to love myself better. Slowly. 3️⃣I used to think I wasn’t a creative person. I thought I was only good at the left-brained stuff like SAT tests and being a corporate lawyer. The first time someone called me an “artist”, I straight up cringed. But now, I think that creativity lives in everyone. It just has different ways of coming out 😊 4️⃣I’m a people-pleaser. I crave other people’s approval, and sometimes that runs my life. But that’s ok - I can un-learn those habits slowly and, in the meantime, use them to help me instead of hurt me. 5️⃣I worry. A LOT. My brain is always thinking about what could go wrong and it never shuts the fuck up. You know what helps with that? Just taking action. Today, I woke up and felt paralyzed by my to-do list. So I just started small: I made the bed, I got dressed, I ate breakfast and eventually, I sat down at my computer and tackled some things. It all seems to turn out ok as long as I give myself grace and don’t force things too hard. 💕 — So that was a long-ass truth dump for a Monday morning. 😅 If you got through it all, maybe there were some things that made you say “huh... me too”? If there was... that connects us. Cause behind all the pretty squares, we’re all just humans trying our best. So that means that, if I can do it, you can too, my friend!! 🙌
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HERE IT IS!! All four days of #cc_holidaydoodles tutorials put together to create one gorgeous (slightly snarky) holiday card 😆 — You can create all of these embellishments using a few simple techniques with your pointed nib - light hairline strokes, tick marks and s-curves 👍 And the great thing about this is that they’re DOODLES. They don’t have to be perfect. In fact, the sketchiness is part of the charm! 🤗 — If you missed any of the holiday doodles tutorials, just look at the last four posts on my Insta feed. Or search #cc_holidaydoodles 🙌 — If you give any of these a try, please tag me!! I would LOVE to see what you come up with ❤️ — P.S. - wtf does “Seasons Greetings” mean anyway? Is it like saying “Winter Hello”? I’m honestly confused about who came up with this phrase and why we all agreed to use it 😂
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To round out the #cc_holidaydoodles series: sketchy snowflakes! 😂❄️ I say “sketchy” because I can’t draw a perfectly symmetrical snowflake to save my life. 🙄 And I certainly can’t be bothered to measure and trace to make sure all the angles are correct. But good news! Your snowflakes will look imperfectly perfectly charming, especially when grouped together👌 And that’s the whole point of this series - to learn to use your pointed pen in new, fun ways AND to dabble in illustration without the need for perfection. Can I get an amen? 🙌 — How to: 1️⃣Draw a shallow X, then add a vertical line to create your six-sided structure (you can sketch this with a pencil to get the spacing more even, but don’t worry if it’s not exactly perfect) 2️⃣Eyeball your structure and add length to some of the lines if necessary to get them more or less even with each other 3️⃣For the teardrop snowflake: add “tick marks” close around each stem. You want the bottom of each tick mark to touch the stem 4️⃣For the feathery snowflake: using very light pressure, draw thin lines on either side of each stem. Try and make the lines distinct and spaced apart so they don’t bleed into each other. Finally, add a tick mark to the very tip of each stem as an accent ❄️ — Once you have the six-stemmed structure, you could create all kinds of snowflakes. But I like these because they use the techniques we learned on Day 1 & 3 😁 — So who’s gonna be drawing some sketchy snowflakes? 😂🙋🏻‍♀️
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Third day of #cc_holidaydoodles - this leafy-berry-garland-branch thing! 😂 Honestly not quite sure what to call it, but you can bunch them together to fill a corner, or you can draw one long one to make a garland. 👍 And! Did ya notice? The branch structure is pretty much the same as the Pine Branches I drew on Day 1 😉 Once you know how to draw branches, you can fill them in with all sorts of different leaf and floral shapes and it’ll always look good! 👍 — How to: 1️⃣Draw a slight s-curve 2️⃣Draw branches curving gently away from the s-curve, but always pointing in the same general direction 3️⃣Surround the tips of each branch with “tick marks” using your pointed nib - a fast, tiny, downward stroke, lifting off with the same downward motion so you get a little teardrop shape. 4️⃣Turn your paper to get the best angle to create your tick marks (this was hard for me to do because my tripod was in the way, and you can see how the tick marks going right to left didn’t turn out as well) 🤷🏻‍♀️ — That’s it! Tomorrow I’ll be showing you some snowflakes and then... I’m gonna put these all together to show you what a lush, intricate design you can make using all these little pieces! 😆 Raise your hands if you’re excited! 🙌
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Next up in my #cc_holidaydoodles tutorial series: pine cones! These cuties pair perfectly with the pine branches we learned how to create yesterday 🌲👌 — How to: 1️⃣Sketch a rounded teardrop shape in pencil as a guide 2️⃣Draw a rounded fish-scale shape at the very bottom center 3️⃣Add in pointier almond shapes on the sides 4️⃣Keep layering in fish-scale shapes in the center and almond shapes on either side, following your pencil sketch lines. Your scales should get smaller as you build up toward the top of the pine cone. 5️⃣Use pointier almond shapes to fill in the very top👍 — That’s it! Next up: festive garlands and snowflakes. 😉 — Lemme know in the comments if you’re liking this series! 🤗
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Did ya know you can use your pointed nib to draw all sorts of fun illustrations and embellishments? I thought I’d show you some this week in a series I’m calling #cc_holidaydoodles 🤗 — First up: pine branches! They make a really elegant, earthy embellishment to your holiday calligraphy🌲 — How to: 1️⃣Draw a slight curve or s-curve 2️⃣Add gentle curves branching off from the central line. Make sure these all go in the same general direction 3️⃣Add wispy needles to the ends of your branches using the lightest possible pressure on your nib. If you press too hard, you’ll get a blob, which doesn’t look as nice as distinct needles. 4️⃣Add more branches or clusters of needles to fill in any gaps - it’s very flexible and forgiving!👍 — And that’s it! Double tap if you found this useful! 🙌 And lemme know what you’d like to see next - Snowflakes? Pine cones? Garlands and leaves? 😁
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You know why the word “fuck” is so great? It doesn’t just mean one thing. Some people might see this phrase and think “Yay! Christmas!!”🎄 And others might see it and think “Oh god... Christmas” 😖 — Whatever it means to you... I hope it gives you a smile. I’ll be turning this into December’s free desktop and mobile wallpaper. 👌 — So if you want it, check my Stories and I’ll include a link where you can sign up for my Monthly Down-Low. 🙌 Just one email per month, letting you know what new shiz I have going on, always with a freebie inside. 😉 — Tomorrow’s December. Are you ready? I fucking am! (👈Read that in whatever way you like 😂)
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I felt like writing myself a little note this morning and then it made me feel a lot of feelings, so I thought I’d share it in case someone else needs to hear it too. 💕 — Life is hard sometimes. 😕 Cancer, setbacks, loss, failure, whatever it is... But you know what makes it harder? Beating yourself up about how hard it is for you and how you should be handling it better. Fuck that noise. 🙅🏻‍♀️ — So I’m just telling myself that it’s hard. And it’s ok. I can take my time, I can take it easy, I can do nothing, I can distract myself, I can be numb. I just gotta keep going and, eventually, it’ll be less hard. Right? 🤷🏻‍♀️
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Theeeeeeeey’re back!! 😆 I’m doing one final collaboration with @apolis to close out the year - you can get one of their chic, durable, sustainably-made market bags, customized with my hand-written calligraphy 🙌 — But this will be a very limited run! So if you wanna get notified when they go on sale - head over to the @apolis Insta page and find the post featuring a custom calligraphy bag. 💕 — I can’t wait to see what amazing shit you guys come up with to put on your bags. They are always touchingly sweet or just downright hilarious 😂 — What quote would YOU put on your market bag? 😉
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Fun fact: I went to undergrad with Natalie Portman! She started the same year as me and we even had some psychology classes together. I never talked to her though... Phantom Menace had just come out and I was too intimidated by the whole “Queen Amidala” thing to work up the courage 😂 — This was my first time writing legit celebrity names. It was for a huge gala that Dom Perignon held here in LA and I felt like I was squealing with excitement the whole time I was creating these 🙌 It’s one of those “calligrapher moments” that I always dreamed would be cool, but I never thought I would actually get to do. But, hey, life has some pretty awesome moments, even when you feel like you’re drowning in shit 😂 — How about you? What’s something that you’ve always thought it would be cool to do, but it seems kinda far away right now? You might be closer than you think 😉
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Thanks, you guys. If I could write it in a million ways, I would...because that’s how grateful I am for your support, your understanding, your true connection. 💕You are the reason I wake up and want to create something each day. You are my inspiration. You are the reason any of this means anything. Now, more than ever, I understand how important that is. So, thanks. 🙏 From the bottom of my crooked little heart 😉❤️
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