This is a personal manifesto to remind myself, and everyone that failure is a necessity for success. That we can freak out over a mistake, sob for days, but learn how to pick ourselves up and become better. 

I used to play competitive sports in highschool and boy did I fail and fall a lot. But they were always valuable experiences that taught me how to bounce back and become a stronger person. I take this mentality with me into my art-making process, as a way to counter my own personal hesitance. "Be bold! Don't fucking be afraid to fail and make mistakes! Do your best!" were often the words I heard from my coaches, my parents, and from myself, and I tell myself the same things to this day whenever I face a limitation of some kind. 

So, to express this "Go get 'em!" sentiment through the way I work now, I hand-bound a moleskine-style sketchbook and implemented a short illustrated guide in the front, to act as a reminder. A sketchbook is the artist's place to fail and make mistakes, to get out all of the bad energy and find that gem of an idea. Hopefully once I get through my current sketchbook, I'll get around to using this one too!