More development on postcard 2… It seems to be taking ages to complete this set but I’m conscious that I want them to be exactly how I envision them and also the fact that I am learning as I am going along.

In the last month since I started designing these on Illustrator I feel like I have progressed and learned new techniques and got more confident in producing digital media once again.

Postcard 2 I want to represent girl power, girl code and generally being strong and independent. I felt like my original drawings for this postcard included too many LA inspired tattoos (which would take the attention away from postcard 3) and not enough symbols to represent the “girl empowered” theme of this one.

I decided to sketch up some ideas for the tattoos on postcard 2 that represent me more and the theme of girl power, strength and independence.

The main one that I wanted to include is “Be you.” I get told this a lot by friends, family and acquaintances. I get judged and criticised a lot for how I look and for my love of pink… “BE YOU, Be Pink Amy.”

My best friend Emma tells me that I am a “people pleaser” I tend to put others, their feelings and their needs before my own. This ultimately leaves me vulnerable, used and left feeling sad and insecure. An imbalance of emotions. Another common comment I usually always get is that I listen to other peoples negative opinions far too much. I have my own style, my own voice and my own unique quirks and I am confident with who I am so why am I sometimes too afraid to trust my own instincts and to free myself completely? This is something I work on everyday.. I grow more confident with age and experience. “Be you”. (This later ties in to another one of my tattoo designs for this postcard also.) The alien (Apart from my experience of random inappropriate men on a dating website years ago comparing me as “alien big eyes”!) is a symbol of being different; It’s OK to not “belong” to not follow trends, to not follow, chase or seek appreciation from people who are not right for us or to not stay in situations just because it feels like the right thing to do; comfort zones. There is a whole world out there to be explored! It is OK to break out of this metaphorical box that people tend to try and put us inside… Why do people think life is supposed to fit to a “plan” and to a specific time frame? It is OK to not conform or to be constricted. Think outside that damn box!!

The star sign aspect of the design (the crab) is important to me. My star sign is cancer and I feel I embody every trait of that sign. I have a sensitive inside and a hard outer shell. I struggle to trust, I “feel” with everything I have. I wanted to include this onto the design as the overall feel of postcard 2 is about femininity, the vulnerability of being a girl in a tough world and being “naked” in a sense that I expose who I am, what I like and how I feel.

Make lemonade from lemons is to overcome bitterness, bad luck and adversity to make something good out of bad experiences. Also as a reference to design advice I once received; Do not put any lemons out there!!