Hello to everyone here on Steemit. I am Randall Westwood. I have been an artist all my life. Until i was around 2-3 years old,my mom thought that i was born deaf or dumb as i never spoke a word till she hid my pencil. I would draw on pieces of paper on the floor as the doctor told her i couldn't do sports or play like other kids because i was born with Asthma. I found peace in drawing and till this day i've never stopped. I wouldn't be able to sleep until i drew something in my sketchbook.
This was a drawing i did on the last day of school.I went to art college after i finished school.I was always hanging out at this tattoo shop after school (yes,i wasn't supposed to be in a tattoo shop below 18 years of age). The artist who was in charge of the shop offered me a job there as an apprentice and he taught me drawing. He was the first person in my life who actually believed in me and my art. However when i finished school he wasn't in the shop anymore and it seems that he disappeared. I went to every other tattoo shop but no one wanted to teach me so i decided to go to art college and become an artist.I graduated with a Diploma in Graphic and Multimedia Design and a Minor in Fine Art. After college however i hated graphic design and i went to work in a gym as a Personal Trainer to study Anatomy as i wanted to become a comic artist. In college i started collecting sketchbooks and was always drawing. I never stopped drawing.
I have more than 10 years of sketchbooks. It's amazing how drawing can affect your life.
In 2013 someone gave me a tattoo kit. I was still a personal trainer then and had a small personal training studio. On the same floor as my personal training studio there was a tattoo shop. I asked the guy who owned it if he would teach me and showed him my sketchbook i was working on that year and he agreed. The next thing i know i left the personal training business and was pursuing my dream 10+ years later.
![geishadrawing.jpg()
This was a drawing i did when i was learning there and another place.I did a 2 year apprenticeship and then the guy asked me to get my own place. I have been tattooing at a small private studio i set up as i still wasn't confident to open up a regular shop and take walk ins.
3 years working on my own and practicing on people that i trusted doing good tattoos,i was offered to work at the top tattoo shop in my town.Working there i was told to go back to the basics and this has humbled me. Since i am starting with the basics all over again,i have decided to get on Steemit and do tutorials on the basics in drawing.
Follow me on my journey of art.Sometimes in life we have to take a step backwards and 2 steps forward just to get a step ahead from where we started. I am not the best but i will become the best that i can be.We all can.
Have a good day.
Peace to everyone and glad to meet everyone here!