{"id":105,"date":"2025-10-10T07:46:33","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T07:46:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/?p=105"},"modified":"2026-02-08T19:07:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T19:07:26","slug":"purpose-finding-the-why-behind-the-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/purpose-finding-the-why-behind-the-work\/","title":{"rendered":"10 – Purpose: Finding the Why Behind the Work"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Purpose: Finding the Why Behind the Work<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The more I draw, the more I realize every stroke needs to mean something. It\u2019s not just about filling space \u2014 it\u2019s about building connection and flow. For me it\u2019s the difference between scribbling and creating art. That\u2019s where purpose comes in.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

\"Black
Peony drawn in traditional tattoo style.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

Today\u2019s artist hour<\/a> subject was the peony. I used both standard shading and line shading to highlight different parts of the flower. It reminded me that purpose is what gives meaning to contrast \u2014 why some areas are meant to stand out, and others are meant to recede. Without that balance, everything competes for attention, and nothing truly shines.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The peony also has a symbiotic relationship with ants \u2014 the flower won\u2019t fully open without them. The ants feed on the nectar, and in doing so, they help the bloom release its petals. That connection hit me hard. My art isn\u2019t meant to exist alone either. My drawings find their purpose when they meet someone\u2019s story, someone\u2019s skin. It\u2019s a shared process \u2014 my art helps them capture and express something real, and their trust helps my work come alive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"Original
Original drawing of a surfer riding a very heavy wave.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

The Inktober prompt for today was \u201cheavy.\u201d Most people think of weights, burdens, or anchors when they hear that word. But I went another direction \u2014 I drew a wave. To me, waves are heavy, but they\u2019re also alive. They carry energy, crash hard, then return to calm. You don\u2019t stop the ocean \u2014 you learn to ride it.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

That\u2019s purpose: knowing what you\u2019re willing to carry, and what you\u2019re meant to ride. It\u2019s not about having all the answers \u2014 it\u2019s about direction.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Purpose is what keeps us\u00a0moving forward when everything else feels uncertain. \u00a0It\u2019s what has gotten me through things most people can\u2019t imagine and will likely never experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Tattooing has taught me that every design should have an intention. We don\u2019t throw lines on skin and hope they make sense later. We plan the flow, the spacing, how each piece interacts with the next.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The same goes for life \u2014 we might not know what the finished sleeve looks like yet, but we trust that each piece belongs. My purpose is evolving \u2014 part healing, part storytelling, part helping others find meaning through art. If I can create something that helps someone see their own story in a new light, then I\u2019ve done more than tattoo; I\u2019ve connected.\u00a0<\/span>Purpose is the \u201cwhy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Next, I\u2019ll be exploring Meaning<\/a> \u2014 the what. The stories that unfold once purpose meets expression, and how we find depth in the lines we draw, the scars we carry, and the connections we build through both.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My purpose is evolving \u2014 part healing, part storytelling, part helping others find meaning through art. If I can create something that helps someone see their own story in a new light, then I\u2019ve done more than tattoo; I\u2019ve connected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,8,9],"tags":[19,16,20,18,14,13,12,15],"class_list":["post-105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fun","category-learning","category-motivational","tag-art-motivation","tag-artist-hour","tag-creative-growth","tag-drawing-challenge","tag-inktober-2025","tag-tattoo-artist-journey","tag-tattoo-shading","tag-tattooing-101"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":571,"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105\/revisions\/571"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}