This little girl made me a mother. She turned 7 earlier this month but this photo was taken when she was 4 years old. She had been pestering me to draw another portrait of her after seeing me working on a portrait of my her dad and little brother. It took me awhile to do it though because there were stuff in life that needed urgent attention and I had very little time to devote to art.

This girl taught me a lot of things about myself.

Being a parent is the most humbling journey I have ever been through. I am sure a lot of parents can relate to that. Before becoming a parent I was pretty sure I got it all figured out. How hard could it be right?

I was wrong.

I thought being pregnant and giving birth was hard and it was. The labor pain was out of this world. @crystalmaiden wrote about her birthing experience here and it kinda similar to mine except that I had to go through 17 hours of labor. Seventeen hours of unrelenting pain, wave after wave of excruciating pain, just to bring this girl into this world.

But those physical pains are nothing compare to the journey ahead.

Parenting is hard and takes a lot of work and patience. I made a lot of mistakes that I am not proud of. Parenting requires lots of courage, lots of learning, lots of patience and sacrifice. I am not good with words and I don't quite know how to explain it. Only parents would know.

Being a parent brings a lot of blessings. Through my experience as a mother for the past 7 years, I have learned not to judge people before knowing the actual story. I have learned to have more empathy towards others and to accept and respect everyone regardless of who they are. I have learned to be more forgiving and not take things personally. I have learned to be vulnerable and admit my mistakes and ask for forgiveness. I have learned to have better self-control. In short, being a mother has shaped my character for the better.

Here is the reference photo for the portrait and the progress photos:

Medium: water soluble graphite on cold pressed watercolor paper.