We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Aubrianna Robinson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Aubrianna, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
I realized people just don’t care. I’ve worn outfits that stand me out in a crowd, and nothing bad has ever happened. Working in a city, I’ve witnessed people yelling in public, singing out loud, dancing by themselves… all things that would deem embarrassing to my pubescent self, but nothing happens to them. What do I expect to happen, anyway?
A lot of times confidence is skewed when there is someone you’re comparing to. Try removing yourself from social media, get-togethers with people you don’t really like, and start focusing on just yourself. Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, a year ago, twelve years ago! Understanding that being humble might also mean embracing humility.
Learn to let go of the feeling of “awkward”. If you trip in front of someone, laugh at yourself. If you are wearing the wrong apparel to a get-together, just own it! If you realize you were wrong about something, say sorry.
Learning self respect is the first step, then sticking up for yourself and saying “no”, then realizing what is good for you and what is not. (or WHO is good for you and WHO is not). It’s a very long process but keep it up and eventually it will just become second nature. 🙂
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Hello! I am Aubri, (or Blobri, which is Aubri in “blob” form) and I am a cartoonist living in San Diego. I have illustrated for children’s books, designed layouts for animations, created comic books, and do “Cartoon Yourself” portraits at Balboa Park. I am currently a part-time art teacher for Little Fish Comic Books for young artists ages 5-12, as well as for my own class, How To Be an Online Artist! My online class helps creatives build confidence to start posting online, find jobs, and establish their career as an online artist.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Stick Up For Yourself: know when to say no, don’t work too much for little pay, don’t let others use you, don’t live life the way someone else wants you to, leave bad jobs/situations, know who is a good friend and who isn’t.
You Don’t Know Everything: and that’s okay! Sometimes I won’t use reference for a drawing because I already know how to draw something, but once I look as an image for help my drawing is suddenly better. That doesn’t mean I am a bad artist, it’s actually means the opposite. No reference means you will eventually plateau and only draw the same few things you know.
Love Yourself: a lot of people believe this means having an ego; it does not. In fact, an ego is just a front people put on to hide the parts of themselves they don’t like. If you are confident in yourself, there is no need to hide yourself. When you love yourself, you respect yourself, and start looking for things that are good for you. Any opinions from others will no longer affect you.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
Yes, always! I love working with other artists where we can help each other out, rather than compete against one another. I’ve joined podcasts, illustrated comics for writers, animated for scripts, curated comic-cons, taught for churches, events, after-school programs, and painted murals for local businesses. Anyone reading who needs help related to this can contact me! 🙂
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.aubriannarobinson.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blobri/
- Facebook: Aubrianna Robinson
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aubrianna-robinson/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aubrianna113
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC06JW2-GLatq0dPpUqjKHvQ
- Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@awbwi Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/blobri.bsky.social
