Life is once again demanding that I focus my attention and effort on urgent matters rather than important ones. This site also gathered dust and had to be reformatted like a hard drive. I hope to be able to publish work and stories more consistently. Sometimes I felt that what I was doing or what was happening to me didn’t deserve to be published; perhaps I would have to create something very elaborate to make it worthwhile to write a post.
Or maybe these years I was too sad to write. But one should write and create when sad, because it helps. However, having time to create or write is also a privilege. Sometimes there simply isn’t enough time or mental energy for anything other than basic survival. So-called mental health experts recommend taking time for oneself, engaging in enjoyable activities like a hobby, talking with friends, eating a favorite meal, going for a walk in nature or a nearby park, exercising, and eating well.
But if we look closely, all these activities require a minimum of time, social connections, or financial resources, and many people simply don’t have them. You have to work all day, and then the exhaustion leaves you with no physical or mental energy for anything else. Even though drawing and making things with your hands makes you forget the pain or your problems for a moment.
I had intended to radically distance myself from digital techniques. I had plenty of time to draw the 22 species of albatross during the pandemic, but then I wanted to do things with my hands, with physical tools and materials. But they require space, more time, more dedicated attention. But yes I have done traditional things and will publish them asap.
After years, I succumbed to the hype and started drawing on my tablet again. I’ve been following Formula 1 for a while. So I started drawing portraits of the drivers on the current grid in 2026. Hey! They are also 22. What’s in that number? (Yuki Tsunoda, of course)
I never imagined it would be such an endless source of humor and artistic inspiration. F1 fan art is incredible. I started with Checo Pérez: our national hero. He’s such an inspiration. I was so impressed by him during that race in Sakhir 2020 where he was last at a moment, had an incident and still managed to win the race. Never give up.
Then the rest of the drivers. I can see an evolution in my technique with the pencil and is getting a bit smoother and finer. It’s a work in progress. I’ll probably end with another Checo, to see if I improved with practice. (I should)
I instinctively felt the call of the tifosi, who have been waiting for a championship since 2007 without success. I identified with Charles Leclerc, a very talented driver who, for a number of strange reasons beyond his control, hasn’t been able to win a championship either. He’s the best that could have happened to Ferrari, and Ferrari is the worst thing that could have happened to him.
Forever trapped in a “We’re so back – It’s so over” cycle, addicted to hopium, to the toxic hope that keeps us waiting for victory when we get only failures and absurd strategies. But Ferrari is also passion, elegance and lineage. The prancing horse also has an inspiring story. It’s an homage to a fallen pilot who used the cavallino as a personal symbol and became the Ferrari symbol because it would bring good luck. Anyway. For the tifosi, within the depths of “it’s so over,” there will always be an invincible “we’re so back.”
Lenina Villela 