Creativity can be intimidating
But you and I can pursue it anyway
Hi friends,
Before I get to the meat of this week’s newsletter, I have an ANNOUNCEMENT. To celebrate the milestone of having 400+ brilliant subscribers, I am am doing a GIVEAWAY! Just a little one as a token of my appreciation for all of you who subscribe and read my newsletter week after week. But, in order to have a chance to win, you have to let me know that you’d like to win. So, simply say so in the comments or reply to this email! I’ll announce the winner in next week’s newsletter.
The prize will be a small, original work of art made by me and some swag (bookmarks and stickers). Fun, right? Comment to enter! I made it easy by putting a button right there! 👇
Okay, now on to the real purpose of this week’s post!
For as long as I can remember I have enjoyed drawing. That’s not particularly notable, since many (most? all?) children enjoy drawing to a certain extent. I believe that enjoyment most often ends once a child gets old enough to start comparing herself to others and/or starts to feel frustrated that her drawings aren’t “good enough.” Which is a topic for another post.
As for me, I had a couple of things in my favor: 1) My parents, especially my mother, were very supportive and encouraged all of their children’s creative pursuits, and 2) I had a particular knack for drawing, especially for drawing things that were right in front of me.
You could say I was an award-winning artist as a child. In Kindergarten I won first place in an art contest in which students were asked to paint a picture of their favorite animal at the zoo. Mine was the giraffe. The way my mother beamed about my win would have made you think I’d just won the Caldecott. In fifth grade, I won my school’s bookmark design contest. The theme was dinosaurs, and my design was a T-rex, which I drew with help of a reference image, probably from an encyclopedia. That same year I won a contest for the best clown face design, the prize for which was getting my face painted to look just like the clown I had colored. It was Halloween, and I even got permission to wear a clown costume to school. That’s one of my weirdest childhood memories, but I’ve gotten off-track.
Back to the dinosaur bookmark. I won the contest, and as the winner I was asked to draw a poster-sized version. On the spot. Right there at school. I panicked a little. I wasn’t confident that I could draw the T-rex again. Not from memory! But I was able to use my original design as a reference, and the poster turned out swell.
As I got older and kept drawing, I got better and better at it. I continued to draw from references, only being confident in my abilities when I could see my subject in front of me. There were very few exceptions. I could draw a rose, a cat face, simple houses, the profile of a car (but not one I would care to drive around). I could imagine other things I would like to draw or paint, but without a reference, I was usually lost. Unlike my older brother, who could draw muscle-bound super-hero characters at the drop of the hat. Why can’t I draw like that? I would often wonder.
Well, I could have drawn like that. I’d just need to have the muscle-bound super-hero right there in front of my in order to do it. That’s what I thought, but I learned much later in life that there was more to it.
In school, I took every art class I had the chance to take, except for pottery. In third grade I was part of an after-school art club, which was where I first tried oil painting and block prints. I received instructional books and art supplies at birthdays and Christmas. In middle school and high school my focus was art, art, art.
Almost exclusively in those art classes the students were taught to draw from references. Still lifes, figures, portraits. Even some of the abstract art we created began with drawing from references. Of course, we were taught about composition and color and value and movement and all of those things, but rarely were we asked to create a composition from nothing more than our brains.
So I got really good at drawing what I could see. Plop a person in front of me and ask me to draw her? No problem. Hang a towel over a beach chair and give me pen and ink? Nailed it! I drew all the time, in school and out. My family, my pets, stuff around the house. I enjoyed it. I was good at it. It was comfortable. But when I tried moving outside my comfort zones to draw things that weren’t right in front of me, it was intimidating. When I tried it, my art was disappointing, at least to me.
After high school I stayed comfortable in my art. I created a lot, but it wasn’t always particularly…creative. My skills had limits, and I accepted that. I drew barns and flowers and portraits of animals and people, and I was content.
Until I became a picture book author and started daring to imagine that I could illustrate a book some day. But no. I couldn’t. I wasn’t good enough. I couldn’t create that kind of art. My skills had limits, remember?
I didn’t really understand then what I do now—that my limits were self-imposed, at least to a certain extent. It was true that I couldn’t (and still can’t) draw a muscle-bound superhero using only the images in my brain. But I began to see that I could learn to do more. I could take what I’m naturally good at, and grow from there. All it really takes is lots and lots of practice, play, and the determination to not be intimidated. Don’t forget play. It’s an essential part of learning not to be intimidated!
The list of things I can passably draw (or at least doodle) on a whim has grown. I can draw a simple T-rex and other dinosaurs (thanks to my grandson’s repeated requests). I can draw lots of different types of flowers. Faces with various expressions. Pine trees. Mari’s owl in Mari in the Margins.
I still use references a lot, but I’m no longer limited by them. Instead of always drawing them exactly as I see them, I use them to help make the images in my brain a reality. I think a lot of artists use references that way, whether they illustrate books or not. Learning that has been a revelation for me, and it feels good to be not quite so intimidated.
So, take it from me. There is always room to learn and grow and possibly surprise yourself by developing skills you thought were beyond your reach. Don’t be afraid to try.
The 100 Day Project is Underway!
You might remember my 100 Day Project from 2024, during which I set out to draw 1000 things in 100 days (part of that practice and play I mentioned earlier). Well, I’m participating again this year, only this time I’m doing 100 days of character design. I’m choosing to do this as a 100 day project because my brain loves a good challenge, and this will help me be consistent. I’ll share some of my sketches in this newsletter along the way. For now, here’s one from my 100 day project in 2019, when I attempted to draw 100 characters. Back then my characters often looked a little…rigid, and that is definitely true of this guy. He’s a little dragon-type character that I drew without a reference. I’ve learned a lot about gesture and telling a story with illustrations since then, so I hope this year’s project will show that I’ve improved.
Some of my favorite picture book character designs
The dragon in The Forgetful Knight by Michelle Robinson, illustrated by Fred Blunt.
David in the David series by David Shannon. The imperfect, messy illustrations are ideal for this rambunctious and naughty character.
Bear in What About Moose? by Corey Rosen Schwartz and ME, illustrated by Keika Yamaguchi. Bear is just so big huggable!
Amos McGee in A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead, illustrated by Erin E. Stead. He’s just such a sweet grandpa of a man.
The troll in The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen. I just love how gruff and dirty and mean he looks.
What are some of your favorite picture book characters?
One more thing
In my last post I mentioned the Bandersnatch Books upcoming poetry anthology, I’ve Got a Bad Case of Poetry! I hope you’ll consider supporting the kickstarter for this wonderful project. It’s a book that you and your family can treasure for years to come!
I’ve enjoyed sketching again. Never thought to do this before but started doing that in my journal. So far it’s been sketches of my kids doing things. It’s been a fun way to create memories of the ordinary things they do.
I really, really want a stuffed animal version of Bear. And Toad.