Passing On a Dream

This week I got the opportunity to share my aspirations of becoming a picture book illustrator with some bright young artists at my local library.  I had read Jon Acuff's book Start (which you can find on Amazon) earlier this year.  In it, he talks about giving away our gifts.  To me that meant I needed to find a way to share what I am doing but I wasn't sure what that would look like. Then when the summer activities began at my local library, I thought that might be a good avenue to share what I am doing and what I am learning.

The display case in the foyer of the library is decorated with
 not only the books of some really great illustrators,
but a few of my own illustrations as well!

So November 12th I got to sit down with 4 children, grades 3, 4 and 6 along with their parents.  I shared my own story of how my 8th grade art teacher told me I should be an illustrator.  Looking back, I did not take that idea seriously nor did I really have a clear vision of what I wanted to do in my life.  I had a fuzzy notion about being an artist and had no idea how to go about it.  When I got to college, I had one professor encourage me and advised me to go to New York City then saw I had an engagement ring and said sadly, "I guess you won't be doing that."  She was right.  But, like I told the students Tuesday night, it is never too early or too late to begin to pursue your dream.

I didn't sugar coat it.  Not everyone who is an illustrator gets to do it for a living, but that doesn't mean it can't be a fulfilling way to spend your time and energy.  And the fact that so much illustration is done for the sake of being seen by eyes which are usually 10 and younger, it is an opportunity to touch and educate and inspire children.  Those children need dreams and some of those dreams are to make art to inspire others.  What a great calling!  And I would love to see these young people, if it is their calling, to start now to formulate plans and educate and prepare themselves to pursue those plans.  Even if illustration is not in their futures, I wanted them to know, the future is something we should be looking forward too.  It is not something we waste the present while we wait for the future to happen.  Dreams don't just happen. They need impetuous and perseverance on top of talent.

By the end of our hour together, we had talked about picture books, publishing, the difference between illustration and fine art, and they had made some beautiful sketches based on nursery rhyme titles I had put on slips of paper and placed in a bowl.  They asked if I would do it again and I said I would love to.  Who knows, maybe we could start an illustrators club!  The best part, was being able to share what I have learned over the past 15 months with people who love art and books too.  I get to share my journey and hopefully, I will share more of my journey with more students in the months to come.

Thanks for stopping by to read my blog.  If you are an artist or illustrator or writer or you just enjoy people, I would so appreciate any ideas you may have or things you have done to share your gifts with others.  What's the good of having a gift if you don't give it away?  Please leave a comment.  Love hearing from you!

Illustration Friday : Creature

I haven't done Illustration Friday in a while but since I have finished this Little Red Riding Hood piece, I thought it would work for this week's theme "Creature".  I think she's in trouble.  Follow this link and check out more great illustrations and artwork!  Thanks for stopping by and if you have a second, leave a comment and tell me what you think.

Creative November Challenges

As is I don't have enough to do on a day to day basis....

Actually it is time for me to push a little harder, work more consistently and get busy making art.  In the process of scouring the internet for help and inspiration, I am now hip to the challenges that are out there in the world of cyber-space.  There are so many, but these two suit me just fine.  I am going to fill a note book with daily sketches and picture book ideas so that at the turn of the new year, I will be all ready to start pushing harder and having a clearer direction to go in as I continue down the road toward becoming a published professional illustrator.  I have been making a lot of art, but not so much head way and I hope that by pushing myself this month, I will quicken my pace and keep moving forward!

If you want to take the challenges follow these links: Tara Lazar's PiBoIdMo - Picture Book Idea Month and Linda Silverstri's SkADaMo - Sketch a Day Month.  And if you want to be super organized about it with a nifty worksheet check out Jenn Bower's blog.  Sign up and join me in the fun and inspiration.  Please be sure to leave a comment and tell me if you are up to the challenge!

Illustrator Study: Maurice Sendak

image found on Wikipedia

I am beginning a new series here on my blog about famous and influential illustrators and chose Maurice Sendak to start off with.  I have read several articles about him and his work and have enjoyed sharing "Where the Wild Things Are" with my kids.  It seems there are different reactions to his work.  Some adults find him disturbing.  Some kids do too.  Both my children found the first reading of Wild Things to be scary.  And I have read a few of his other pieces, "Outside Over There" and "In the Night Kitchen".  His stories are a bit unsettling, and writers who enjoy him often comment on his ability to be truthful with children.  Whether you find him shocking or not, his art work is something to admire in and of itself.  And he is not afraid to make monsters scary, children less than wholesome and create landscapes and settings that live and breath in their own right.

I decided to try to copy the style he uses in "Where the Wild Things Are".  From my time in college studio classes, I recall more than one professor urging students to copy the masters and develop our own styles from what flowed out of those lessons.  So I am following that advice here.  I never had any formal illustration training, so where better to learn than from the old masters like Sendak.

I love the style he uses here with his brown tones in every color, giving the artwork a far away remembered feeling like black and white photos which have been colorized.  And I love the ink work.  His cross hatching is so intricate and skillful.  He uses it to create shadow and texture as well as defining what is real from what is the dream.

My attempt at using Mr. Sendak's illustration style
 and characters

My effort is certainly not up to his standards, but it has been a great chance to practice pen and ink as well as balancing colors and tones.  I have gotten to see my own weaknesses as well as strengths and that is always a great way to learn.

I hope you will come back to see what illustrator I will learn from next.  There are so many great ones and so many styles to choose from.  I would love to read some suggestions.  Maybe your favorite illustrator?  Who has influenced your work, or was just your favorite from childhood?  Please share in the comments below!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Killing Paper Tigers

I am blogging tonight just because I need to vent a little, clear my head a little, get my thoughts out a little.  And I think this drawing is a pretty good illustration of how I feel... rearing to go, but like this horse staring off into the distance, there is something off the edge of the paper that is putting fear in my heart.

Struggling with fear has become a daily project for me and I have learned a lot from that struggle.  I mean, fear has always shadowed my path, but as I have been planning and goal setting and dreaming, fear has become this very real opponent who harasses me.  The cool thing is that now I can actually see fear.  It is not just a murky shadow.  It is a paper tiger and I can actually figure out how to deal with his tactics and reveal how flimsy fear is.

I have been really industrious lately.  I have been making a lot of art and I am about to make some more.  I have plans to open an Etsy shop.  I have plans to create a post card mailer to send out and plans to create a mailing list.  But now, I am at that place where plans have to become real action.  Guess what... I am making excuses.

Have you ever gotten to that place where all of your dreams are about to become footsteps on a path but then you start to second guess and even wonder if the journey is one you should take?  I am there.  And I am finding reasons to flounder.

Okay, so I need to get a good scanner for my art work since all of it is made with water color, pencil and paper rather than digital.  I need to get a printer so I can make nice prints to sell in an Etsy shop.  I need some extra cash to support this en devour.  I need to make some decisions about how to sell my art, where to sell my art, all along wondering if anyone will even want to buy my art.

All of these fears are little paper tigers, roaring at me, but amounting to nothing, only having power if I give them power.

So I am going to look at this picture of this wild mustang and I am going to gather my courage and run into the wind!  I am going to make this work.  I have to!

Have you found it hard to get started when you think of all you need to do to make your plans happen?  How have you coped with that?  What did you do to get over that hump?  I would love to hear from you because I am always looking for good advice.  Please leave a comment and share!  Thanks for stopping by.

Tangled Art, Tangled Life

"If you get tangled up, just tango on!" - Al Pacino from "Scent of a Woman"

I look at this and it is just doodles, right?  Okay, now having said that, to actually get myself to sit down and do the doodle, was a challenge.  I mean, looking at other people's "Zen tangles", (What a clever name.  Great marketing!)  I start to feel a little nauseous because I think, "I can never do something that PRETTY!"  But thankfully, I don't have to necessarily follow a rule, I just have to make patterns.  Easy.  Really, it is.  So, I make the tangles (That's what I hear they have been called.) and if I get tangled up, I just tangle on.  Not as romantic as the Tango, but that's okay.  Apparently this form of doodling causes your mind to calm down into a meditative state which helps with stress among other things. 

One more reason I love cruising the web.  There are literally millions of artists with just as many sites and they are all out there sharing their work.  And we get to browse through and feed our inner creative.  Of course then it is up to us to do something about it, like paint a picture, draw a doodle, sing a song, write a poem, make a special dish, plant flowers, imagine dragons and fairies in the clouds, what ever your imagination leads you to do.  I just know being creative causes you to become more creative!  I love that. 

And I kind of feel like life is a little like a Zen tangle.  Over here you have something going on and then in another place you have some other complicated thing happening, all of it seems crazy making and a little confusing, overwhelming really. But you just keep plugging away, hoping the patterns will begin to form and clarity will eventually happen and then when it does and you step back and look, your life is this amazing beautiful patchwork with depth and richness of detail.  We think we want it simple and we complain, "Why can't things be easy?!?!"  But it is the twists and turns, the dark places and the light places, the curves and sharp angles that make our lives these amazing masterpieces, when all we thought they might be were doodles.  Go figure.  No wait, go doodle!

Thank you so much for reading my blog today.  You are so very welcome to leave a comment, be it brief or long.  Either way, I'd love to know what you think, so leave a comment dear reader!

A Whole Year Has Gone By and I Am Still Here!

Well, I have really been neglecting my blog!  But that's okay.  Sometimes you need time away from something.  Then when you get back to it, it's like a fresh start. 

The amazing thing for me is that I am still here and still drawing a year after I began this journey.  And in the process I have chosen to give myself permission to not be perfect to do this work.  I have given myself permission to work slowly.  This is huge for me.  For years I have held the idea in my heart that if I can't succeed RIGHT NOW then I am automatically a failure.  So having spent many years focusing on other areas of my life, like my marriage and my children, the feeling of passing time has made me feel like I have missed my chance.  I know that is not true.

Last year I started drawing and blogging out of a sense of urgency because I had just turned 39 and started thinking if I don't get this going now, I'll be old and never get the chance.  Now I am officially 40 and the past year has been a chance to learn new things about myself and become stronger in my character and my determination.  New opportunities are presenting themselves because I have stuck with this and more will come along as I continue and don't give up. 

I don't know where I am going, but I know the journey is going to be a good one, no matter what happens.  I am amazed that I am so full of hope!  I am so thankful for what God has given to me...another chance.  And isn't that what we all want?

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you are inspired to keep going after your dreams.  Please leave a comment and share your hope and journey.  I want so much to hear what other people's experiences have been.



Recent sketches that will soon become finished watercolor illustrations!