Drawing Inspiration

"Don't give up on trying to do what you really want to do.  Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong." ~ Ella Fitzgerald

A big struggle of mine, often, has been WHAT to draw...feeling inspired!  That hasn't been the case lately.  I am full to BURSTING with ideas.  The struggle now is getting them all down on paper.

It is when I decided to tap into the well-spring of MY HEART that the greatest inspirations have started to pour out...my characters are gaining more life, more validity and becoming much more honest!!!! My lines are becoming more confident and I think I am becoming a better emotional storyteller.

I am starting to see LOVE on the paper

Recently I stumbled upon the story of Tarra & Bella! 

*yes, I know, apparently I've been living under a rock since I am just now learning about this dynamic duo* 

I allowed myself to feel all sorts of painful emotions and realized the best way to cope would be to tell their story in my own words...

their's is a wonderful story of friendship and loss.

Sad

Endearing

Enduring

& ultimately inspirational!

Power to the Peculiar

I am on this mad mission to capture the essence of peculiar children the world over!!!

Why?

Because I feel there is great power in being

distinctive, different from the usual or normal, special, particular, odd, curious, eccentric, and queer.  This summer I am reading Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children & Quiet: The Power of Introverts In a World That Can't Stop Talking

In an excerpt from the latter: 

But we make a grave mistake to embrace the Extrovert Ideal so unthinkingly. Some of our greatest ideas, art, and inventions—from the theory of evolution to van Goghʼs sunflowers to the personal computer— came from quiet and cerebral people who knew how to tune in to their inner worlds and the treasures to be found there.

In a family of TYPE A's I battle constantly with being 'misunderstood' and I've exhausted myself for decades trying to fit into the great American "Extrovert Ideal"

What about us, the peculiar, makes the extrovert so uncomfortable??????

I think we need to treasure kids that don't fit the 'ideal' by immortalizing them in picture books & early readers.

WHERE ARE THE 21ST CENTURY PIPPY LONGSTOCKINGS???????

My style of illustration was recently dubbed 'peculiar'...at first that smacked of insult.  But now I don't care.  I am growing quite fond of my distinctive, odd, curious and queer cast of characters.  I just know they will one day mark their own unique place in history!

A Work In Progress! Never Give Up On Your Dreams!

This month is my 3 year illustration 'dream' anniversary so I thought I'd show you how far I've come. They say 'a picture is worth a thousand words' so here is the one that started it all.

On a balmy night in June 2010 I dug out an old sketchbook, Sharpie pen and Prismacolor markers that, surprisingly, still worked 17 years after their last use in college.

I haven't been able to stop drawing since...

My style has evolved - A LOT.

But I still look upon this sketch with a great deal of love, for in it there was a tremendous amount of joy, humor, selflessness & abandon!

So here is how I've progressed...

Amazing what practice, patience and persistence can do...along with a whole lotta vision, faith and desire.

The dream is still progressing, bigger goals still need to be reached...

don't stop climbing.

But every once in awhile take a look down & see how far you've come!!!

Hug A Bug...

Or a tree... 

Or a cat...if you prefer.

Haven't had much time to do anything other than doodle but I am keeping the pencil lead sharpened and this chipper gal keeps popping up in my sketchbook.

Hope to be back in the studio this weekend...now that all the bits and bobs are hooked back up and put back into place.

Can't wait to incorporate elements of these two techniques into my process:

Digital Watercolor by Tracy Bishop

From Sketchbook to Screen by Renee Kurilla

*the world feels wide open and full of possibility*

HUG IT!!!

IF: Yesterday

"Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut, that held its ground"

~David Icke

Working on painting a commission piece based on one young lady's many yesterdays with her dad

who died a few years back.