Drawing Christine
I’ve mentioned before how inspiring Instagram has been for me (and I am extremely grateful to Diane from Design Recharge Show for talking me into it). One of my favorite things about seeing artists’ work on IG is getting to see the behind-the-scenes process.
Sometimes when you look at the final piece from an artist whose work you love, you are so inspired by the end result that you start to get frustrated with your own style. Some artists make it look so effortless! And if your own road is a little bumpy, you might have the urge to not even bother.
But no one starts & finishes in the exact same spot–even the old painters had a process! One very strong memory for me was visiting the Musee d’Orsay in France. I saw a room where on the wall was posted a small paper where an artist had doodled a simple man with a scythe. And then another of the same figure. And another. And another. It was like he was obsessed–to my memory, every wall in the room was FULL of rough painting studies and drawings, little sculptures, and sketches of this same figure, until FINALLY, at the very end of the room, was the painting–a very simple farm scene, called Paying the Harvesters, by Léon Lhermitte. And the thing was, the man with the scythe wasn’t even the only figure. I was blown away…not so much by the painting (which was amazing), but the amount of work that was behind it.
I don’t have the kind of patience for that level of detail…but I do know that art is a process. Personally, I paint as if I am rushing to save the life of a dying emergency room patient, and I don’t even have CLOSE to the level of detail that Monsieur Lhermitte had. For me, there is a magic world between rough sketching and overworking a piece…and sometimes you can work a long time on something and it just still doesn’t look right.
I also know that art doesn’t “just happen.” Ask any artist you love to show you their work from their younger years, and you will see the full spectrum. You may not see the hours and hours of time they’ve spent lovingly delved into their sketchbooks, but it’s there. You don’t magically “become” good without lots and lots and LOTS of practice. It’s not the supplies. It’s not the paper. It’s the not the medium. It’s the passion that fuels you to practice and practice and practice. Even my namesake, Michelangelo, once said, “If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it would not seem so wonderful at all,” as well as, “If you knew how much work went into it, you would not call it genius.”
And even the best artist you know? They will have a different process in a year. If they are worth their salt, they most likely will know that the saying, “Ancora imparo” (most often attributed to Michelangelo), meaning “I am still learning,” is so very, very true.
I am no master, by any means. FAR from it. I am ALWAYS learning. But after years and years (I am practically ancient), I am fairly comfortable in my process, so I thought it would be fun to walk you through a painting. This is not “How It Is Done.” This is how I do it. And this is only how I SOMETIMES do it, because I am always trying new things.
I decided to draw my best and longest-time friend, Christine. I have known her face for around…WOW. NINETEEN YEARS. That’s major (especially since I move around as much as a traveling circus). She and I have been through it all and back, and have STILL stuck around, even though we’re so often miles and miles apart. The last time I painted her, I was in college, and she still has it hanging in her living room.
So, with a photo for reference, I sketched. I always sketch in ballpoint pen (I may have mentioned that I love ballpoints). I used a photo I took from when I visited her right after she had her daughter Lila. I am aware that a better likeness might be obtained from gridding or tracing of the main shapes, but for the most part, I like the personality that jumps in there when I don’t try to go for 100% realism…
I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do with it yet, but I added the decorative Polish flowers around her and wanted to use the negative space in an interesting way. I usually go from a sketch to acrylics, but this time, I thought I’d try something new, and used my Prismacolor markers to block in the main color. By this point, I didn’t like the curly flower swirls at the top, so I decided I’d get rid of them somehow.
Here’s the funny part about Prismacolor markers…..they are SO good at blending…but they sometimes react in a funky way to ballpoint pen. This process used to terrify me, but I am used to it. I use this process with the collaborations I do with our daughter…I just had not yet gotten comfortable with it on a portrait of a beloved friend. GAH! She’s PURPLE!! –Calm down. Don’t worry. The ink soaks into the page, and if you push through it, it spreads, and you can blend it all in fairly well. Those of you thinking “why not just skip the ballpoint?” you have a valid point, but I just can’t because: BALLPOINT.
Thankfully, I have learned to follow where my wonkiness takes me, and after a bit more blending, the colors start to settle and soak in, making them finally look a little more natural.
I often work with a very light skin palate (even on darker-skinned people), so the markers were a good exercise in really filling out the skin tones. Again, those swirls on top have got to go.
I darken the hair to sort of hide the swirls, but at this point, I’m still not sure how I’m going to handle them, so I work on the background, which I wanted to be a flat sort of teal.
So I am a big fan of Bokkei (Maria Björnbom-Öberg)–she even did an art trade with me (which I’ll cover in an upcoming post)! She works in both marker and colored pencil, and gets AMAZINGLY realistic detail. So I wanted to give her process a try, and dusted off my old Prismacolor pencils (I swear, they don’t sponsor me). Me and colored pencils have a love/hate relationship. I WANT to love using them, but I just CAN’T. It’s not them, it’s me.
So I tried and I tried and I tried some more. And I finally decided to go back to my trusty ol’ acrylics to finish it off. Aaaahhh, acrylics. You always KNEW I’d be back.
So there you go. After much struggle, after all the hassle of the variety of tools I used, I finally went back to my old standby. It’s by no means perfect. But you know what ? I tried new things. I also covered those head-swirls, changed up the background color (I have a MAJOR thing for light blue and red, probably because of this). I tried new things–some worked out and some didn’t. And that’s totally fine.
The thing is, if it’s important to you, you’ll find a way. You’ve got to jump in with no reservations. You can’t be afraid to make mistakes–mistakes are INTEGRAL. They’re part of the whole process! They’re NECESSARY. If you do something and mess up, what’s the worst that happens? You waste paper. You waste time. But if it is something you love, it is never a waste. The main thing is this: no matter how good you are, no matter what your skill, you will be fine…as long as you ALWAYS KEEP LEARNING.
Teeth
(SPOILER ALERT: If you believe in the tooth fairy, you might not want to read this post. I’ve never seen her, but that doesn’t mean she’s not real. She probably is. Shhhhh… Just look away, and keep on believin’…)
It’s a really creepy thing when your kid starts losing body parts. Part of you knows it’s a rite of passage, a sign of growing up, and a necessary development…and part of you is just totally creeped out.
It was like that with her bellybutton stub–I couldn’t WAIT for that thing to fall off. Thoughts of that thing still make me shiver. I remember the elation and relief I felt when I opened her PJs one morning to change her diaper and IT WAS GONE. Whew. Funny thing…as a parent, you get used to puke and poop, and all kinds of bodily issues….but everyone has their own line in the sand, I’m sure.
When our daughter started getting her first wiggly tooth, I was strangely excited–it meant she was growing up! Another fun little marker of development. But if anyone thinks I was gonna pull that thing, they’d better think again. I’ve had a lifetime of dental issues. I have nightmares about teeth. No way.
But despite my ick factor, after days and weeks of this wiggly tooth, I tried wrapping a towel around it and pulling, I tried twisting, I tried begging and pleading. Nothing worked. So it was a bit of a surprise when we were playing around one morning, and I noticed her tooth was gone.
“I must’ve swallowed it!” She said. Eeesh.
Thankfully, my very good friend Christine had made us a little monster tooth pillow, so we had that covered. Instead of the tooth, we put a little tooth drawing in the pocket…
Then came the questions: “How will the tooth fairy find my tooth? How will she get it if it’s in my intestines? Will she have to look through the toilet?” Oh jeez. Now, trust me–I’ve told her the “truth” about the tooth fairy before, but she just doesn’t want to believe it. Which means I have to go along with and even expand on these goofy ideas she has….something you’d THINK I’d be creative about…but I’m just not. Usually I ask her what SHE thinks. “Maybe she makes the tooth fly to her, wherever it is. Maybe she uses magic to just make it show up.”
Uhhh. Yeah. Okay, let’s go with that. (I’d hate to imagine any alternatives…)
My sister and my mom were both VERY creative with tooth fairy things, and thank goodness for Pinterest. I found this little tooth fairy receipt to put in the pocket. They suggested glitter. I hate glitter, but I have some glitter, so I did my best. (I’ve heard about the wonders of glitter spray, so I’d suggest that for future use. But I just used what I had around the house, which means I didn’t have any magical glitter spray on hand.) My sister used to fold origami dollars, and that sounded fun and easy. So I made a little origami dollar butterfly. And since I happened to have some chocolate coins from the day prior, I tossed that in for good measure (job security for the tooth fairy and all)…
When this next tooth started wiggling, I tried to be a little more brave, but that sucker wouldn’t come out. My mother in law came to visit. “Will you pull her tooth?” I asked. “NO WAY,” she replied. I had a friend over for a playdate. “Will you pull her tooth?” I asked. “NO WAY,” she replied. Hm. I think this might be part of Daddy’s official duties once he returns from Afghanistan, since no one else can stomach it.
Thankfully, tooth #2 came out on its own at daycare. They wrapped it in a napkin and I didn’t have to deal with it at all. Success! No more uncomfortable wiggle when I help her brush her teeth!
This time, I dispensed with the glitter altogether…but only after a failed attempt nearly blinded me, and left me with a horrible-looking receipt so bad-looking that I had to reprint. Sooo….plain paper will do, as well as an origami heart dollar this time.
Soooo….what the heck do you do with the TOOTH? My mom always said she threw them away. Strangely, it felt sentimental for some reason. On the other hand, I suppose I’m pretty ambivalent. It SEEMS like I should keep it, but….what the heck do you do with a bunch of TEETH?
I follow this artist on Instagram named Scotty Munster, who–aside from being an amazing tattoo artist and illustrator, paints these amazing little bottles with creepy teeth on them:
Inspired by those bottles, I decided I needed to paint one myself…
I opted for a little more of a “cute” look. wasn’t sure WHY…or what I’d use it for… But I put her little tooth in there for now. I’m not sure how I’ll feel about a big ol’ jar full of teeth later on down the road, but for now, I put her little tooth in the jar.
…Is that weird? Yeah. I guess. But it wouldn’t be the weirdest thing we’ve got in this house.
So what’s tradition in your house? Does the tooth fairy come? And what do you all do with all those TEETH!?
Thankfully, daddy will be home soon, and maybe HE can be in charge of the next wiggly tooth. 🙂
Ballpoint Doodling
Me and ballpoint pens go way back. I love them.
When I was younger, I carried a ballpoint pen and a sketchbook wherever I went. I liked ballpoint because I was too clumsy for pencil–I didn’t like that I could accidentally smear what I’d drawn in pencil with a single careless arm motion, because that’s how clumsy I am. I pressed too hard for pencil, and still didn’t like the coverage it gave. And I didn’t like the scratchy feeling of rough pencil or charcoal or pastel on paper.
So ballpoint it was. In college, it was implied that ballpoint pen was NOT an art medium. That it was a tool for writing, not drawing. So I tried my hardest to master other tools, only to retreat back into the comforts of my room after classes, with my trusty old ballpoint pen and sketchbook at the end of the day.
Over time, I learned to sketch pretty comfortably with pen–to ease up and add pressure where I needed it. I got more comfortable with accepting that pen was my very favorite tool, fine arts be damned. I drew in ballpoint pen so much, that after tons and tons of practice, I could get a fairly good and smooth sketch that people often mistook for pencil. Primarily, I sketched in black ballpoint–plain ol’ Bic or Papermate pen.
After awhile, I started adding color and shading and highlights in either watercolor or acrylics. I used the black ballpoint as a sort of underdrawing. I like the sketchy feel, seeing the structure underneath. Sometimes I paint on top pretty monochromatically…
And other times, I nearly completely covered the initial sketch with acrylic…
But it just doesn’t feel like me whenever I’ve tried leaving out the ballpoint pen.
Did you know there are different types of pens? There are inky smooth rollerballs and spotty ol’ gel pens… but it took me YEARS to realize that the ones I like to sketch with are “officially” called BALLPOINT pens. Easy enough, right?
Ages ago, I hadn’t heard of anyone using ballpoint as a fine art medium. I was a little uncomfortable with the fact that it was my medium of choice (but not enough to give it up). Ballpoint quality was so bad that the paper I used would yellow around my drawing, or the pen would turn purple or blue. These days, I’ve seen TONS of artists creating wonderful, beautiful things with pen. There’s the hyperrealistic work of Samuel Silva, the amazingly smooth work of James Mylne, and ballpoint pen art cheerleader Jerry Stith, who has EXTENSIVE resources on ballpoints and art. (Those are only a few–there are also a ton more, a few of them listed here).
But one of my VERY favorite ballpoint pen artists is Jim Rugg, whose work is both amazingly realistic at times, and also hilariously funny (like this Divine Wonder Woman, and this Playboy Barbie). He has a sense of humor about his work that I can appreciate. He enjoys drawing, and it shows…but he doesn’t seem to take himself so gosh-darn seriously.
I used to think it would be awesome if ballpoints came in tons of other colors…but when my mom sent me a set of Ink Joy colored pens a few years back, I thought they were awesome, but I wasn’t sure how to make them work for me. My work wasn’t as detailed and realistic as those other artists who had mastered the ballpoint pen.
Until a few months ago, inspired again by Jim Rugg’s work, I realized I could still do my own wonky style while using the colored ballpoints…and I gave it a try.
The first one was Napoleon Dynamite (which I realize I’ve posted before)…
I moved on to other fun faces I enjoy….Like the drag artist, Divine:
This scene with Samuel L. Jackson from Pulp Fiction:
And this character from the movie Delicatessen (Myla helped me with the hands):
Since then, I’ve had a lot of fun, really playing with building color.
The process (for me) starts with laying a basic foundation, usually in orange, and building up the reds for color in the cheeks, nose, lips and eyes. (I still think my technique is a little soft–I’m hoping to get a little more bold with the color and text)
Then I build up with the brown for darker areas.
And it isn’t just a one-shot kinda thing–I keep those three or four pens handy, and switch around between them all, building up colors, adding colors in another area. I like this whole process, because there is PLENTY of wiggle room to get the shapes right. If something’s off, and you’ve started lightly enough, you can adjust it by the time you start really building up the darks.
And the final doodle: Leeloo (Milla Jovovitch) from the movie the Fifth Element:
Funny thing about ballpoints, though, is that they glurp. Those blobs of ink on her face and in the background? Those are glurps. I don’t mind them all THAT much, but they’re a little tough to work around sometimes (I don’t even know HOW those other guys keep the glurps away). To avoid the glurp as best I can, I am constantly wiping the ballpoint pen (which I SHOULD do on a napkin, but I don’t, so if you were to look very closely, most of my clothes contain a cluster of small dots, usually on my right shoulder or pants, from twisting the glurp off of the pen before drawing). Still, glurps happen…and that’s okay. They’ve kind of grown on me, even. Gives them a bit of gritty character.
“Goodbye Sweetie” (In-progress, from Dr. Who):
Professor McGonagall, in progress, from Harry Potter:
With darker skin, the process is pretty much the same, except that you can use even more of a variety of colors to really build up the skin tones. (Again, I still think I’m too soft in this area. I’m working on filling out more of the white space)
RubyRhod from Fifth Element:
Recently, because of a long-standing back problem that has been misdiagnosed for SEVERAL years, I have begun a series of injections to help with what they’re now calling “spondyloarthritis.” (Which, from what I understand, just means “chronic localized sacroiliatic pain that we can’t figure out and don’t really know how to treat.”) This means I need to sit at their offices for at least THREE hours, attached to a IV tube full of mutant medications and such.
Ohhh. Fun.
…Except, wait? Three HOURS? In a lounge chair by myself? While Myla’s happily occupied at school or daycare? And I can bring my sketchbook and headphones?? Wait. Wait a minute. This might not be so bad after all…
Jack Black in Nacho Libre:
Nicholas Cage as “H.I.” from Raising Arizona:
Awhile back, PaperMate InkJoy was the only colored ballpoint pen set I knew of. Then I learned that my favorite ballpoints, Bic, came out with the Cristal color pack. Woohoo! But the other day, while looking for some replacements should something tragic potentially happen to my newly beloved pens (as I often fear, once I begin to love a medium), I came across the PaperMate Profile.…and I was SUPER excited to find out that the 12-pack has a sort of GRAYISH MIDNIGHT BLUE…which allowed me to simulate one of my favorite colors of all time: Payne’s Gray!!! (it’s a sort of midnight-bluish gray) Not such a big deal for many people, I’m sure, but very VERY exciting for me!
So I’ve become quite fond of my colored ballpoint pens! And I’m having a WHOLE lot of fun building up shapes. It definitely requires a different sort of thought process than just drawing in straight black ballpoint pen. Still, I think I could cover more of the white area. It just takes getting over the timidity of a new medium. But I love it.
So whatever you enjoy, no matter how timid you may be about it, just rock it. Own it. Make it yours. Because the things that make us different are the EXACT same things that make us special.
I once met a very well-known artist who asked me what medium I worked in, and when I quietly said, “ballpoint pen,” he asked (with honest curiosity), after a long pause, “Um…is that even archival?” I was sort of hesitant to respond, washed over instantly in self-doubt–until I realized with full confidence that I don’t CARE. I enjoy it, I am comfortable with it. And the important thing is this: I AM STILL LEARNING.
These few weeks. Jeesh.
It’s been a mad couple of weeks, you guys. I know I’m quite late posting this week, and I’m sorry. And I’m sorry that this post isn’t all that exciting. I’ll try better next week. This has just been a very trying couple of weeks in my personal world…
The good news is that thanks to the encouragement of my awesome mother in law (whose visit was a VERY bright part of this past week), I have been battling the giant pile of kickstarter reward packages like a BOSS. Checking, double checking (’cause I’m obsessive like that), printing postage, and sealing everything up, and FINALLY getting them into the car and to the post office. I’d like to think that I didn’t mess a single thing up, but I’m smart enough to know that’s impossible… But still! I took the plunge, crossed my fingers that it’d all turn out well, and loaded up the car.
As you can see, Myla helped me by doodling on a couple. (I’d have her draw a doodle on more, but once she gets going on a scene, it’s like Picasso’s “Guernica,” and she won’t let me change the envelope out til she’s completed and entire scene. But there are a random few that have been doodled on, so that’s cool.)
I really tried to make these packages something I’d be proud of, something I’d love to get in the mail myself. I wanted to show everyone HOW MUCH I appreciate all the support for our little venture. It still blows my mind that complete strangers logged on to pledge, no matter WHAT the amount, and for that, I’m so grateful. You guys helped me make a dream come true! Our little weird and wonderful book is out in the world now, and that’s amazing!
My mother in law (always playing devil’s advocate) asked if I was prepared if anyone might not like the book. And the answer is uh…..NO?!?! I hadn’t even considered that. Because it doesn’t really matter, in a way, does it? It’s made with love, and I put my heart into it, and that can’t be TOO wrong, can it?
SOoooooo. The past couple of weeks have been very personally trying. And school is out. My usually-sweet munchkin has started methodically pushing my buttons. The husband will be back from deployment soon. I am, generally speaking, worn out. I am exhausted. I am tired…But I react to stress by keeping busy. I do projects like a madwoman. I do try to cut myself a LITTLE slack–let the standards go just a little bit on the house and such. I try to find relaxing moments where and when I can. I try to always save an hour or two in the evenings just to watch a show and draw. That helps a LOT.
The book we made is filled with all kinds of interactive pages. It’s my hope that people will get out their art supplies and share those pages with someone, and doodle right there in the book. I hope they do. And I hope that if they do, they share their pictures with me, because I’d LOVE to see them!
I’ve already heard from a few people who’ve gotten their packages, and I’m so excited! In the meantime, I’ll keep plugging away, I’ll “just keep swimming,” I’ll keep my chin up, I’ll do my best to stay on top of things. So I apologize for this week’s not-so-exciting post, but I appreciate the low-stress and supportive nature of this blog. You guys are awesome, and I believe that.
So if you’re one of those people that are treading water this week like I am, don’t despair! It might help to know there are others out there going through the same thing. And no matter what it is, no matter how big or small, I think we all deserve a pat on the back for hanging in there and doing the best we can (even if our standards are usually better). Because, DANG! Some weeks are rough.
So HIGH FIVE, YOU GUYS!
It’s in a Book
People have asked us if Myla really understands the awesomeness of making our own book…and I’d have to say the answer is a great big …sort of NO? Although she SORT OF gets the idea that I can “send messages” on the computer to show people our artwork, she says, “If they want a book, they could have fun and make their own book!”
So this is what she’s been doing lately. “I’m going to make my OWN books.” And she tapes some tiny pages together and draws away.
They don’t often make a lot of sense, as in this charming tale about Chewbacca and Han Solo, and how Han lost his pants while Chewie made shadow puppets on the wall.
Since she can’t write yet, she makes up the dialogue and asks me to write the words out for her. This one is an Adventure Time story. She doesn’t watch the show (it’s a little too aggressive for her) but we’ve read a few of the comics and she LOVES the characters.
Sure they don’t make a lot of sense, but they crack her junk UP. She gets a big kick out of them. I am asked to read these tales at bedtime, and they’re often built sideways, forward, backward, upsidedown. And that’s just the way she wants it. And although I don’t always know what the heck is going on, she is incredibly proud of them, and that’s cool.
I started thinking about what a great practice it is for a kid who hasn’t got writing skills down yet to work on telling a story in pictures.
She is fascinated by word bubbles and thought bubbles. She once asked me when she woke up, “when you came in, did you see my dream bubble?” She has learned from her own observations that shaky lines mean movement, swirly lines mean “dizzy,” and is JUST starting to understand what some of the punctuation marks do (she cracks up when I read sentences how they would sound with different punctuation).
When she was younger, she didn’t “get” sequential art–she saw multiples of the same person in each frame, and couldn’t figure out why there were so many of them. Are they sisters? Are they twins? Why are there so MANY of them? It didn’t make sense.
But having read a few more little comics, she’s getting the hang of it, and it’s awesome to see. My friend made her a Hobbes doll for her 5th birthday, and sent a Calvin & Hobbes book to go along with it, and she LOVES them. Most of the words are over her head, but what cracked her up the most? Calvin playing in the toilet. Of course.
Awhile back, a small publishing company called Toon Books contacted us. They specialize in comic stories for kids, said they loved our doodles, and asked if they could share some of their books with us. You want to send us cool books? Uh…yes please!
She said that “Maya Makes a Mess” reminded her of our “Beautiful Messes” post. Myla is at an age where messes and dirt and disgusting things are comedy GOLD, so both of these books cracked her up.
The sequential/comic aspect of books like these has sparked her creativity, and really allowed us to talk about what a story is actually trying to tell you when the frame doesn’t have any words in it. And what it means when a character says “!?!?” (like on the cover of “Stinky“), and what it means when there’s not a word bubble, but instead, a rectangle that says something like, “Meanwhile, in the swamp…” It’s given us a chance to talk about how to make a character say something without saying words.
Plus, again: messes and goo and disgusting things=kid COMEDY GOLD!
But while gross things amuse her, she’s SUPER sensitive about some things. She doesn’t like wild action, or “bad guys,” or crazy adventures where things blow up and people get hurt or trapped. This makes moviegoing a little difficult (there is nearly ALWAYS a bad guy in movies!). Awhile back, we finally saw the movie Totoro and both LOVED it, people told us about Ponyo and Arietty, and of course, Spirited Away. All of them were wonderful, and she loved things about all of them. But Spirited Away was one of those that left us BOTH scratching our heads. It was one of the first that she’d ask me a question about it and I’d have to say, “you know…I really don’t KNOW…” But we both agreed: the characters were AWESOME.
So, the person from Toon Books sent us “The Secret of the Stone Frog,” saying it might be a little too advanced for her, but that we’d both enjoy the artwork. She was right: the artwork was BEAUTIFUL! (Actually, the artwork was great in all of the books they sent!) But since we had so recently seen Spirited Away, this was was similarly strange, and Myla was amped about the strange characters and unusual adventures. And the best part: NOTHING BAD OR SCARY HAPPENED.
So, as I said, sequential stories confused Myla early on. But now, they’re a source of inspiration–to be able to tell a story as you might see it in a show, but on paper. She’s seen the characters say things like “Ooof!” and “Ow!” and “ZZZZZ,” all of which have stuck with her. And I’ve seen them reflected back in her artwork, and in her little handmade books.
So what stories are you or your kids telling?
The State of Stuff
People ask me sometimes if Myla and I still do our collaborations, and if we will do them forever. I’ve come to learn that kids’ fancies are fleeting, so I do my best to just encourage her and do the best I can to support whatever she’s into at the moment.
Lately, what she’s been into has fallen into two categories…namely, Stuff Stuck to Paper and Paper Creatures. I’ll attempt to describe them, because given a brief moment alone, and she’s furiously scissoring and coloring a creature, with her brow furrowed, and a very faraway look of concentration on her face. In case you labor under the belief that we ethereally flutter around an immaculate house, doing artsy art thing in a perfectly-styled art room designed by artsy art professionals, I will share this photo of what our kitchen table looks like most of the time:
I admit to claiming responsibility for about 20% of the mess that constantly grows in this table (usually concerning school-related paperwork). I have cleaned it and straightened it and battled it in full gear, time and time again, and I have just given up. It has finally won the battle.
But see the look on that kid’s face? That one of absolutely overwhelmingly engrossed concentration? I’m okay with that mess. Plus, I can sit on my end of the table and just draw in my sketchbook. Win-win, if you can handle a messy kitchen table. (We’ll see what happens when the husband gets back from deployment and might like a place to–oh, I dunno–EAT, maybe.)
In any case, here is what she’s been up to:
Stuff Stuck to Paper
The things she’s been creating come from out of nowhere. A scrap of paper, a bottlecap. Left unattended near her, they are at high risk of being glued or taped to a page and made into a “project.” I have had to give her very good reasons why it is not a good idea to GLUE scissors to the page just for a projects’ sake. But for the most part, I don’t mind the random things.
Sometimes, when she’s glued or taped food to the page, I’ve either secretly smuggled it to a temporary holding area (in the garage) before secreting it out to the trashcan (0nly after taking countless photos, of course) to avoid an onslaught of ants, or (as in the case of the Bugle-dragon above) I’ve sprayed it with a multitude of layers of varnish to hopefully keep ants at bay. She’s also glued or taped a birthday candle, bottlecaps, and pieces of plants, creating a little scenery (or what she calls a “project.”)
She’s made birds with Bugles cracker beaks, and carrot parrots…
Once, I gave her a bowl of dry mixed pasta to make “projects” out of, and she made this little crab for me:
I once showed her some doodles by InkyGirl on Instagram, and the next morning she drew this:
Paper Creatures
The other thing she’s been doing is making “creatures.” These are things she builds out of paper to be “toys.” (Because, you know, she doesn’t have like a million ACTUAL toys. Heheh)
Here, she frantically cuts up tiny pieces of paper and usually tapes (because she’s got no time to wait for glue) or glues them together to make some sort of creature.
(From left to right: Mouse from Cinderella, a talking tortilla, Unikitty, a cow, a porcupine, and a lion.)
Sometimes she cuts out & colors all the pieces, and other times she markers them…
(Catbus from Totoro, and her green catbus friend)
They’re fully realized characters, since they almost always have backsides, too.
I showed her how to use metal brads once, and she created all the pieces, cut them out, and had me help her put it together…
Other times, they are full sheets of paper (with backsides, too) that are like “dolls…”
She voraciously made this dinosaur finger puppet for me, which is pretty gosh-darned cool. It even has a tail!
So those are exciting. And she’s been obsessed with these paper things. I’ve had to stock up on construction paper and tape, something I didn’t need to do when she was voraciously drawing. But that’s what she’s into. And that’s cool.
But the other day, I wasn’t feeling well, and I lay on my stomach on the couch with my sketchbook, and she dragged her marker box, scissors and tape into the room and started making paper bats like a madwoman. And then she suddenly looked up, climbed onto the pillows over my head, and stared at my sketchbook, watching me draw. I was playing with colored ballpoint pens, drawing Napoleon Dynamite.
“Are you using shading?” she asked.
“Yes I am,” I replied, and I showed her how layers and layers of colors can look like they’re mixing to make other colors, and that darker things look like they’re behind. Sort of like when we played with pointillism.
“I’m going to try that, too.” she said. “And I’m going to make it look SO REAL.” So I watched her look at the photo for references (or what she calls “estructions”), and drew her own version:
I was blown away! Shading, “realistic” features. So exciting, and pretty darned awesome, for a 4-year old! She really took her time with it, focusing very hard on looking at the picture and trying to draw it the same way (making me instantly recall the Napoleon Dynamite quote: “It took me like three hours to finish the shading on your upper lip. It’s probably the best drawing I’ve ever done.” Hehehe.)
Yesterday, I had a doodle of Wonder Woman in my sketchbook, and she tried her hand at it again, and again–I’m blown away.
It’s so cool to be able to see your kid change and grown and learn new things. Sure, it’s a little sad to see a beloved phase go by, but my mom always said, “enjoy whatever phase she’s in, because the next phase might be a rough one.”
So while we still doodle the occasional heads from time to time (and I’ll be sure to keep giving her the option to), it’s so great to see her trying new things! Believe, me, the collaborations have changed our lives so much for the good that I’m going to keep trying them with her, and it’ll be fun to see how they look once she’s a little older. Maybe she’s ready to let me draw the bodies to HER heads now…
Whatever the case, I’m just glad for it. All of it. Messes and ants and all.
Forest Garden Party
Holy Cow. In just under two weeks, our little 4-year old will be 5. I know it’s cliche, but time does really fly!
For being an introvert, I actually quite enjoy throwing a kid’s party. It’s my sister’s fault, I think–she always threw cool parties for her girls (like the spy party where they all had to put on fake mustaches and costumes and look for clues to solve a “mystery”) and it always looked like so much fun. Honestly, I don’t do it for the guests, really….I do it because it’s FUN FOR ME! (Take a look at Myla’s 2nd “Mad Hatter” birthday party…)
Before Texas, we lived in Fairbanks, Alaska. This time of year in Alaska, the waist-high snow-filled yard FINALLY starts to melt after 8 long dark months, and the sun comes out (eventually all day AND night!). Alaska in the spring is AMAZING–people plant and grow and put out as many flowers and plants as possible, and because the ground’s so saturated with melted snow, everything GROWS so well. You’ve got to cram a whole lot of what I called “sprummer” (spring & summer, because it’s so short) into the FOUR months you get without snow. My husband was deployed just before Myla turned 2, but was back in time for this third birthday, so we wanted to make sure it was fun and easy and low-stress on both of us.
So, for Myla’s 3rd birthday, we decided to throw a garden party with our friends. But not a fancy tea party-type garden party…a messy, dirty GARDENING party! I made a point to tell everyone to wear some get-dirty clothes so the kids could have some fun. I found a tutorial online for really cool balloon flowers…
I had a few dollar-store garden tools and water cans, and some paper masks so kids could make and decorate animal mask. I also made headbands with little felt animal ears attached, and little clip-on tails. I had a quick little set of facepaints to throw some whiskers on anyone who wanted them, and little forest-themed temporary tattoos.
With kid parties, I find it works very well to have some sort of project or activity for the kids to do when they FIRST get there, so they’re not sitting around just waiting for everyone to arrive. (I try my best to make sure it’s as stress-free for parents (and therefore ME) by having things to safely keep the kids busy with.) I put some crayons in a bowl, some tablecloths on the floor, and let them doodle. I had a posterboard that I had doodled some animals on out as a coloring page as well.
As crafty as I can be in the art field, I have NO SKILLS AT ALL with actual food. But I CAN make a mean snack! I found most of these ideas on pinterest and kept with the forest-theme.
Breadstick snails, a popcorn and pretzel mix, acorns, and ladybug crackers.
There were some that were NOT as successful. So in the spirit of sharing what DOESN’T work, let me show you my chocolate spoons, and my ugly hedgehogs…(because I couldn’t find regular donut holes and had to get chocolate ones, and it just turned out all kinds of wonky, and hardly anyone touched them, and I can’t blame them one bit.)
The internet is FULL of all kinds of owl cupcake ideas, so I sort of took them all and made my own version, with pre-made candy eyes, colored icing, and mini nilla wafer wings.
But my FAVORITE part of all is making the cake! The night before, I let Myla help me mix it…
I wanted to see if I could make a mostly fondant-free cake, and I’m pretty proud of it! I am by no means a pro cake-maker, but I used to watch a lot of cake decorating shows on tv, so that counts, right? I just went crazy with the patterns and designs, and had a lot of fun with it.
Myla’s favorite part of cake has ALWAYS been the icing.
We are very lucky in the toy portion of life, and Myla has a LOT of toys. So for her 3rd birthday (since she was young enough we could get away with it), we asked that instead of toys or gifts, that if they liked, guests could bring a flower or plant we could plant in our “friend garden.” We were lucky also, because Myla’s birthday falls RIGHT at the beginning of springtime in Alaska. It was SO nice to see all of the beautiful green plants and flowers! I had popsicle sticks and a marker out so everyone could write their names and put it in their plant pot.
After we ate, we all went outside to let the kids get nice and dirty. I had the hose sprayer out for the kids to spray in the kiddie pool, and they all took the little dollar-store tools & buckets. I had gotten a few bigger plantholders and let them throw random seed packets down and water them. Honestly, it doesn’t matter if it grows, right? They had fun just getting dirty and pouring water.
Later, after the party was over, I replanted the plants in the garden bed, using plastic spoons so they’d be waterproof, and put everyone’s name on again (okay I should’ve done that in the first place, but I didn’t think of it at the time).
And after several months of watering and gorgeous Alaskan 24-hour sunshine (because goodness knows I don’t have the gardening skills to actually grow anything on my own), we had a BEAUTIFUL “Friend Garden!”
Like I said, she was young enough that we could get away with the idea of a garden instead of gifts. Still, we try not to focus so much on the gifts as much as getting to have a lot of fun spending time with friends. This year, with the husband deployed, I’m trying to make it easy on myself, so we’re going to a trampoline bouncehouse in town. Myla asked for a Totoro & Ponyo party, which I think is TOTALLY fun, and I’ve already started working on ideas. I can’t help it–I have such a fun time with it! And the main thing is to make it a fun time for her. I know we’ve only had four, but this garden party was one of my all-time favorite birthday parties! It was low-stress, and the kids had fun. For me, doing little things well in advance makes it easy. And it’s so nice when it actually comes together!
The TEDx Talk
It just occurred to me today that I’ve never shared the TED talk video on my blog! It’s nothing personal, probably most likely due to the fact that I’m an introvert and don’t much like being in the spotlight.
But in the spirit of sharing, I thought it was high time I posted it here.
I adapted a lot of what I say in the TED talk into the text of our book–I worked on the talk so very hard, and I thought it told the best version of the story of the collaborations I did with our daughter.
I had months to rehearse this. And I did. I memorized it until it felt natural, which you’d think would be easy to do with a story that actually HAPPENED to you…but it’s actually quite difficult to get everything out you want to say IN THE WAY you want to say it IN THE ORDER you want to say it and make it sound natural. Because despite my awkwardness at being in the spotlight, I wanted it to be so natural it was like sitting down and telling you a story in my house or something.
Thank goodness I did, because when I got on stage, my voice started to clench up a bit, and I found myself having trouble breathing.
“Psst. Your voice is shaking.” My inner Me said, as I gave my talk. “Knock it off.”
“I KNOW! I’m trying! I don’t know WHY it’s shaking, I’m not even that nervous!” I’d say back.
“Well, you’d better snap out of it, or you’re going to look like a moron.
“I KNOW, I’M TRYING! –Oh, jeez, wait…what part was I on? Did I already say this part? Auugh!”
So I pulled it together the best I could…until my slide show clicker didn’t work. Thankfully, with a few hasty video edits, they’ve spared you the worst of my awkwardness, but dang…that was ROUGH. And it wasn’t so much about being nervous about people looking at me, but looking at me if I should potentially mess up. Did I mention I’m a perfectionist? I hate messing up. Which, I realize, draws mistakes to me like a magnet.
Before I had done the talk, I watched LOTS of TED talks online. Friends sent me their favorites and their worst. But there was one in particular (I’ll keep it anonymous) that stuck with me, because the speaker was SO shy and softspoken that they almost seemed like they were going to cry. Although it was a great talk, it was so uncomfortable to watch–I just wanted to run up there and give the speaker a hug. I wanted so badly to make sure my talk didn’t make anyone feel like that….
So even though I’ve told this story a hundred times, on paper, in my head, and in the mirror, for those of you who haven’t seen it yet, here it is.
As for me, I watched it once, and that was about all I could handle. Thank GOODNESS. I really REALLY enjoy sharing our doodles and our story with people. I absolutely LOVE to talk about art and kids and kid’s art and projects and doodles and all kinds of artsy art things. But I learned that I don’t really feel comfortable sharing with a spotlight shined on me, in the middle of a stage!
But here it is, in all its awkwardness. And if it’s too awkward, just wait around for the book. I tell a simpler version of it in the book.
Plus, in the book, my voice doesn’t shake. 🙂
Happy Mom’s Day!
Everything I learned about being a mom I learned from the awesome moms and women around me.
My grandmother LIVED to be a mother, and raised eight children. Her face still glows around kids, and her eyes twinkle when she talks about them.
My own mom followed me along the same creative journeys when I was a kid, watching my little brain work, always doing crafty projects with me, and teaching me the first very basic steps of how to draw. She was there for all the firsts, all the cuts & scrapes, all the tears, all the smiles. Even still, she’s the first one I call when I’ve got a mom issue.
(The photo above is of my mom serving up slices of my little sister’s birthday cake. I still remember VERY clearly standing next to my mom in the kitchen–which probably wasn’t annoying and distracting AT ALL–as she decorated the details in that cake, which we seem to have lovingly demolished in a very short amount of time…)
My younger sister had her kids before I ever even considered one, and has always been an example for me of what an amazing mom is. Working and struggling to make a good life for her girls as best as she can, it hasn’t always been easy. She’s the most amazing at working wonders with what she’s got. And she’s someone I call when I need perspective on what’s normal mom stuff and what I’m blowing out of proportion after spending too much time Googling.
I am lucky enough to have a mother-in-law that is an amazing mom, and is always great at giving advice. She’s like a great friend…who also knows funny stories about my husband from when he was a kid.
I have a sister-in-law who is the mom of a now one-year-old, who has toughed out this first year like a champ, and is well on her way to raising a super smart (and goofy) little girl.
My best friend Christine is an amazing mama with the same sort of “devil-may-care with messes” attitude as me, and I get to tell her all the fun stuff I’ve already gone through…and help her sort through all the stuff she’s Googled.
I have mama friends that I can talk to and share with, bounce ideas off of, gauge if something is “normal” or not, and be inspired by. I have friends that are dog-moms and friends that are not YET moms, and friends that are just amazing, wonderful women. I gauge my mom-abilities against them all to be sure I’m always doing what I think is right.
I have friends who have NO IDEA how awesome and amazing they are.
And the main thing about all of them is their ability to love, despite–and sometimes even BECAUSE of–all of our flaws.
When I was pregnant and worried that I might not be a good mom, my mom said, “If you’re the kind of mother that’s worried if you’ll be a good mother, it means you’re going to be just fine.”
So to all you moms out there, and all you wonderful, inspiring women, I’d just like you to know that whether you know it or not, even if you’re just a passing face in someone’s day, people see you. And you are loved.
Happy mom’s day to all of you!
An Update on Our BOOK!
Oh my goodness.
You know that feeling when you’ve worked on something for SO long and it FINALLY starts coming together?
Well since September of last year when our collaborations post went viral, all I really wanted to do was make a book of our doodles.
When I first ran the Kickstarter, I worried about everything. Because I’m a worrier, and that’s what I do. I worried we wouldn’t make our goal, I worried about what rewards to offer, I worried if I could handle the extra workload with my husband deployed if we DID meet our goal, and I worried that I might make mistakes in the books…and there are a few of you that can attest to my world of worry firsthand.
I am thankful to say that it was not only a great success, but we EXCEEDED our goal enough to print a smaller book of children’s stories from the collaborative animal doodles Myla and I did! And once we met THAT stretch goal, we made enough to give every one of the mailed backers an exclusive lemur print. Because….LEMURS.
So once it was over, I kicked into gear, having my good buddy at Cartozia Tales painstakingly proof both books (’cause he’s good at that sort of thing). I worked closely with the printer on page formats, layouts, saving files, uploads, downloads, around loads, changes and revisions, and all kinds of good and exhausting stuff. (I’m sure that stuff is a piece of cake when you go through a publisher–They probably have scores of people that scour each document for errors, and layout, and all that good stuff, but doing it yourself means it’s ALL up to you.)
While all of that was going on, I worked on backer rewards. In some of the higher tiers, rewards involved portraits on dinosaur bodies…and you all came up with some beautiful faces for me to draw!
I also sent postcards to be printed, and prints and doodle pages to the printer.
I registered ISBN and barcodes for both the “Share With Me” book and the animal story book, and ordered shipping supplies to send all this wonderful stuff OUT.
Next step was getting rough proofs in the mail, just for pagination; to make sure all the pages were laid out the way I wanted them.
And then YESTERDAY, my friends, I got a package in the mail from the printer that contained a few copies of the COMPLETED animal book and a printer’s proof of the ACTUAL BOOK on the ACTUAL PAPER!!!
And you guys–I am not at all someone to toot my own horn but OMGOSH these look so GOOD!!!
The little animal story booklet is completely finished, and waiting to be shipped. I think it’s quite cute! I read it to Myla (who had never seen the stories all put together), and she loved it! Although she was a bit critical of the fact that I apparently swapped the gender of some of the characters in the stories I wrote, which displeased her. I tried to explain that I changed it up a bit for the fun of the stories, I did the best I could, and that it’s too late and the books were already printed, but she was still a little miffed. So if you all could just mentally change the genders of the giraffe, bear, the zebra, the pig, and the cow when you read it, that’d be great. (Insert exhausted parental eyeball roll here, accompanied by a huge SIGH.)
The actual book, “Share With Me,” is nearly completely printed, folded, stitched, and is awaiting the cover print, and then it will continue on to binding. When I first started working with the printer on “Share With Me,” I wanted to be sure it wouldn’t be on glossy, schoolbook paper, but instead, a thick paper that was porous enough to…oh, I dunno….DRAW AND PAINT ON. When I opened the package, I thought to myself not to get too excited, because it doesn’t have a cover, and it’s just the inside guts, but I’m not too proud to say I got a little teary-eyed flipping through it. I’m just so….PROUD of it!!
And sure, there may be mistakes (I already found ONE, after ALL that proofing, and it’s too late to change it. URRRG!) and there may be some wonky bits, but it’s exactly what I imagined, and I can’t WAIT to see the whole thing finished and all put together!!!
If you didn’t get a chance to hop on the Kickstarter, never fear! Once I send all the Kickstarter copies out, I’ll have a storefront open to order them online.
So to everyone who helped make this book possible, thank you SO much! It feels really GOOD, and I can’t wait to share it all with you!
busy mockingbird 