Ebb and Flow
Sketchbooks, Stories, and Snow
The past few weeks have been full to the brim—in a good way. I’ve had so much going on that I haven’t had the time, or the available brain power to write to you here. I know! So sorry.
It’s the ebb and flow of life.
I’ve missed you. Let’s catch up…
Sketchbook Update
I’ve been sticking to my goal of making a point to draw in my sketchbook more this year.
The more I draw, the more I remember that the point of these pages aren’t to make something perfect, but it’s the practice that matters most.
It’s like going to the gym. Consistency equals improvement. Use it or lose it.
I’ve been feeling the positive effects in the other projects I’m working on—my drawing feels sharp, and smooth, and more in tune.
Practice matters.
I’ve also added a new pen to my tool box. You may remember in my post about starting a sketchbook practice I talked about the tools I use, and how I like to limit my choices. I hadn’t really ever drawn with a fountain pen before, but I got my hands on this one, from Ellington Pens, and it definitely passes the test. I like the way the ink flows so smoothly, and I can get a variety of line thicknesses.
I’ll be keeping it around.
A Small Winter Break
A couple weeks ago I jumped in the car with my older brother and his oldest, my niece, and took off across the central plains to the Rocky Mountains for a somewhat spur-of-the-moment few days of skiing.
Snow conditions are lacking this year—you may have heard. I’d never seen so much completely bare ground in late February. It was wild. And more than a little bit concerning.
But! We still had a great time.
We spent three days skiing at Keystone, in the Colorado Rockies. This is the exact spot my brother and I learned to ski a bunch of years ago, when I was seven and he was nine. I’m not even sure we had been back to this particular mountain together since then, and it brought up so many memories of that first trip.
Huge shout-out to my mom and dad, who took us out of school for winter ski trips growing up. We still love it.
It was a quick out-there-and-back trip this time, but we had a lot of fun.
I used the long car ride to get some work done from the back seat. My niece even had a zoom meeting with some of her college classmates, and registered for classes for next semester. All as we drove across Kansas on Interstate 70.
What a world we live in.
Stories and Rhymes
The thing that has been keeping me most busy these past couple of weeks is that I’ve been keeping my head down trying to finish up a new story that I’ve been working on. In my previous post I mentioned my first author/illustrated picture book, Do You Like My Pants?, is coming out in October. I’ve been busy trying to write a follow up story, which if all goes to plan, will be published a year later.
IF ALL GOES TO PLAN. That’s the key phrase here.
I’ve had this story idea simmering for a long time, and just last week I finally sent a first draft, along with sketches for all the pages, to my editor and art director at Penguin. I was feeling pretty good about the whole thing as I was working on it. Then as soon as I hit send, ALL the doubts came flooding in. It’s so crazy how our brains try and sabotage everything.
Imposter syndrome to the extreme.
I’m waiting on feedback, and it’s making me nervous. I hope they like it.
I decided to write this story in rhyme. I’m not sure if that was the right move or not, but I really love a well-written rhyming story. They are so fun to read aloud. (Dr. Seuss! Shel Silverstein! The best.)
The thing is, it’s hard. Really hard.
It’s like solving a giant puzzle.
Now I have lists and lists of rhyming words and phrases scattered all over my desk…
…and I one hundred percent relate to this guy…
I didn’t see this video until I was pretty far along with this draft. When he pulled out the box full of lists of rhymes and phrases I laughed out loud.
Yellow legal paper? Great minds think alike.
New Greeting Cards
Finally, I have a few new greeting cards available as part of my collection with Biely & Shoaf.
The shiny gold foil on these make them almost impossible to photograph well, but they look so good in person…
You can buy them right here.
Biely & Shoaf also sells to stores all across the country, so check with your local retailers.
Thanks for reading! I’ll be back soon with more.
Love nature sketches and cross hatches! Thanks for sharing