Over the course of a few months, I worked with Signs of Love, a nonprofit that serves deaf communities in underserved regions, to develop new illustrations. They desired a series of drawings that encapsulate the steps of a healthy, long-term relationship. We originally planned for six drawings to replace the ones currently in use. I added a seventh because it seemed strange to jump from pregnancy to old age with nothing in between.
drawing
Destiny Awaits Write Right
My youngest brother thought Write Right should become a Destiny character in advance of the September 20 release. He then added, “She should be a warlock. Oh, and give her Gjallarhorn.”
Drawing challenge accepted.
What’s Your Creative Release?
My creative release is drawing. It allows me to play in a way that differs from my writing. Drawing gives room for light and laughter.
This Is How You Learn to Write or Draw
The only way to learn how to write and draw is by writing and drawing…to persist in the face of continual rejection requires a deep love of the work itself, and learning that lesson kept me from ever taking Calvin and Hobbes for granted when the strip took off years later. – Bill Watterson
I knew next to nothing when I took my first drawing class in undergraduate. I remember receiving the syllabus and being dizzied by the list of art supplies required. I saw the assignments and wondered what the terms meant.
Revisited: Why I Write
I am a worrier. I worry about real things, such as bills and projects and deadlines and health. I worry whether I come across as self-centered or self-pitying. I worry that I am those things. I worry about how not to be those things. I worry a lot.
Muscle Memory
When I was training in martial arts, we repeated certain techniques – holds, locks, chokes, throws, punches, kicks, et cetera – over and over again. The reasoning was simple: the longer we repeated a motion, the more engrained it became. When we sparred or grappled, those motions became automatic. We suddenly had our opponent in a lock or choke because our muscles remembered what our brains sometimes forgot in the moment of an adrenaline rush.