Drawn to Words

Writing the story about Ryal and his discoveries-- finished (for now). I began illustrating what I've written. I know I have a lot to work on. I keep learning more things about illustrating and drawing pictures on my computer.

I have a feeling that I'm nowhere near finished with the text, but I have gotten to a stopping point. I'll go back, edit, and figure out what needs to change. I am currently reading The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, which is a fantastic children's book. Most of the people I've talked to keep saying, "Oh, yeah! I've read that. Like in middle school, but I don't remember what it was about." I've reminded a bunch of them who have told me they want/need to reread it. I've really enjoyed it. It's reminded me of my love of words and perspectives and the importance of them. I think it'll inspire me to flip about my words a little bit with this book.

Two characters below. I drew them both freehand using a Wacom tablet, which is a really awesome tool. The tablet allows you to use a stylus as a pen, which controls the cursor, on the tablet, which acts as the canvas. When using a program such as Photoshop, it feels more intuitive and natural using the tablet to draw.

I would like to introduce you to Ryal:

And Ms. Swanson, whom Ryal insists on calling Ms. Swansong. She is Ryal's counselor:

I don't know if these characters will look the same when I'm finished with the book. For now, though, these are the characters that I have. I'm quite pleased. But also excited to see where we'll go.

"For always remember that while it is wrong to use too few [words], it is often far worse to use too many." --Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth

Any Fish Tick On Verse Hey Shin

We want our artists to take the mundane materials of our lives, run it through their imaginations, and surprise us. If you are by nature a loner, a crusader, an outsider, a jester, a romantic, a melancholic, or any one of a dozen personalities, that quality will shine through in your work. ---Twyla Tharp, The Creative Habit

In this book, Twyla Tharp discusses the importance of establishing a ritual, or habit, in order to pursue a creative objective. What habits do I have established? I keep thinking of the possible rituals for me to follow, one day. I keep forgetting that I can start now. That I should start now. I don't feel like I have any habit or ritual established. I feel in a state of flux. You can't be persistent and fluxible at the same time. And I have not been persistent at anything.

Losing power for a day and a half enabled me to get (yes, cold, but also,) creative. I wrote by the power of three candles, because I had thoughts that I needed to look at. There are many reasons to write. Gaining a clearer picture of how I feel about certain topics is one. It keeps coming up in conversation, but it is more apparent that ineffective communication really and truly bothers me. I have a tick against it, and I am still learning and still have so much to learn about how to share thoughts and ideas, how to clash but still have effective conversation, and how to express myself. Don't we learn this in elementary school?? "I feel this way when you do this because of this reason." Why do I feel like we learn this valuable lesson, gradually forget it while learning others, then force ourselves to re-learn it when we're older? That seems rather inefficient, if you ask me.

Immerse yourself in the details of the work. Commit yourself to mastering every aspect. At the same time, step back to see if the work scans, if it's intelligible to an unwashed audience. Don't get so involved that you lose what you're trying to say. This was the yin and yang of my work life: Dive in. Step back. Dive in. Step back. --Twyla Tharp, The Creative Habit