Keeping Momentum through the Seas of Woes and Nos!
My last couple of posts have been about diversifying.
This has indeed been so important in terms of my creative development, as it is for so many of us. It’s one of those key activities that keeps me going against the current of rejections and self doubt.
As I write as well as illustrate I spend a lot of time with material in my head before it goes down onto paper, though I guess that’s just how I work.
I often feel that I literally have a traffic jam of my characters and stories just waiting to get out, but that I can’t get them into my sketchbooks fast enough (or maybe I’m just too much of a perfectionist! ;).
Recently though, having joined Instagram, has been a great way to prompt me into drawing characters or posting sketches more fluidly, like the ones below:
Instagram can also be a daunting and overwhelming environment, when you’re confronted with a constant stream of beautiful and inspiring work by others, so I find that I can only visit it every so often, like twitter and facebook.
But these platforms can also be such a heartening environment, when you’re able to hear about other creatives’ experiences who are battling the tides as well.
For instance, I read a great blog post today by the lovely Kathryn Evans, who shared it via Facebook, which has heartened and fuelled me with positive thoughts for the day, so thanks Kathryn and indeed all who share both the ups and downs.
And in exploring a different avenue during the last few months, that experience has in turn led me to an exciting new picture book story, linked to the image below, so I’m thankful for these times and am looking forward to swimming on!
