I like drawing, don’t you?
When I was a child, it felt natural to draw, picking up my favourite pen with ideas that came along.
When I was little it wasn’t a question of getting it RIGHT. There was a just drawing happening – a house,
a worm, an aeroplane, a perfect day,some elephants, a submarine.
Sometimes I’d add a few words, then maybe staple a few pages together
and make a little book.
Last week my father brought round one of those little books. I was fascinated to see it again, but what really surprised me was how it turned out to be exactly the same size and shape as the little dummy book I was currently working on. I liked that.
Drawing always opens up a very private and delightful world. A line or two and there’s a face that wasn’t there before. It’s easy to forget that drawing in itself, is a kind of magic. Occasionally I laugh out loud at what’s appeared on the paper in front of me. Sometimes I think I need to start again.
Drawing for stories involves setting scenes, designing viewpoints, observing places and making sure people can read your illustrations clearly. But often the best drawings are the ones that lie unexplained in my sketch books. These are the pages where ideas spring from – a duckling lost in the woods perhaps, or a baby boy flying to the moon.
Watching children draw, it is easy to see drawing as a natural joy, well beyond criticism or judgement.It’s a kind of conversation with one’s self.
One of the best ways to keep close to your drawing is to keep a sketchbook.
I have lots of sketchbooks in my studio, they are filled with little ideas and thoughts
in pictures and words. Sometimes I have re-visited an old sketchbook and found
an idea that I’ve then made into a brand new book.
I think drawing is good for you, don’t you?