by Kat McD.
     Our November meeting had some neat treats. Pictured are Linda's yummy corn bread muffins and my lemon tea cake. This Sweet and Savory combination came to mind the following weekend  at this year's SCBWI LA's Art Directors Day aka Illustrator's Day.  Isabel Warren-Lynch, Executive Art Director and fellow Jersey Girl spoke about the lasting impact of tender moments in the books of her childhood. She spoke about the subtle "sweetness" of Garth Williams work and Beatrix Potter. Then my reviewer, Cliff Cramp, http://www.cliffcramp.com/ , gave me words to "savor" regarding art. His advice was about using color temperature to guide the viewer's eye to the focal point of an illustration.  This subtle use of color can take an illustration from "Oh" to "Wow!" That's the kind of art I want to make. Illustrations that are sweet and savory you keep with them after the book has been closed.

I write this post while eating dinner after leaving my day job early to deal with a family issue and shortly before we head out to visit a friend we just saw at New Years who is now in the ICU. Right now I need balance. My life recently has been too interesting, and not in a just-signed-a-picturebook-contract sort of way. 

I haven't created a lot of art recently, but that's ok. One of the ways I'm trying to find balance is in the only New Years resolution I wanted to make this year: to have fun with my art and not guilt. No thoughts of "I'm not doing enough" or "I suck" or "why am I reading a book instead of drawing?", because when you peel away the layers of emotion and guilt, there probably IS logical reason behind all those things.

"I'm not doing enough"
Compared to what? Compared to someone who works twice as fast?Correct. twice as slow? Incorrect--unless of course, they have over twice as much time to work as I do. Compared to a full-time freelance illustrator? Correct. It's all relative. I created more art last year than I ever have in one year, but since I illustrate AFTER putting in 40+ hours a week on another job, I don't create as much as other people may. I have plans to do more with my art this year than I did last year. Progress is progress.

"I suck"
I can't say this because I don't feel this way anymore. individual drawings may suck, I may be grumpy about something else that I'm taking out on my artwork, I may be envious of someone else's talent, but my artwork is good. I still have much to learn, but the moment I stop trying to learn, I should stop making art anyway.

"Why am I reading a book instead of working on art?"
Two answers for this. One, a favorite author just released a new novel. Two, I'm stressed. I know for a fact that I've been using books of the SF/F genre as a coping mechanism for most of my life. The characters have problems, but they are not MY problems, and many have cool magical powers to help them deal with their issues. So jealous. If I am doing nothing but rereading a 14 book series at the height of my work's busy season AND the end-of-year holidays WHILE trying to help inlaws, I probably need the downtime. The art will still be there; I love it too much to lose it completely.

No more guilt.