When I attended the recent Midwest Writers Workshop, Kelcey Ervick, the author of a graphic memoir, taught on graphic novels (putting text with your words). It felt like a natural outlet for me. After all, I am a graphic designer, and in my day job I’m constantly looking for images that convey a concept, tone, or feeling—something that enhances a client’s brand and is consistent with their approach, that hopefully doesn’t look too much like stock, and expresses and enhances the words of the writer … so I wondered… Could I could try that in my cute little journal?

I did a few little tiny watercolors and wrote all over the pages. And I am having a blast!

I started by thinking, what simple object or detail is inspiring my thoughts? Or, if I have something on my mind already, I might ask, what visual would serve as a good backdrop for that?

Having a tiny little book and a limited set of colors has lots of benefits:

• I don’t feel obligated to make great art, because it’s just a tiny sketch.
• I don’t feel overwhelmed by the scope of the project—because it’s just a tiny sketch.
• I don’t feel like I have to focus on technique since I have no tools beyond a single brush
• I can’t write too much, because there’s only so much room. So I have to edit down my usually long-winded words or pick a single stream of thought.
• It only takes a few minutes—because as I mentioned 🙂 it’s just a tiny sketch.

I’ve only done a handful of them so far—they’re all scattered throughout this email. It makes me a bit nervous to share—I see every flaw and I don’t want people to say, oh, I thought she’d be more talented than that. But I’m putting on my big-girl pants and sending this anyway! Because you just never know, maybe this will be the spark of inspiration you need to try something new. Maybe it will be something like this, maybe not. But adding the twist of doing a little drawing to go with my words has turned into a fun (so far) and different creative outlet for me!

After doing a handful of images, I took a few days off since my grandsons and daughter are here visiting. My daughter wanted to empty out her storage unit and have a yard sale, so I decided to throw some things in too. So tonight, in my exhaustion, I felt inspired to do another.

I have no idea how long I can—or will want to—sustain this practice. But for now, I’m giving myself permission to play!
Have a great week, everyone!

Kelly