I used to draw all the time. Bold black lines. I sketched everything and journaled about anything that moved my spirit. I was a professional toy designer and created nearly a hundred sketches a week with more than a dozen renderings due every Friday morning for a meeting where I presented my ideas to corporate management.
I injured my left arm in 1996 and drawing became impossible. A goal that was unatainable. After months of physical and occupational therapy, weeks of "pain plus therapy", and years of rarely drawing, I was presented with an opportunity to illustrate a story for a picture book that I had written and already signed with a publisher. I grabbed the opportunity before it flew by me and held tight. I was in pain every day for 10 weeks. I could barely move my arm at night and had to use my right arm for most other tasks throughout the days. I illustrated FLAP! and it released in Nov 2012. I'm happy with how it turned out.
Since finishing the art for FLAP!, I have been drawing in an effort to build my illustrator portfolio. My style is cartoony and loose. I do not labor over each drawing. I can't. I participated in SkADaMo (started by Linda Silvestri) in November of 2012 and it was wonderful. I created quick sketches and drawing became fun again. Now, here we are in 2013 and I've made a promise to myself that I will not accept projects that cause me pain. I want to illustrate another of my stories but I will insist on a longer timeline than 10 weeks for a 32 page picture book or I simply can not accept the project.
Below are sketches that I created both yesterday and today. Drawings that are both loose and fun. Drawings that do not take a lot of time and do not require a level of motor control that causes a silly amount of pain. Welcome to my 2013.
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