Life drawing classes are valuable. Regardless of how your style ends up. And going out into the world and drawing what you see. Characters need backgrounds. All learning is good, no matter the source.
I've been meaning to attend some local life drawing classes. Once I finish my current serial I'll have a bit more space to dedicate to that kind of thing. Thanks!
Genuinely have no idea if I have a 'voice' as a writer. I remember making some flippant remark at one of my launches (urk, "one of my launches", what a d*ck) about how one of the reasons I wanted to write in different genres was so that people could pick up one of my books and not necessarily realise it was me, rather than being distinctive.
I wonder now if that's an expression of my introvert/extrovert paradox - my innate need to show off while simultaneously not have people look at me.
Oh, how hard I related to this. I can't do anything other than cartoon-is, either. I tried more serious life like sketches, but they don't come as naturally. Maybe one day I can learn more about it. I enjoyed seeing your portfolio 🤗
i know exactly what you’re going through. I’ve had to accept drawing in a ‘cartoonish’ style sometimes just to get stuff made and not get bogged into an illustration for a week, though i let myself do that also. Jack of all. Best luck to you.
I’m out and about for the day but when I get back home I’ll send you the name and author of a manga “how to” book I picked up for my nephew for his birthday. It breaks down figures and hands and faces etc and might be helpful. Aside from the fact it is entirely in Japanese…
Ha, thanks! Manga is interesting, and I've paid much more attention to it over the last few years as my son has got into it. A lot of manga stylings have copy-and-paste heads, but with highly distinctive clothing, hair styles and accessories. Whereas Jamie McKelvie designs very distinct people down to their face structure, manga artists often use very simplified designs and rely on extreme character quirks to differentiate.
This piece is JUST what I needed today! I've been wanting to create my own illustrations for my stories, but my art skills...well...my cat might do a better job than I can. But your piece has encouraged me to keep trying. 10,000 hours of bad sketches? Hmm.
Back in 2022, for a time, I was very excited by Midjourney and generative AI. I used it to illustrate this newsletter, enamoured by how I could 'create' appropriate images for whatever I was writing. I slowly became more aware of how generative AI works, and at the start of 2023 decided to stop using it altogether.
There were many ethical reasons, but part of that decision was that I'd stopped drawing. I realised, eventually, that I'd rather have technically inferior drawings drawn by my hand than the technically fancier generated AI images. My sketches might not be as visually impressive or appealing, but they're mine. My theory was that anyone who had chosen to read and subscribe to my newsletter would connect more with my personal sketches. My writing is an extension of me, and I wanted illustrations to do the same.
So, yes, keep trying! And like I found, it might be that you need to search for your personal style to make it all click.
My high school English teacher once told me that I’d do well to try to write more serious pieces. That was a lifetime ago - the age of dial-up - when it was possible for someone like me to entertain friends with funny little stories and essays that read like standup. Now, I knew my audience and I’d developed this one authorial persona that worked. I’ve always wondered if I shouldn’t have leaned into that instead of trying to be a brows-knit-in-concentration-“serious-writer”.
Such a good question. Sometimes I try to answer that by thinking, “oh, my voice is like Will Farrell meets Samuel Beckett”. And sometimes I try on each persons or voice in turn. The challenge is knowing when I need to try harder vs. when I’m just trying to force something to work, and should take the resistance as a sign.
"It’s a humbling experience to go from something you’re very comfortable doing, to an entirely new and unknown skillset." - 100% yes. I felt this when I decided to commit to writing in English a few years ago, which is not my first language. It wasn't exactly starting from zero again because some elements of style could be transferred (from German, other languages with more different roots might not be so lucky) but it still felt frustrating. Like my style had gone back to the "boring & generic" of my early days of writing.
But on the upside, I could now get inspired more directly by all those English-language novels I was reading! I'm still looking for my style in this language. Copying helps a lot (obviously just for practice purposes).
And I like your big head style! It's very "Simon K. Jones" - not that the realistic style doesn't but the authenticity definitely shines through in the more cartoonish style.
Thanks, Vanessa. I'd always hoped that doing my own sketches would be more 'me', regardless of the technical merit.
I wonder whether your importing of some German elements helped to create a unique voice for you, when writing in English? The merging of the two languages, creatively, in a way. That could put you at an advantage over someone writing from the point of view of a single language only.
I never thought about that! I did notice that since German tends to be more formal even when speaking informally, I tend to use longer sentences & more "formal" or polite vocabulary in English too. It might be good for writing fantasy, science fiction & more "literary" stories since it gives an air of elegance or fairytale (at least I hope so) but if you asked me to write middle grade or even young adult, I would probably struggle a lot...
Life drawing classes are valuable. Regardless of how your style ends up. And going out into the world and drawing what you see. Characters need backgrounds. All learning is good, no matter the source.
I've been meaning to attend some local life drawing classes. Once I finish my current serial I'll have a bit more space to dedicate to that kind of thing. Thanks!
Genuinely have no idea if I have a 'voice' as a writer. I remember making some flippant remark at one of my launches (urk, "one of my launches", what a d*ck) about how one of the reasons I wanted to write in different genres was so that people could pick up one of my books and not necessarily realise it was me, rather than being distinctive.
I wonder now if that's an expression of my introvert/extrovert paradox - my innate need to show off while simultaneously not have people look at me.
Nothing wrong with big heads.
Nothing wrong with cute.
😁
Oh, how hard I related to this. I can't do anything other than cartoon-is, either. I tried more serious life like sketches, but they don't come as naturally. Maybe one day I can learn more about it. I enjoyed seeing your portfolio 🤗
i know exactly what you’re going through. I’ve had to accept drawing in a ‘cartoonish’ style sometimes just to get stuff made and not get bogged into an illustration for a week, though i let myself do that also. Jack of all. Best luck to you.
I’m out and about for the day but when I get back home I’ll send you the name and author of a manga “how to” book I picked up for my nephew for his birthday. It breaks down figures and hands and faces etc and might be helpful. Aside from the fact it is entirely in Japanese…
Ha, thanks! Manga is interesting, and I've paid much more attention to it over the last few years as my son has got into it. A lot of manga stylings have copy-and-paste heads, but with highly distinctive clothing, hair styles and accessories. Whereas Jamie McKelvie designs very distinct people down to their face structure, manga artists often use very simplified designs and rely on extreme character quirks to differentiate.
This piece is JUST what I needed today! I've been wanting to create my own illustrations for my stories, but my art skills...well...my cat might do a better job than I can. But your piece has encouraged me to keep trying. 10,000 hours of bad sketches? Hmm.
Back in 2022, for a time, I was very excited by Midjourney and generative AI. I used it to illustrate this newsletter, enamoured by how I could 'create' appropriate images for whatever I was writing. I slowly became more aware of how generative AI works, and at the start of 2023 decided to stop using it altogether.
There were many ethical reasons, but part of that decision was that I'd stopped drawing. I realised, eventually, that I'd rather have technically inferior drawings drawn by my hand than the technically fancier generated AI images. My sketches might not be as visually impressive or appealing, but they're mine. My theory was that anyone who had chosen to read and subscribe to my newsletter would connect more with my personal sketches. My writing is an extension of me, and I wanted illustrations to do the same.
So, yes, keep trying! And like I found, it might be that you need to search for your personal style to make it all click.
My high school English teacher once told me that I’d do well to try to write more serious pieces. That was a lifetime ago - the age of dial-up - when it was possible for someone like me to entertain friends with funny little stories and essays that read like standup. Now, I knew my audience and I’d developed this one authorial persona that worked. I’ve always wondered if I shouldn’t have leaned into that instead of trying to be a brows-knit-in-concentration-“serious-writer”.
It a tricky one - can you be both?
Such a good question. Sometimes I try to answer that by thinking, “oh, my voice is like Will Farrell meets Samuel Beckett”. And sometimes I try on each persons or voice in turn. The challenge is knowing when I need to try harder vs. when I’m just trying to force something to work, and should take the resistance as a sign.
"It’s a humbling experience to go from something you’re very comfortable doing, to an entirely new and unknown skillset." - 100% yes. I felt this when I decided to commit to writing in English a few years ago, which is not my first language. It wasn't exactly starting from zero again because some elements of style could be transferred (from German, other languages with more different roots might not be so lucky) but it still felt frustrating. Like my style had gone back to the "boring & generic" of my early days of writing.
But on the upside, I could now get inspired more directly by all those English-language novels I was reading! I'm still looking for my style in this language. Copying helps a lot (obviously just for practice purposes).
And I like your big head style! It's very "Simon K. Jones" - not that the realistic style doesn't but the authenticity definitely shines through in the more cartoonish style.
Thanks, Vanessa. I'd always hoped that doing my own sketches would be more 'me', regardless of the technical merit.
I wonder whether your importing of some German elements helped to create a unique voice for you, when writing in English? The merging of the two languages, creatively, in a way. That could put you at an advantage over someone writing from the point of view of a single language only.
I never thought about that! I did notice that since German tends to be more formal even when speaking informally, I tend to use longer sentences & more "formal" or polite vocabulary in English too. It might be good for writing fantasy, science fiction & more "literary" stories since it gives an air of elegance or fairytale (at least I hope so) but if you asked me to write middle grade or even young adult, I would probably struggle a lot...