As an author and illustrator I’m often asked what comes first, the words or the picture. Well, in truth it’s a bit of both. I like to write lists, single words usually, that form the beginnings of a busy page of circled words connected with arrows and phrases, in an attempt to spark an interesting idea, or brighten up a dull one.

At the same time I use my sketchbook. And for me, as an illustrator who thinks mainly in pictures, this is probably my favoured starting point.

I’ll be posting more samples from my sketchbook very soon but I thought I’d show you a ‘thinking technique’ for want of a better phrase, that inspired me from the great Maurice Sendak. For many years he set himself the task of drawing what he called ‘Fantasy Skecthes.’ He called them Homework Drawings. The idea was to draw a sequence of doodles quickly in a set time  onto a single sheet of paper with the only thought that he would try and ‘tell’ some kind of story. The idea was that, without doing too much thinking, the drawings would open up curious ‘stream-of-conscious doodles’ which in turn may lead to a new and exciting way of thinking, drawing, telling a story.

I tried this framework although without the music. His set time was the piece of music he was listening to at the time. I gave myself (a silent), 10 minutes. I like to play around with a simple scenario or character and see what happens. But the same principle applied. That is – to draw quickly and without too much time to reflect. I use a single sheet of  A4  paper and start at the top left, working my way across and down, with the one single notion that I will try to complete an idea or story by the time I reach the bottom.

What you see  here, are two examples. To be fair Maurice Sendak’s drawings are much more exciting than mine. But they are great fun to do and it’s an excellent way to really fire the imagination. What has surprised me is how easy it is to actual complete the idea on a single page. I had visions of needing two or three pages.

I thoroughly recommend you give it a go. And remember, getting the idea is the important thing – it doesn’t matter what the drawing looks like. This, of course is easier said than done I’ll admit (and I’m an illustrator!), but as an alternative way of brainstorming an idea I think you’ll surprised at what you might come up with. Give it a go.

More soon!

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