Have you ever had a drawing literally tell you a story? I’ve had storytelling experiences before – when I didn’t know what I would be drawing, I thought about the characters and gave them personalities, etc. But I’d never had the drawing, which was loosely penciled in, start to tell ME a story. Fleshed out with details! Kinda crazy.
I wrote it up on my Substack and wasn’t thinking about putting it in the YT video, but when I was wondering what I should ‘teach’ in this video, I realized…..that story needs to go with the drawing. So…I bring you Zeke!
Video: Zeke’s Tree Farm
Watch the video below and scroll to the end to leave comments or questions — or click HERE to watch it on YouTube and leave comments over there. I read both dutifully!
Zeke and Frannie
The names weren’t provided by the drawing; Zeke came to me right away, as that was my grandpa’s nickname. His wife was Frances. He wasn’t a pumpkin farmer, nor a tree farmer…. so the rest was all made up. By the drawing.
The drawing
I loosely pencilled in the tree; I wanted to draw one that had my swoopy shape, and while sketching it I doodled buildings in, not sure if they’d be birdhouses or whatnot. This is in a cheapie no-name sketchbook, drawn with an Eco pen by TWSBI with Carbon Black ink by Platinum, and the watercolors are Daniel Smith.
Want Zeke’s tree?
I had messaged with a friend about my story, and she encouraged me to post it on Substack, which is a great platform for me to practice my writing and storytelling skills. She then said she wanted to print it out from Substack and read it to her grandkids, and print out the drawing so they could color it while they listened. So…..it’s available for you, too, if you want to try that
Download this pumpkin-farm-in-a-tree to color for your art projects, or sit down with your grandkids and ask them to fill in more of Zeke’s story.
Zoom call tomorrow!
I’ve been wanting to get back to hosting more art Zooms….I had stopped because the few I did got carried away and too long! But if I have it in my head I’ll be doing it a lot, maybe I’ll just get ‘er done and move on, right?
So I’m starting a series of livestreams on Zoom to color images from the new Favorite Things courses in a medium other than the class it came from. Like this lovely door, I’ll do in either alcohol marker or watercolor! Folks are voting over at Artventure, which is also where the Zoom calls will be.
This one is set for Weds 9am Pacific, but I’ll vary the times and dates to allow for more folks to join in on the series. Replays will be available in the app for a week, then will be moved to a course that’ll cost a few dollars, just to help support the cost of the platform. 🙂
ATC swap, anyone?
At Artventure we’re having a fall ATC swap – I wrote up all the details over there!
WHEW!
That was a lot, I know. Thanks for reading to the end! Leave a comment and let me know if you’ve ever had a seed of an idea dropped on you while drawing. Was it a story? Idea for another art piece? A solution to an entirely unrelated thing? My brain just lets loose, and I never know what’s coming!
Supplies
Some product may be provided by manufacturers for review and use. Compensated affiliate links are here at no cost to you. I appreciate your support of my work with your purchases! Full affiliate and product disclosure | My trusted partners in art
- Sketchbook (no-name, terrible paper, lol)
- TWSBI Eco Medium nib fountain pen
Subscribe to receive blog posts by email:
3 Comments
Submit a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
I can totally understand that…not enough hours in a day!!!! I will just enjoy whenever you comment in story form!!! TFS everything you do…you are a blessing in my life!
Paper Hugs,
Jan
Wonderful Sandy…enjoyed the entire experience…you might consider making this into a talking video/picture book.
My husband, as a kid himself, would make up and tell ‘Pee Wee Knee Annie’ stories to all the neighborhood kids. As an adult, the neighbor kids would knock on our door and ask ‘is Mr. Castle here?’ He always asked about their likes and dislikes and would wind up telling them a story…always with a point to the story to teach them something. Now, I picture him in Heaven with a flock of kids sitting around listening to his quirky stories.
He would never tell me a ‘Pee Wee Knee Annie’ story, but when I asked him a question, he would reply ‘do you want my version, or the truth?’ Of course, I wanted his version as it was always more interesting – LOL!
Keep telling stories Sandy…you have the gift!
Unfortunately, the response and anytime I tried to write stories has been pretty abysmal… Even though a few people absolutely love them, there’s no way that I’ll become a children’s writer or illustrator. If I had time, then maybe I could do it for fun, but I need to make a living. Right now.☹️