How powerful is a dream?

Some people might wonder, how does a fun drawing book like the 1 Minute Artist happen? It has a lot to do with “dreaming”…

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A couple of years ago, I had this idea to create simple six step drawings to help people get a little confidence to give drawing a try…and find out that they could draw better than they thought and even enjoyed it!  I drew one up and tried it out with some students and they wanted more.  I thought, “there is something good about this idea…”

 

At the same time, I had bought some kind of paper product that came in a clear plastic box that I wanted to keep…for something.  Then it came to me that little clear plastic box would become my “dream box”.  I would put creative ideas in that box that I wanted to see become something.  I made a sticker that said, “Insert Dreams Here”…

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I put my first six step drawing in the box…excited that I was actually using the box to help myself dream!

 

I wanted to make more and try them out with more students at schools….so I did!

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Teachers were asking for more and anyone that tried them thought it was fun and they were surprised they could draw something so easily.  It was addicting!  My box was filling up!

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It seemed my dream was growing…and I was able to use it to help others…I was very excited!  I wondered if these 6 step drawings should become a box of large game cards that could be sold like educational cards.  I kept trying my dream with kids everywhere…after the kids drew three or four, they began combining them into one picture according to the way they wanted to creatively put them together…making some objects bigger or smaller.  They also enjoyed adding details and surprising things to the new things they were drawing.

Not knowing what to do with this dream/idea…I turned to Jesus, “my” Creator, and asked Him for direction and help.  I had been doing this from the very start as I felt He was putting something good in my heart to help others and at the same time provide for my family.

His answer came a few months later when a kind editor from a large publishing house in New York contacted me that she had seen the 6 step drawings on Pinterest and wanted to see if we could make a book with a collection of them.  And…that is exactly what happened…the 1 Minute Artist was born!

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And that first drawing that went into the dream box is right here in the book…

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What I got from this experience is that God often puts dreams in our hearts with things that help others but let us experience a joy that is amazing.  Dreams God puts in our hearts also often take a long time to happen and we have to keep trying and keep asking Him for help…not getting discouraged.  If dreams were easy to happen, they wouldn’t be very meaningful…it’s the journey of seeing it through with our Creator, Jesus, that makes it absolutely great!

I thank Him for this dream that has come into being.  God never ceases to amaze me!

Maybe there is a dream that you have?  Ask the One who made you for help and listen for His reply…be patient and He will lead you.  When He answers, then it’s time to work hard.

 

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I’ve Got a new drawing book you’ll love!

You, your family; your friends….anyone…can draw lots of fun things from my new

book from Race Point Publishing!  Each of the 10 chapters covers categories of things

you can draw…

In each chapter, there are ten different things in that category you can try!  I’m thinking

you can draw any of them in a minute or less….you got what it takes!

When you open the book, you will see that the left page shows you how to draw something and the right side gives you a place to try it yourself (or you can keep that page clean and make your drawing on paper you have to the side)!

Besides the 10 things to draw in each chapter, I also have put a 12 step challenge

drawing that has more details.  I’ll bet some of you could even do this drawing in only

one minute!  Here’s the challenge for the “Animals” chapter….

Pretty quick, you’ll know how to draw ALOT of fun things and will be able to put

those things together into one picture that you can decide how you want to design

it!  Think of how many fun pictures and fun ideas could happen after you’ve drawn

things from one chapter!  Maybe you’re ideas will even get you to write a story

about your picture!

And you know me, I’m going to show you how to draw some really fun things…in hopes

that you will make up some things of your own…like these!

You can buy the book online at Amazon HERE .  It’s just $15..and a terrific gift idea

for kids to give to their friends on a birthday (you  might have all the kids there

wanting to draw right then!).

Want to see more of the book?  You can online HERE .

Would you write a review there after you’ve looked it over?  It will help get the

word out to others who have people they know that would love the creative fun

that is in the book.

 Thanks so much!

ENJOY!

(do you like this?  Leave me comment..artist always need confidence!)

 

Don’t forget you can also buy my very fun drawing game, Pick and Draw HERE for hours of creative fun!

 

 

 

 

Trees…they’re everywhere!

I found this beautiful leaf today out in my yard.

I’ve picked up A LOT of leaves in my life…but today, as I looked at the leaf, I saw a tree in the leaf!

God designed each leaf to look like a tree!  Think how many leaves there are in the world!!!

Let me help you see the tree that I saw…here are the trunk and branches.

And…here is the outline of the tree…

Taking the leaf away, here is what is left…

Now when you look at a tree and see all the leaves, you can imagine that every leaf is like a drawing of a tree that God has stuck to the limbs….each tree is one of God’s art galleries!

 

YOU’RE TURN!  Why not go out into your yard and get a few leaves you like and come in and draw them and make a tree yourself like I’ve shown you?!

Add some color…make a field of trees in your drawing using different leaf shapes.

Enjoy drawing!  And enjoy the leaves all around you…they are unique art works!

The wonderful world of Talking with Pictures

We do a lot of drawing on this site and we talk about things we draw with our pencil…

but sometimes we need to make lines and shapes

from objects that we can hold in our hand.

 

 

 

When we draw, that is called “2 dimensional“…

when we use objects to make art or create surfaces that have form and dimension, it’s called “3 dimensional“.  Here’s a cowboy face I did a while back…

 

Today, I want to show you a 3 dimensional piece of art I created for the purpose of visually saying a message I want others to remember.

The message is the word, “TOGETHER”.  Here’s a peak at it…

I could have written the word….painted the words….and been very fancy with my letters.

 

But I wanted to get across the important message that everyone is different and that difference should not be looked at as something that divides us and makes us

feel strange and left out and alone.

Instead, I wanted to bring objects that are easily overlooked from my garage and combine them to make the letters of

this one word.  This way, I am giving you 2 different languages….one is using the letters to spell the word, “TOGETHER”…and the other language is to “show” you

what TOGETHER looks like.

See?

I felt I could get across my message strongest if I used objects instead of drawing lines on paper.

My neighbor was throwing away the big board that the letters are on….it’s actually a kitchen cabinet door that was made over 70 years ago.  I saw it and asked if I could have it.  This is

what I used to act as my “paper” that I would put my letters on.  It even had built in wire hangers (the top hinges) !

A 3 dimensional picture is also more durable than a piece of paper (2 dimensional) and if you feel your message is one that you want to last a long time, 3 dimensional might be

what you need to try.

 

This was very very fun and when I was done, I wanted to do more.  That is how making and creating things should be.  God meant it to refresh us and give us a stronger voice to

say things that are inside us.

Hmmmmm…I wonder what I want to say next?

….but that is 2 dimensional!

 

Imagination hand activity (super fun, even for adults!)

 

 

“What if” your fingers could become something else anytime you wanted them to…but then after you use it, it looks like a finger again?!!

Here’s a fun activity you might want to try…or let your students or kids try….

Even if you don’t actually draw anything, it’s still fun to think about what 5 things you would choose for yourself.

It would be a fun verbal activity around the dinner table with your family as well.  You might be surprised what “you” come up with for yourself…

and surprised what others around you come up with.

This activity helps you see what things you use the most in your lifestyle or what things you wish you had.

If you are someone who looses the key to your house often, you might want to make that one your finger choices…..just saying.

Have fun!

Think about it….

A very simple statement.

I saw this demonstrated “once upon a time” years ago while working for a greeting card company.  America was heading to war in Iraq…called Desert Storm.  This company wanted to do something to encourage our troops going over into such a dangerous unknown place.  But it meant that cards that were usually made in six months time, would HAVE to be made in two weeks.  Everything.  Ready to be shipped out so that soldiers could get cards from their families and friends.

It was amazing to see several hundred people in this company move together like one big team and make this happen.  I would actually call it “miraculous” knowing how long large companies take in the normal process and all the red tape and changes that happen to do most anything.

But no one cared about their own agenda or reputation or schedule….our soldiers needed encouraging and that was the total focus.  Everyone was so focused!  Hardly anyone took breaks…where the norm was to linger in the break room and talk and be sluggish to go back to your desk.  The whole company was like an ant hill teeming with people doing things quickly and doing them well so that the next person would have what they needed to do their part.  Meetings made record breaking time with how “short” they were…decisions were made in a moment’s time instead of the usual weeks (and sometimes months). There was a higher purpose and this rocketed people into doing the impossible.

That was the most spectacular 3 weeks of the entire time (21 years) that I worked there.

And, after the war was over….guess what happened?

Business as usual.

What higher purpose would change the way you do things in your life?  Is it possible for you to find something in your life that is worth that kind of focus?

There is.  There is.  There is something more.

Bookin’ it

I’m in the studio today beginning to design…sketch…the 32 pages in a children’s book called, Tiny Goes to the Movies.  The cover art is already done.  It is done

first so that the book publisher can begin advertising that this book will be coming out in the future.  I did not put the name of the story on yet.  Looks like this…

But now, comes the “thinking part”.  Sketching with a pencil and my imagination.

When you open a book, what ever 2 pages you see, these are called a “spread”.  This book has 14 spreads to draw. And like a river, they need to flow together in

order to tell the story visually.  A very good author named Cari Meister Kurst wrote the simple sentences for this book.  This book is for someone who is just

learning to read…and is trying to read their first book by themself.  So the words need to be pretty simple and the pictures need to go with the words really well.

In the first spread of the book, the boy is telling you about himself and his big dog Tiny.  It’s summer time and my picture needs to tell those words.  The picture

needs to also say that these two have a very fun, warm friendship…they do a lot together.

When I read these words, my imagination saw this…

This is called a “rough” sketch….I’m not trying to be exact and perfect with my picture.  I just want to get down the general idea and how it would fit on the spread.

Once I do this, if I like it (which I did), then I take the rough to a tight “sketch”.  Looks like this…

And when I’m done with this stage of the book, I will have 14 spreads like this to show to the editor of the book in New York.

If she likes my ideas and sketches, then I will make paintings exactly like the sketch I sent them.

The cover painting that is at the top was a sketch at one time and went through this same process.

Back to work!

Draw a Talking Bird!

STOP! Take a 1 minute creative break and draw this…then have your bird saying something. Show it to someone…dare ya.  Enjoy!

A tribute to Dr. Seuss

What an amazing talent God gave Dr. Seuss to be able to write the stories and draw the pictures that made so many laugh and smile while learning!

Draw a robot

A piece of paper and pencil is all you need to try this 6 step robot drawing…hope you will try it.  Enjoy!