February 2, 2006

Which is harder... writing or illustrating?



So which is harder... writing or illustrating?

No question about it, for me at least, Illustrating is 25 times more difficult than writing.

For me writing is more mysterious. It's a matter of waiting for the planets to align... being on the outlook for insights that reaveal the constellation of a story from start to finish. It's mysterious and impossible to define.

But doing artwork is LOTS more work!

Imagine if writing was as difficult as illustration.
Imagine if every sentence had a color that needed to match the paragraph... that each word in each sentence required the exact placement of pen on paper... the exacting curve of a brushstroke.

Imagine if every letter had to be sublimely crafted so that no one letter would stand out to obscure the design of the sentence.
Imagine if every time you used the same word you had to recreate it from a blank page.

Imagine if after writing an entire page of 350 words, you screwed up on a sentence and had to entirely blank out the entire page and begin again from the start.

Writing requires a special set of skills and insights into life and stories. But Illustration can drive you NUTS!

6 comments:

Gretel said...

Absolutely agree with every word. I love writing. It flows in a way that my art rarely does. I even enjoy it. Everyone thinks they have a novel inside them...but not everyone assumes they can paint a masterpiece. (Certainly not me!)

Maya said...

Ummm...sorry I have to disagree...writing is as hard as illustrating. Every line in your note book is a blank page, every word has to be "coloured" right, every feeling and event you write about has to balance among the rest...Thats the way I see it anyway...

(love your work btw!!)

The fabric of my life said...

Hi

Just popped over from pg's blog. Love your work. I especially liked your 2 batty grandmas. I think it looks like the sort of book my son would love. He has 2 eccentric (not at all grandma-like) grandmas!

How lucky to have been taught by Maurice Sendak!

Maya said...

Sorry if I came about a little "strong" before...
Hope I didn't offend anyone...

John Nez said...

Glad to see there really are real people out there who actually do look at blogs. I was beginning to wonder.

Thanks for all the comments... and compliments on my work. It's very much appreciated.

roz said...

Boy am I excited that I stumbled across your blog! teehee!