First, a plug. My lovely and talented friend Courtney Cerruti just released her first book, Playing With Image Transfers.
And it is wonderful. Beautiful artwork, creative projects with clear “how to” instructions, and delightful personal anecdotes that give the book warmth. It would make a wonderful holiday present for kids and adults. Just saying.
In the trailer for the book, Courtney tells us that art can be made anytime. Art making doesn’t need the perfect setup. Don’t be too precious about it. She says that image transfers in particular give you permission to play and experiment.
I really like this idea of giving ourselves permission to play. I want to figure out how to do more playing. Playing with purpose, playing to make stuff, playing just to play.
I didn’t realize how much I wasn’t playing until I visited some friends who have a three year old. She started to make believe that she was driving me to a restaurant for breakfast, and we acted out the whole scene. From parking the car to ordering to picking up the bill. It was one of those things that you just had to put your whole heart into, otherwise it would have been boring and lame. So I did. I have to say I improvised the hell out of that restaurant scene.
I stayed with those friends for a couple weeks, so there was a lot of playing, and make believe in particular. A lot of times what you end up saying is garbage, it’s not witty or doesn’t make complete sense. But the three year old is actually quite forgiving and will go along with you. And sometimes you say something that is completely out of the blue improvised and it is just magic. Just effin perfect, something I could never have thought of if I sat down to think about it.
I’m trying to bring this to my writing and sketching. With drawing I usually go for portraits. I start with the eyes and never quite know who is going to appear. Sometimes, they are really ugly or just bad. But sometimes they are so so good. Again, something I would never have made if I sat down and tried to do it.
These are some improvised sketches.
If you draw a turd, just turn the page and move on. So I encourage you to try playing. Playing like you did when you were little, and to not care about looking like an ass in the process.