Whenever someone mentions bees, I want to shout, “The bees are disappearing!”

If you’re a Doctor Who fan, you’ll understand.

But the point now is that I’m illustrating a children’s book about bees. I’ve never drawn bees before, so this is a challenge. This might sound crazy, but most of the time, I don’t actually think I can draw. I do draw. I mean, I draw trees, castles, bunnies, and flowers. But I can’t draw the way I really want to. So many of my lines lie dead on the paper. Then after many dead drawings, something works, and I’m filled with relief. Whew.

But I want to challenge myself and get better. It’s sad when people say they can’t draw, when they tell some story from grade school that killed their inner artist. Why let that person who said whatever it is they said to convince you that you had no talent, why let them get the better of you? Get some paper, sit down, draw. Sure it might be terrible, and it most definitely won’t match the beautiful image in your head, but my art never, ever, matches what’s in my head, but I keep trying. I throw away a lot. A lot. Seriously. Eventually an image turns out right.

I don’t know why people expect instant magic with art. If you’ve never run a day in your life, you wouldn’t expect to run a marathon on a whim. You’d understand that you have to train, and train for a long time. But I’ve seen people draw one stick figure and throw their pencil down. “I can’t draw.”

Give yourself a break. Then train. Practice.

But I went way off topic. All I wanted to say is that I’m trying to draw bees, so I’m trying something new.

What new thing have you tried lately?

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If you want to see the other books in the series I’ve illustrated, go here to Plum Tree Books.