I loved the Lord of the Rings Sketchbook by illustrator Alan Lee.

I love how you placed the Covid things with a careful physical social distance...

@Coley I saw your beautiful angels and hope there are some out there watching out for us. It's a very comforting idea.

And I understand! With a baby and a preschooler, I made the conscious decision not to buy any subscriptions, tempting though they are. Maybe later in the year. Maybe once we're back to normal, whatever that was (I think I don't remember).

Nice! I'm a German in Massachussetts. It's different for every state, even county, I think. But for everyone, it's highly recommended, especially on public transport, inside supermarkets, etc... I'm still sewing the first cloth mask, by hand.
We'll be moving back to Germany in June though, so I better have a couple of them ready by then!

@Whitney-Simms Thank you so much! I'll send you an email!

@Coley I saw your beautiful angels and hope there are some out there watching out for us. It's a very comforting idea.

And I understand! With a baby and a preschooler, I made the conscious decision not to buy any subscriptions, tempting though they are. Maybe later in the year. Maybe once we're back to normal, whatever that was (I think I don't remember).

@Whitney-Simms These are gorgeous! Any chance to buy a print or download? I'd love to send the 'You're essential to me' to at least five people. I live in the US now, but my family is back in Germany, so I feel double removed from them. And I'm not gonna lie, I do miss the Preschool teachers. They'd deserve a card like this, too!

Hi and thank you for the welcome! I think I stumbled on your etsy store?
It seems we share the same motivation for drawing - communicating something that is important to us - drawing/creating comics or zines to share our view of the world.

I also don't have many artist friends, so I'm happy to have found this community. If you're interested, please have a look at my mini comic here: https://90daysinkyoto.com/the-tiniest-garden-webcomic/ I printed it and have it on shelfs of three indie comic shops in the Boston area.

I myself have done some coloring pages about Japanese gardening tools and (so far one) scene of a Japanese garden for people to download and color. But it's also a relief for me to draw them and I'm not sure anyone has ever downloaded, printed and colored them. Although it's a great way to use up all those non-colors like gray and brown and moss green...!

I also planned to do ironic corona coloring pages ("color your own mask!") but it just hits too close to home. I prefer to just think of something for a change.

I love how you placed the Covid things with a careful physical social distance...

Thank you for this question, @will-terry-art . I'm a new member and have been thinking about my intentions before officially joining the forums.

I'd definitely like to see my memoir of working in Japanese gardens in a visual format. Graphic novel, shorter stories or 'essay manga'-type technical introductions to the topic of Japanese gardening.

I want to learn to draw better to **communicate my story. That's what pulls me. **If I get better at drawing, the rest will follow. I hope to create without anxiety, without fear of not meeting someone else's expectations.

Yes to Japanese Garden themed postcards, stationary, prints, etc once I have my story out of the system! Tangible products make me proud. Illustrating magazine articles, creating still lives with textile art, that'd be wonderful, too.

Hi, I'm Jenny and not even sure I want to be an illustrator. I just want to learn to draw better so I'm able to tell my story 'more fluently'. It's limiting to only draw the backsides of people...

Right now I'm at the stage where I can draw something that I meant to draw and it looks like I wanted to AND I'm surprised that I actually drew this.

Since living and working in Japan, I'm drawn to slice-of-life manga and Manga essay. Last summer, I worked with the help of a coursera course on a mini comic about one aspect of my life as a garden apprentice in Kyoto (https://90daysinkyoto.com/the-tiniest-garden-webcomic/). That's when I discovered the 3 Point Perspective podcast. I've been following it ever since, wondering why, since I actually identify as a writer.

I have already spent a lot of time on writing a memoir about my Japanese gardening experience. Now I wonder if a collection of short comic essays would make it easier and more fun to communicate my story and some background knowledge.

I'm looking forward to drawing more and looking over the shoulders of you talented people.

I loved the Lord of the Rings Sketchbook by illustrator Alan Lee.