5 Reasons Why Highschoolers Should Start Their Own Business

Most of you probably don't know this, but I am a home schooled highschooler. Mind blowing, right? But, what made me want to start my art career this early? What made me think I was ready, when I hadn't gone to art school and mostly just doodled in my spare time? Why would I be willing to dive into this scary business of illustrating a children's book? Well, to be honest, I didn't think I was ready, not even in the slightest. It was super scary getting started, and it will continue to be scary until I am done with the illustrations for this book. After all, I'm only fifteen. How could I possibly satisfy this person's needs?

But here are the reasons why I will never ever regret getting a head start on my illustrating career in highschool, and you won't either.

1. Highschoolers have time

Now, I realize that a lot of highschoolers really don't feel like they have time, between classes and homework and socializing, but don't you think that you'll have even less time to start your dream career while having to work full time or even part time at a job you hate? If you start up your dream business in highschool, maybe you won't ever need to work at McDonald's!

2. They aren't under pressure to support themselves

This sort of goes along with the last one, but seriously. In highschool you really can afford to mess up! You don't have to have two jobs just in case one doesn't work out.

3. The experience gained is priceless

By making mistakes, you gain experience that you can't get anywhere else. What better time to do that than when you are in highschool and don't have to support yourself? Also, what if you decide you want to do something different with your life? Rather than changing majors in the middle of college and wasting a bunch of time and money, why not really test your limits in highschool?

4. Old people love to see young people do just about anything

Since not a lot of highschoolers start their own business, if yours does end up doing well, there is a lot of potential for getting out there in the media, just for being young. It's crazy, and not fully fair, but hey, take whatever you can get. Plus, your parents will be supah pwoud of you.

5. It will set you in the right direction

I don't know about other highschoolers, but I happen to be scared out of my mind of the idea of growing up and having responsibilities. So, what do I do? I throw a ton of responsibilities onto my shoulders and hope for the best! Logical. Right. But actually, in the midst of this hulabaloo, I seem to have found a light. I can't even believe how privileged I am for having such a head start on my dream career. I am comforted by the knowledge that I have a few years to grow even more, and get even better jobs, before I even have to worry about finances and money. No matter what your dream is, fellow highschoolers, I encourage you to find a way to make it a reality even in highschool. Or, if you don't know what you want to do, I would have to tell you that now is the time for experimenting! If you are thinking of getting a job at McDonalds, I hope that you might reconsider following your passion while you can, because it will be so gratifying to actually make money by doing what you love, no matter if it is the same amount that you would make working at a fast food joint.

If I can do it, you can too! I wish you luck on this incredible, mind numbing, awful, terrifying, wonderful journey, where you will get even less sleep than you are getting now. But in the end, you can thank me. Because following your dream is the most amazing thing, no matter the consequences.

Leave your thoughts in the comments, and make sure to tell me what to talk about next.

How to Punch Through Artist's Block

As most of you know, I recently got a job illustrating a children's book for someone. See here.

After I finish that, I will be full on helping my mother make a project that she's been working on for YEARS, and that she is counting on me to illustrate as well.

Not only is all this a lot of pressure for a highschooler, but I also haven't been able to work on my own projects, like, at all. Not that I don't have time, but that I only feel like I have so much creative energy in a day. Maybe that is just me, or maybe it is partly (or all) stress, but I've recently just felt tired all the time.

This begs the question... How do adults do it? How do full time artists manage to get through this kind of exhausting artist's block, to be able to support themselves by doing art?

The trick that works, in my research and experience, is taking breaks. I think they say something like taking a five-ten minute break every half hour. But it is important what you do during those breaks. Here are some suggestions:

Take a walk.

I know you have most definitely heard of this one before, and maybe you think it only applies to someone who is fortunate enough to live near someplace pretty. I happen to be one of these people, and I am grateful for that. But just getting away from your computer for five minutes is what we are trying to accomplish here, so that isn't necessary. All you really need is to get the blood back into your brain again so you can think more clearly, and so any kind of light exercise should work.

Eat.

Now, I am not encouraging obesity or anything, but if it possible for you to break up your daily meals into healthy snacks to give you a boost throughout the day, go for it. For me, eating even a small amount just gives me an energy boost, and so if I can get six energy boosts rather than three, all the better. I would highly reccomend cheese and apples, they are fabulous together.

Drink water.

I don't drink nearly enough water during the day, which is scientifically proven to cause headaches and brain malfunctions. And you do not need brain malfunctions when you are scrambling to finish a big project.

Nap.

You most likely aren't getting enough sleep. 'Nuff said.

I hope this was helpful to all of you struggling with artist's block, but don't be selfish! Share your own tips for how to cope with this monster in the comments, because I need the help just as much as you. Also, if you want me to blog about something particular related to illustrating or drawing on the iPad Pro, make sure to tell me! I am always looking for suggestions.

The Psychology Behind Writing/Illustrating a Children's Book

Part 1: Picture books

Why do most adults assume that children are satisfied with simplicity? Because from and adult's perspective, the things that children are interested in seem very simple and uncomplicated. Why do babies stare at ceiling fans all day long? Is it because they are simple? No. It is because fans are super interesting.

But that doesn't mean that everything that is ordinary to an adult is intriguing to a child! Some stuff is just plain stupid, from both perspectives. The problem is that a lot of adults can't differentiate what might be interesting to a child and what might be boring to a child.

This is where I come in. I was a child not long ago, and, paired with a good memory and great imagination, I can help you grown ups get back into a child's brain.

This section will be about picture books, because that is what I am illustrating at the moment. It is also more relevant to this blog, because in my mind the pictures in picture books are FAR more important than the words.

Why are pictures more important than words in picture books?

1. There are only so many words you have to work with while writing a children's book. Pictures are universal, and can include all of the details that you cannot explain with simple language.

2. Imagine that you are a young child who cannot read, sitting in your mother's lap while she reads you a story. Would it really be an enjoyable experience if you have nothing to look at while she reads?

This brings me to explain what makes for good illustrations in a picture book. I've seen a lot of children's books that are absolutely gorgeous, each illustration a literal oil painting that probably took a billion years to paint. But these are more enjoyable to look at for adults. In fact, I remember being almost intimidated by these books. Maybe that was just me, but I'd rather have had clear line drawings with simple filled in color. To me those were easier to look at, and often times more fun. Beauty has almost nothing to do with the level of worth that an illustration has, not from a kid's perspective.

The very best example that I can give of a great children's book is 'Go, Dog, Go!' By P.D. Eastman. It was my favorite as a child, and now it is my niece's favorite.

This book's illustrations are vibrant and full of life. The words act as props for the illustrations, which keeps it fast and easy to read. Let me take you through this book and show you what P.D. Eastman did right.

1. The more words, the more complicated the illustration.

The first page of this book has one word on it. 'Dog.' Then it shows a dog. 

There are two words on the next page, and more words on the next page. But as there are more words, there are more things to look at. Why is this so important? Timing. The time it takes the mother to read the page is the same time the child has to stare and wait for the next page to come. It only makes sense that a page that takes longer to read would have more things for the child to look at.

2. The pictures are more than just the words visualized.

On that first page, it would have been just as easy to show a dog sitting down. But no, the dog is skating. How much more interesting is this? It gets the child right into the action, even if it doesn't seem relevant from an adult's perspective. From a child's perspective, the words are the add-ons. Keep that in mind while illustrating or working with your illustrator.

3. It has interesting characters and conflicts.

This 'conflict' that occurs throughout the book gives just the right amount of consistency. The rest of the book is mostly just dogs doing different things, but these two characters keep reappearing, and every time they appear they talk about hats. It always gave me the sense that this is what they do, and this is who they are. Even just the fact that he always says goodbye right after offending her gave away so much of his personality to me. You wouldn't think that kids pick up on these subtleties, but they do! Obviously they don't try to analyze everything like I am doing now, but they do recognize these kinds of things without even realizing that they do. I can't even tell you what mixed feelings I had towards these characters, and yet how I reveled in these mixed feelings! Hardly any children's book is like this. Adults assume they have to be so obvious and blunt to get something across to a kid, but this is the opposite of the  case. In reality, kids actually exaggerate all emotions and subtleties, because they have such vast imaginations. And so characters and conflicts that leave no room for imagination are just boring. Speaking of leaving room for the imagination...

4. Makes the child think.

There is this one page of this book that always got me. It is the page where all the dogs go to bed, but one dog has his eyes wide open.

It never explains why that dog is awake. It never explains why that dog looks so scared.  It leaves these things for the child to question. This goes along with the words being add-ons. You wanna know why kids always want to read this book again and again the moment after you finish reading it to them? Because they want to figure out the answers to these questions. At least, that was my reason for it... I hope it isn't creepy how much I remember being a two year old. Please don't judge me.

Conclusion

Children aren't stupid or even simple. Their brains just work differently because they have different stuff to base their logic and feelings off of. Being a children's book author doesn't mean dumbing things down, it means working with what you've got. And in some ways that is harder than writing novels for adults.

I hope this was helpful! Leave a comment wether you agree or disagree about the thought process of a child, because I could very well be misrepresenting the kid community, seeing as I was only one little girl. I may or may not make a part two about writing for older kids, because while I am just as passionate on that subject, I am not sure how to make it relate to this blog. Perhaps I'll eventually put both parts onto my other blog, http://thezozozone.blogspot.com/ . Let me know what you want in the comments, and happy sketching to you all!

Just the beginning

A week ago, I randomly signed up for this website called ' UpWork.' I didn't think much of it, until they charged me a dollar to check that my debit card was working and NEVER GAVE IT BACK!

This website is aimed at getting skilled people together with people who need those skills. On your profile (if you consider yourself a said skilled person) you put what your strengths are and you make a little portfolio for yourself.

After that, you can either forget that you even made an account, like I did, or you can search and apply for jobs that non-skilled people post. The jobs can range from taking five minutes to five months, and payment can be either hourly or a fixed price.

A few days after forgetting that I'd made an account, I got an email. The email said that someone was interested in hiring me! She said she saw my portfolio, liked my work, and wanted me to -get this- illustrate an entire children's book for her!

The book was about messy pigs, and she wanted me to draw a bunny and a pig before she hired me to see if I was capable, since all of my portfolio was of faces.

I was so excited that I got to drawing right away, which probably wasn't the best idea, since my hands were earthquakes. I decided to draw the bunny sort of reprimanding the pig, because in a story about messy pigs, you can be sure that the bunny will be the one trying to fix 'em up. Why is it always bunnies, I wonder? Probably because they are so cute and unobtrusive in the midst of their reprimanding.

So I sent that to her, and she said that I was hired. In fact, she said, with a few tweaks my concept art could be one of final illustrations! I flipped out. I had been right about the bunny, and now I had saved myself time, and gotten off at a great start with my new boss! I had shown that I can read minds, and that is very helpful for client trying to describe how she wants the illustrations to be.

Sadly, this job means I will be very busy and won't be able to work on my comic. But I will still be making the illustrations with the iPad pro, which is an even bigger feat in some regards. And don't worry, I will still blog. In fact, I already know what my next post will be about. It will be about what it is to be a children's book illustrator. I think I am qualified to answer that because not only have I illustrated a children's book before, but I also remember what it was like reading them as a child, and I know what makes children tick.

In other news, I finally got my hands on the iPad pro smart keyboard cover thingy majig. Also, my oldest sister is flying to Europe today and will be gone for two years. But most exciting of all, yesterday I got my copy of the official Star Wars novel, 'Before the Awakening,' and it does not disappoint!

Have a great week everybody! Make sure to comment your thoughts, and I will reply. Read me next week, and show this blog to any artist buds you have acquired. Goodbye!

Why You Should Stop Using Photoshop

I am not a hateful kind of person. But I am very passionate, and my goal in life is to help people out. So without further ado, here is why you might benefit from quitting Photoshop.

Let me tell you a story. I was watching a video about how this one guy makes his comic books, as I do when I am stranded on the island of un-creativity (aka artist's block; more on that in a future post.)

Now, this man liked to sketch and ink traditionally, as a lot of people do. After he was done with that, he would go through the hassle of scanning and then add in the mid tones, borders, and text inside photoshop. That is all. A simple scratch on the surface of what Photoshop is capable of.

This is perfectly reasonable. In fact, many artists use that very work flow.

But is it the best?

This man, overwhelmed with very sight of this program, managed to learn a way to do what he needed and go. You wanna know how he made his borders? He filled in a very slim rectangle with black, then copy and pasted that, then flipped it by 90 degrees, then did it all over again until he had four sides. He proceeded to do this for ALL HIS BORDERS. This process took so long that he had to fast forward the video!

Well, you say, he obviously could have looked it up on the web and- voila! Problem solved. You can easily just add a stroke to a selection to get the same result. Except how would he look that up without knowing what 'stroke' meant? This is bad design, in my personal opinion. It's ironic, since so many people who use it are professional designers.

The funny thing was that he knew the keyboard shortcut to rotate the one side of the border by 90 degrees, so my guess is that he did look it up on the internet, but that was the only thing he could find.

The problem is that photoshop has so many options and tools, that the ones that satisfy a particular artist's needs are bound to be hard to access.

In fact, the majority of digital artists who use photoshop could easily move their workflow to a much simpler app and not miss a thing. So why don't they?

Well, I'm not completely sure, but I know it has something to do with psychology. Artists love the flexibility of photoshop, or -at the very least- the idea of it. You can do literally anything in photoshop, and that is a very provocative thought.

And yet, just because you can do anything, doesn't mean you will.

Obviously certain artists really do use a lot of photoshop's features in their normal workflow, and hurray to them for taking the time to learn this monster of a program. But let's face it- these artists aren't even close to a majority.

But, if you have the program and know how to use it, why switch? Maybe you will use those features someday. I'm not saying you won't. Maybe you have made a workflow for yourself that you like. By all means, stay if you want to. But if you are just getting started with digital art, or if you aren't completely happy with the program, all I'm saying is that you shouldn't feel like you are chained to photoshop because you think that it is what the professionals use.

Photoshop was way ahead of its time when it first came out, and people can do some crazy stuff with it. But there are so many different programs now that may just work better for your needs. Experiment to see what works best for you! Good luck!

How to turn your practice into power in 3 easy steps.

​Practice makes perfect. But what makes practice perfect?

I have been drawing ever since I can remember. That is a lot of years of practice. But I've seen a lot of artists who are better than me, without as much experience. How can this be?

Sure, part of it could be due to talent. But most of it is due to the fact that not all practice is created equal. My problem? I've been practicing wrong most of my life.

So, learn from my mistakes! Let me tell you right now that buying an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil will not turn you into a pro! Learn from my mistakes and join the group of people who are better than me even with less experience! Turn your practice into power practice, ASAP.

How to turn your practice into power in 3 easy steps.

1. Find a goal so you can mark your progress.

The difference between just drawing and power drawing, is that power drawing has a purpose. A goal. And this perfect kind of practice doesn't exclude non-artists. This is how to improve your skills in general.

So, how do you find a goal? Find someone better than you. An inspiration. That is the first major step. It may seem irrelevant, but it is very important to be able mark your progress, and having a set goal is the only way to do that effectively.

If you are drawing, this can also mean finding a reference photo. I can't begin to tell you how important this is.

2. Try new things.

Push your limits. It's the only way to improve. As I mentioned in my last post (Why a Webcomic?),  for years of my early artistic journey, the only thing I wanted to draw was floating heads. Yes, it is as creepy as it sounds! I was good at drawing faces, and so that was what I drew, and I regret it bunches now. I could have improved so much, yet because I was satisfied with how things were, I didn't try to change anything.

3. Let go of what you know.

There is a drawing exercise that involves taking a reference photo, turning it upside down, and drawing it the way it appears upside down. In the few casual art classes that I've given to young children, the improvement was obvious when drawing upside down. Why?

Because sometimes you have to take a new perspective. Your old perspective may be wrong, and if you can learn to let go of your old perspective in the blink of an eye, you will go far in life. 

Why a Webcomic?

If you've read my twitter bio, you know that I love to both write and draw. But there's some more that I couldn't manage in 140 characters.

I proclaimed myself an artist at a very young age; typical behavior of a six year old, I know. Except while most girls my age were into horses and stick figures, the most fun thing to draw, for me, has always been faces. People just fascinated me, and I wanted to learn to capture their expressions and emotions.

The problem here was that I became so good at drawing faces, that I didn't practice anything else. I abhorred moments when people saw my art and asked me to draw something else, assuming that I was good at everything.

It wasn't until I was fourteen that I tried to expand my skills. My older sister had written a book for our baby niece and she wanted me to illustrate it. And as you can probably guess, she wasn't imagining pages filled with floating heads.

In fact, the story was about two baby squirrels. Now, animals have always been a particular weak point of mine, but I couldn't refuse. I did, however, put it off a long time. I'm good at that.

Eventually, though, our niece's birthday was too close for comfort and I was obligated to begin.

I worked furiously in the few months that I had, not only to draw the pictures but also to break through all the barriers that came with learning to draw something new. But because I was forced to do it, I did it, and I'll never regret that. I gained a lot of experience through this trial, and I can now say that I've illustrated a children's book.

BUT I still have a lot to learn. No matter how proud I am of those squirrel scribbles, I can't exactly call myself the expert. For example, I am only just learning about perspective; my previous experience souly reliant on common sense. And I still haven't come close to mastering the infamous human hand.

So why am I making a webcomic?



Because I want a motivator. The webcomic that I am planning will push my limits, and force me to learn things I haven't considered before. Plus, I'm super excited about my story and characters... I will be posting character bios in the near future.

Next week's post will be about the best methods, I've found, to teach yourself art. They are what I used while illustrating the squirrels, and what I am using for my comic. Be looking forward to Friday!