It’s not often that I finish an illustration and think that it looks as it should, but my latest creations are as close to the vision I had in my mind as they can be. Which is quite miraculous to say the least.

I’m not a natural artist, very far from it. My imagination comes up with stories at the drop of a hat and I can picture perfectly how I want the illustrations to look, but when I put pen/pencil/brush to paper or stylus to drawing tablet they never turn out how I want them.

The question is, what do I do? I’ve mentioned before, in previous posts on social media, that I’m far too precious to let anyone else interpret my stories. I could have Quentin Blake or Alex Scheffler in front of me (in my dreams) and I’m quite sure that I would still say ‘thanks but no’ to anything they could offer. My stories are so vivid in my mind and I just don’t think I’d be 100% happy with someone else bringing them to life.

The problem though is that I’m never 100% happy with what I can do either. So, the question remains, what do I do!? Seriously, what do I do!? I guess I just keep trying. That’s the only thing I can do. I practise my illustrations in several different ways, spending any free time I have (which is barely any) sketching, drawing, painting, working on the laptop with the drawing tablet, practising over and over again.

I wonder if I will ever be truly happy with what I produce? Even now after typing that my latest creations are as close to the vision I had in my mind as they can be I know that if I got them out again I could probably add a bit more here and a touch more there. I’ll probably never by truly happy, but coming close is good enough for now.