Rewind to 2023, when I got my first book deal. I told EVERYONE. Even my dental hygienist knew how excited I was, and asks for updates every time I sit in her chair.

The bookmaking process was nothing short of joyful. I couldn’t wait to get to my desk every day to write, sketch roughs, explore characters, and paint. Working with a team of pros was incredible. I loved getting critiques on my work and implementing changes to make the book better.

I turned in final art in July and anxiously awaited the publisher’s feedback. When it finally arrived in the form of email, it made my blood run cold — they no longer wanted to publish my book.

After a teary, sweary meltdown, my mental health took a nosedive. Insomnia and peak levels of anxiety became my new normal as I worked out what needed to happen next with the agent. Any joyful memories of the process were easily be replaced with feelings of worthlessness and despair.

I’d ruminate on thoughts like:

“Why did I ever think my art was good enough to be in a book?”

“No one will want to work with me now.”

“Is Trader Joe’s hiring? Would they even hire me?”

Contractual obligations kept me from sharing this news until now. Holding my feelings inside during the termination process was hard. My heart still races every time a well-meaning friend, family member, or dental hygienist, asks about the book.

It hasn’t been a pretty journey, but it would have been a lot uglier without this community. Sharing my practice and showing up to draw with you has given me hope and optimism when lifting a pencil or paintbrush seemed utterly unthinkable. Thank you so much for being here for me.

I didn’t write this to scare you away from working with publishers and I’m not even going to try to pretend I know anything about the industry. This is just my personal experience and it left me feeling pretty broken. It’s been like that high school heartbreak where you think your world is ending. My art career isn’t over, but I know it’ll never be what I imagined.

Life, like an art career, is full of surprises. Writing, drawing, and painting are there to help us cope with the bad ones.

I hope my experience can be a reminder to keep going and creating during the dark times. That’s when we need it most.

All we can do is try, learn, and keep going.

Your favorite book can reveal a lot about you.

Let’s get to know each other by sharing the titles that sparked our love of reading, made us laugh, and brought us joy!

Here’s one of mine:

This belonged to my dad and has always been my favorite. I still giggle when I remember my grandmother’s voice as she read the words, “I guess she’ll die!”

Have you read this book? What a ride. That poor lady…

In the comments, share books that:

• shaped your love of reading

• made you laugh

• told stories that you still think about today

• your little people ask you to read over and over

Leave a comment

I’ll start a thread in the chat to share cover art from our magical books!

One more thing…

Have you signed up for our Vintage Album Covers Reimagined… as Cats session with ?

Introvert Drawing Club

Live drawing sessions for everyone. 🌻 Keeping you excited about your creative practice! ✏️ Workshops, art demos, advice, and feedback from a kind, supportive community. 🐢

By Beth Spencer

Download it below and tuck it into your sketchbook, pocket, or purse. It’ll probably fit comfortably in a bra if you like wearing those.

I’ve been taking it everywhere and recording thoughts about characters I’m developing. These details have been useful for shaping stories I’m working on for future books.

Pocket-Sized Character Prompts

8.8MB ∙ PDF file

Download

A tiny book of prompts to whip out when your ideas are most likely ready to party! 🎈

Download

I show you how to fold them in the video, then I start a new one with an idea that just flew into my brain this week!

Bonus tips to keep in mind

• Use the most basic printer paper you can find.

• Old envelopes and backs of scrap paper are perfect for covering mistakes.

• Make mistakes! It’s just printer paper, and you can tape it over it!

• Have several of them going at a time.

• Not sure where to start? Rev up your idea engine with a replay!

  ---

  Have you signed up for our next sessions?

Sign up!

Embracing creativity also means finding clever ways to avoid work, even if it's a fun job! These are my favorite ways to dodge drawing duties:

• Flow-crastinating - Practicing yoga.

• Grow-crastinating - Watering and repotting plants.

• Dough-crastinating - making or eating bread.

• Joe-crastinating - Getting coffee and/or going to Trader Joe's for snacks.

• Pro-CLASS-tinating - Signing up for and attending classes.

Let's talk about the last one -- pro-CLASS-tinating. I’d argue that it’s not a self-indulgent way to avoid work. Signing up for lots of courses means embracing a beginner's mindset, which is brilliant for creativity.

Live courses and workshops keep you accountable. They're on your calendar and require you to show up.

Instead impulsively enrolling, here are reasons you may want to pump the brakes:

Save that class for later if:

It is self-paced. Prerecorded courses are excellent if you have bullet-proof focus, but nowadays, distractions a... hey, what's that over there...is that a notification?

You're feeling overwhelmed with your schedule or financially strained. If the class is amazing, it’ll likely run again in the future. Don’t let FOMO force you to enroll.

The class sounds too good to be true. If you feel like a course will magically level you up, I promise it won’t. No shortcuts, connections, or special portals will skip you ahead.

You want to learn to draw like the artist teaching. That’s copying. Instead, draw using a new technique! And support that artist by buying and sharing their work!

Artist says, “You don't need another class,” and shared reasons to think twice before signing up for a new one.

Pro-CLASS-tinating is a privilege I don’t take lightly. I’ve FULLY embraced it this month in’s comics class1 and Emily Powell’s painting workshops.

shared some wonderful online educational resources in this post.

Final Thoughts

Online classes can feel self-indulgent. But sometimes they’re a brilliant way to show up to draw, meet friends, support artists, and learn new techniques. That’s a beautiful thing!

I want to know ALL the classes you’ve loved, so share away in the comments!

Leave a comment

Read more

For the full experience, press play, and work on whatever project needs your attention. Or you can jump to the work + chat section at 35:50 if you’d like to listen as you draw, paint, or swatch colors. You’ll instantly add delightful, supportive studio mates to your space.

In this post, I listed what I believe makes a nice page in my portfolio.

Sarah’s Patreon is a treasure trove filled with picture book inspiration, guidance, community support, and wonderful writing workshops. Her Sequence Group really got me moving with my picture book ideas in 2022. I revisited the same videos for a brilliant refresher when I got the book deal last year. She’s one of the most generous, creative humans you’ll find online!

We’ll host another portfolio session in March. Stay tuned for the date and envision some portfolio goals (like adding some work, designing a new logo, or rewriting the copy) you want to complete in the next two months. Maybe type it in the comments below. Maybe we’ll hold you accountable in March!

Read more

So here's my formula for artistic success:

“The only way to learn mathematics is to do mathematics.” - Philosopher and mathematician Paul R. Halmos

The same is true about drawing and making art.

Solving equations may not make you a mathematician, but practicing drawing does make you an artist.

There are a lot of factors and variables here. Your formula may differ from mine, but drawing and writing are constants.

You need to draw and write a bunch over a long period of time. At some point, you’ll start to enjoy this process and keep going. That’s right, enjoying the process is a skill.

At the risk of sounding like an after-school special, let me say this: you're capable of creating the work you want to make.

That's where online artist communities have been so valuable. They're a commitment to practice. They've made drawing in my workspace fun and engaging.

Drawing with other artists helped me solve the brain-bending algebraic equation of making art I like. If you’re looking for support and companionship in your journey, this community is here for you.

Paid community members have access to the replays, drawing demos, and process videos, including the one below. It's a walk-through of my process for thumbnailing my Folktale Week story.

Read more

I said no more drawing challenges until 2025. Then I saw the Folktale Week prompts:

• Lost

• Ink

• Sea

• Sleep

• Underground

• Illusion

• Found

I thought about these prompts while I folded some laundry, ate some plantain chips, and walked a dog. That's when fuzzy images and ideas around the words started buzzing in my brain.

The cornerstone of personal practice is following my own curiosity and interests, so I'm opening my mind to another challenge.

I love 's gentle approach to this year’s Folktale Week challenge:

"I haven’t started on anything yet, letting the prompts percolate in my mind first."

Also, check out , , and Sarah Dyer’s Patreon for wonderful Folktale Week inspiration and insights!

In the video below, I explain how I use something from my everyday life to shape a story and characters. Think about how you can connect something in your own life to the words and start drawing. Sitting down and drawing can be the hardest part!

Read more

Last week I asked you to explore your curiosity to create an authentic character idea.

This week I'd like you to draw them in different environments. I'm not asking you to draw their home or bedroom.

Draw them in places I've picked at random:

1. Dentist’s office

2. Pumpkin patch

3. Indoor pool

4. Bowling alley

5. Arcade

Think about how your character would behave in the scene you’re drawing.

There’s no need to get a perfect likeness or image. You’re doing this to generate ideas and get to know your character.

Why should you do this exercise?

• Simply drawing your character in new scenes can teach you so much about them.

• It'll open new creative pathways to push your story forward.

• It's fun! You can hear the enjoyment in my voice when I do it in the video below.

Now seems like a good time to mention the Friday Feedback Forum! Every Friday I’ll create a thread in chat for paid members to post works in progress for feedback.

It's a place where you can upload what you're working on and get feedback from this lovely community (and me)!

Become a member and get feedback now!

Read more

Photoshop used to be my go-to for editing. I've been using it for 20 years and it still melts my brain at times! If you're starting out, then I recommend making edits in Procreate. It's simple and easy. I'm going to show you how it helps me edit, so I can draw loosely and worry about details later. But first…

Draw Dogs with me June 9!

I'd love for you to join me live for The Dogist session on June 9 at 12pm CST. Elias, Dogist photographer, generously gave permission to draw from his photos for a session and is excited to see art inspired by them. 

I’m also working on a series called “Don’t do what I did” where I’ll go over mistakes I made, so you can avoid them. I can’t wait to show you all my embarrassing missteps!

Read more

Read more

Some notes on this video:

I redid the background once again in Acryla Gouache, which you can see below. 

I have that process in a quick timelapse for the intro to the next video, where I'll go over feedback from my agent and final edits. 

I'm happy to answer any questions about how I'm using Procreate or Photoshop. I feel like I've found a way to work in both to finesse my work and correct mistakes.

Read more

I can appreciate that there’s a special kind of magic to locking oneself indoors and drawing all day during a downpour or freezing temperatures. But the aliveness of Spring brings a special hope and optimism to life that no other season can.

I started with character sketches. I sat on the couch with a coffee, cheap printer paper, and no expectations or pressure. Within 15 minutes, I was pleased with the kids below.

I asked my lovely spouse, who’s never read the book, to tell me about the characters’ personalities based on my sketch. When he summed them up perfectly, I knew I was on the right track.

TIP:
Ask a friend or family member on your who isn’t familiar with your characters to tell you about their personalities.

The background was a bit more tricky for me. I don’t hang out in a lot of gardens, much less draw flowers. I see people buying them at Trader Joe’s and wonder what they’re going to do with all those flowers. So I really struggled to make this thing come together without being painfully bright or too drab and dull.

I painted 5 or 6 backgrounds in gouache and acryla gouache, then made some edits and fun discoveries digitally. I go into more detail in the video below and have documented the whole thing on Patreon, which you can try out for free here.

Or watch here on Substack, as well as join drawing sessions and access replays and other bonus behind-the-scenes content I’ve been adding.

Thank you so much for subscribing!

In other news:

- I’m retiring my most-used material and mixing a new paint palette

- An exercise where I let color influence an illustration 

- I’ll share new way I loosen up while drawing on location

- Waterbrush review video (this one is overdue, but I've used them a bit more now and have a better understand of what I like or dislike about each one.)

- Stealing some color palettes from birds I met at the zoo and making art with them.

- A list of my favorite webcams and livestreams to draw from when stuck at home.

Thanks for reading and have fun at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, if you’re going!

Read more

This character started out as a green blob on a sheet of scrap paper. Eventually, they become a scooter-riding turtle heading to a convenience store.

I explain what this exercise taught me and take you through the whole process in the video below for paid members.

Read more

In the video below for paid members, I share how I work through the hard parts of not knowing how to draw something and making it more fun.

Read more

I dive further into that in the next video, From Frustration to Figuring it Out, where also share how I knew it was time to give in and do something else.

Read more

What is your character?

This is the part where you’ll decide if your character is an animal, human, alien, robot, rock, etc.

If you keep a sketchbook, flip through and list the things that you loved drawing. Do you notice any patterns? Your character should be something you like to draw (because you’ll be doing that a lot).

Mine goes like this: Lion, penguin, penguin, gorilla, raccoon, gorilla, gorilla, bear, hedgehog, bear, cat, dog, lion, gorilla, woman and bunny, woman and lamb, child and chicken, child and cat, chicken and child, etc. You get the picture.

Going back to even older sketchbooks, every other page is primates. Their shapes, expressions, hands, feet, and poses are simply fun to draw. So creating a gorilla character feels like an authentic choice for me.

Which characters are you drawn to?

Think about your favorite TV show. Which characters do you get excited about being on screen? Make a list of their personality traits and what you like about them.

For me, it's Jasmine from 90-Day Fiancè. Because she’s:

• Funny

• Unpredictable

• Energetic

• Poorly Behaved

Considering your favorite characters so they’re coming from an authentic, believable place. They should feel familiar and interesting to you. They're coming from your brain, after all.

Prompt

Make a list memorable TV & storybook characters, then their personality traits that stand out to you. Are they funny? Strict? Who do they interact with most and what is that like?

I go through some ways you can explore your curiosity to create an authentic character in the video below for paid members.

If you get stuck at any time, take a break, then head over to the Character Development section of the contents page!

Read more