Illustration

I can’t draw. It’s an established fact. Naturally then, I was surprised when I found myself picking up pencil and paper and trying to draw something.

I am writing a book called “Friendship with a Gryphon,” and I wanted to give readers a better picture of the houses in the elven village. My idea was a large tree, with individual spherical rooms made of sticks, but I couldn’t figure out how to fit in a description. So I decided to draw a picture.

I started with the base and worked my way up along weathered bark. When the branches split, I drew rough circles and kept going. When the branches were done, I started on the spherical rooms. Lots of quick, short strokes. You’re drawing a ball of sticks, not yarn, I told myself.
    
Then came the leaves. A grand canopy stretching down behind? No, then the tree would be unbalanced. You need to be able to see the house.

Long, stooping branches that reach down the sides? No, no, no! It’s a tree, not a tunnel! I went on like this for some time, liberally using both pencil and eraser.

Was I done? Not even close! There was still shading to do. I’ll admit, I was a little nervous about the shading. It would make my drawing look a lot more three-dimensional, but I was worried about messing up.

Chill! I told myself. You got this! Tentatively, I started to shade one of the spherical rooms. Honestly? Once I got going, it was easy! What was I scared of again? Whatever, it doesn’t matter.
    
I’m done with my drawing now and I’m still not sure whether I’ll actually use it in my story or not, but at least there’s one thing I do know: It’s a beautiful drawing, and I’m proud of it. Who knows? Maybe I can draw.