Creative Workshop
“Your imagination is your workshop . . .” is the message I took away from reading Ocean Reeve’s book, Inspire Your Fire. I must admit that I’ve loved working in my creative workshop, even when many words landed in the literary compost heap.
Publishing picture books requires creativity – taking a succession of text on a white page and converting it into something tangible. I recall the moment when I saw my characters in black and white, then colour. Suddenly, they had eyes and a face. They could smile. Each of them has a different number of spots on their cheeks, bands on their tails and stripes on their forehead. Cheeky Chelsea splashes black paint around. Energetic Chadwick wears sweat bands, to wipe his brow. Prim and proper Christina smoothes the frills of her art smock. Studious Chevron takes his binoculars everywhere, exploring his world. Caring Charlotte is characterised by her white heart. Now their personalities are beginning to shine.
But where do they live? My illustrator turned my skimpy diagram into this: the first sketches of their setting.
Now they had a home – a place to belong! Here, they would be safe. Here, they would be perfectly happy to tell their story.
Yes, creativity requires a workshop – but it brings so much JOY . . . like tapping into a deep reservoir or finding a seam of gold.
References: Reeve, Ocean. (2018) Inspire Your Fire: Creative Innovation through Authorship. Ocean Reeve Publishing.
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Answers: Blog 18:
Word Step: walks, talks, tales, tiles, tiler, tiger.
Word Association:(suggestions only) Reliable, respectful: Imaginary, interested: Empathetic, encouraging, energetic: Nice: Delightful, dependable, daring to dream together: Sharing, sparkling, special.
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