Creativity Friday: art versus words?

As I wrote earlier this week, posting everyday in January has forced me to focus my blog in new ways. Now that Mondays are dedicated to the infinitely fascinating (well, to me!) subject of publishing, I’ve decided that Fridays will be devoted to creativity. After all, there wouldn’t be much to publish without the force of creativity, would there?

My Creativity Friday posts will be an intimate look at what it takes to follow the Muses. I’ll reveal the artistic process that goes into my writing, illustrating, and designing my publications. Sometimes these posts will be brass tacks practical; other times, they may be of a more inspirational bent. I’ll also cover other artists and writers whose work I’ve found relevant and helpful during my creative journey.

Anyway, my first Creativity Friday post concerns a question I’m often asked. Most recently, it came up in an interview I gave for the next stop on the DOOMED QUEENS blog tour. (A teaser: This stop will be featured here tomorrow, along with a new book giveaway.)

Here’s the question I fielded: “Along with being an established writer, you’re also an artist. Is it hard juggling the two careers?”

Yes, it is tricky juggling both careers (or three careers, if you include my work as a designer — my design work tends to get lumped into the “artist” category). However, I can’t imagine not writing, illustrating or designing. Each of these art forms are uniquely enjoyable to me. I love the pleasures of choosing the right typeface; the colors and textures of paint; and the joy of finding that right turn of phrase to describe something previously intangible. Working in different disciplines is also good for stoking inspiration; when I feel “stuck” with a book, I simply turn to another way of approaching it.

From an artistic standpoint, I think that my work as a writer, artist and designer lends itself to a greater Gesamtkunstwerk. (At least I hope so — for better or worse, these books are springing full source from my imagination, like Athena from Zeus’s head. Now there’s an image!) While I work I try to make my books fulfill my vision, with the art and text required to support it.

During the year or so that it takes for me to bring a book to publication, it’s rare for me to write and make art simultaneously. I usually work on one portion at a time, going back and forth as needed to pull all the pieces together. Over the past few years, my schedule has worked out like Persephone: I’ll write for six months, then make art for another six. The design work gets interwoven as needed. It’s a very organic and improvisatory process.

Writing and making art is what I’ve always wanted to do ever since I was a small child. When I reached high school, my big decision was whether to focus on writing or art. Fate intervened with a scholarship to the School of Visual Arts. However, my passion for writing did not go away: Within five years of my graduation from SVA, I sold my first book manuscript.

In this modern world, we often dismiss those who pursue multiple disciplines as dilettantes. After all, we’re supposed to specialize for maximum mastery and earning power! As for myself, I prefer the ideal of the Renaissance (wo)man. I also look to the example of William Morris, the Victorian designer, artist, writer and oh, so much more! But that’s a subject for another Creativity Friday.

I suspect this is an issue that other author-illustrators consider quite often. How do they balance art versus words? Is it hard to be taken seriously in both disciplines? Whether you’re an author-illustrator or another multi-disciplined professional, I’d love to hear your experiences juggling it all!

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The Muses painting at the top of this post is from THE BOOK OF GODDESSES (Abrams Books). To create it, I used watercolor, gouache, and pencil on Arches paper. The background behind the dancing goddesses was inspired by the Villa dei Misteri in Pompeii.

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