Want to Look Cute? Draw Yourself!

Is Tanuki saying I have a big head?

Drawing yourself can be easy and fun

Even if you’re not a cartoonist, knowing how to draw yourself as a cartoon character can be a unique addition to your journals, putting your face on little notes or cards you give as gifts to friends, family, and even your kids.

You can add personality to anything you’re writing by hand and make people smile if you can draw yourself quickly and cutely.

Step One: Pick a shape for your head

Choose a shape for your head. Even a square one could be cute!

Look in the mirror, take a deep breath, and be honest about your head shape. Do you have a long face? Round? Maybe you’re not sure, so you ask someone. If you have kids, ask them how they see you. Be prepared for hilarious honesty!

Truthfully, the shape of the head doesn’t really matter.

You can use any of the three. I draw myself with each one of these head shapes depending on how I feel. If you look back on some of my older posts, the cartoony version changes depending on the joke, how stubborn I want to come across (square heads are good for that), or how innocent I must look to clarify the message.

Step Two: Draw your eyes and nose along the same line

Drawing your eyes and nose on the same line helps you look cute.

I like to use simple dots for my eyes, but you can use circles with pupils inside if you like. The main tip is to keep the eyes level with the nose. For some reason, this helps your drawing of the face look young and cute.

If you move the nose down further, it will make the face look older. If you have a pencil or pen in hand, try it. Draw several head shapes and add a simple letter C-shaped nose, then place eyes higher or lower and see what happens.

The key to making it look like you can also be adding eyebrows. Are yours thick, thin, or bushy? Dark or light color?

Be honest!

I have thick dark eyebrows, so I draw them large and color them black. They’re so big that they rise above my head most of the time. Don’t be afraid to push the size of your facial features. Making your eyes and nose super tiny in the center of a large circle might look better than features that take up more space. Use variety until you get something that looks right.

Even an expression can convey your unique personality.

If you’re a smiley person, really push the toothy grin. Are you usually serious? Try out different versions of expressions that represent you until something clicks.

Step Three: Add ears and hair

Now, they look like people!

Hair can make all the difference. Being bald is undoubtedly a part of making the cartoon version of me look accurate.

What shapes are created with your hair? How do you wear it most of the time?

Is it up, down, curly on top? If you always wear a baseball cap or some other cool hat, like a fedora, put it on you. See if you can figure out a style that looks like the every day you and simplify it into a few curving lines.

You don’t need to look exactly like you—only resemble you.

Step Four: Add a midsection, then arms and legs

One of these just might be you.

Are you tall or short? Maybe your midsection should be broad or box-like. Once you get it more like you, add in legs and feet. Don’t be afraid to use the animation method of Squash and Stretch to pull yourself long if you’re tall and smoosh yourself shorter or wider if needed.

Keep your feet simple ovals or half circles to make drawing easier.

That middle guy looks more like me.

Add arms with two parallel straight or curved lines and place a circle at the end for the palm of your hand.

Later, you can add a thumb and little sausages for your fingers.

From here, try adding details to your clothes that look like what you would typically wear. If you’re using a pen, coloring something in black, like pants, a collar, or a shirt, adds visual interest to your drawing.

Check out these examples.

I like the pointy-haired guy. He looks like a muppet!

Will you look like a kid? Yes. Most likely. But you’ll be cute and easy to draw.

For practice, try drawing your friends simply or family members and see if you can capture them with dots, circles, and different body types. You’ve seen me draw my daughter several times in comics here, and I focus on her curly hair to make her distinct.

Make sure to try various versions of yourself and have fun. If you make something you like, let me know in the comments.

Happy drawing!

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Meditation Cat in Yoga Therapy

This Meditation Cat comic strip skit was initially written by my comedian friend Danny T. Yang. From his experience performing comedy improv, he had an idea of how to write the first draft, and I filled in some of the dialogue to build tension and then illustrated the final version. 

We hope you like it!

-If you want to see how it all began, read the first Meditation Cat comic HERE.

-Another popular one is all about When Shouldn’t You Meditate HERE.

Mindfulness Superhero With Meditation Cat

This one was a challenge. I hope you enjoyed it.

Figuring out how to expand on Rongo’s meditation needs and make him a superhero without preaching the benefits of mindfulness while also making it fun and funny—not easy.

A shower of thanks goes to the friends who gave feedback and suggestions. Especially to comedy writer Danny Yang, who helped me tie it all up with a nice button at the end where the cops also meditate.

It was an enjoyable challenge.

Thanks for reading!

Tech Bro Santa Claus

You can read more comics like these delivered to your email inbox via my Substack newsletter here:

https://khalidbirdsong.substack.com/

The Zen Buddhist Monk Cartoonist

A comic about helping people endure tough times.

Inspired by a short story of his life in the book Folk Tales of Japan by Kyota Ko.

If you’re interested in learning more about my books and comic strip collections, check out my Amazon author page HERE.

Why Japanese People Live So Long- A comic essay

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The Cartooning Workshop I'll Never Forget

One excited old man crashes an already upside down class.

Cartooning workshops I teach are a lot of fun and ordinarily predictable.

They work how you’d expect. You advertise to a particular age group of kids, that age group shows up at the school or library, and we draw comics together. Everyone learns something new and leaves getting what they signed up for.

It didn’t go exactly this way at the one I taught last week.

I met an interesting man who showed me that sometimes classes might be the opposite of what you're accustomed to, so always be ready for anything.

When I say the class was opposite, I'm talking about Bizarro world opposite.

This particular one was advertised for teenagers—which worried me because I’ve never done one for that age group, and I was afraid they wouldn’t show up—they’re not who I would think would be interested in group cartooning lessons.

Cartooning classes are always packed when I hold them for elementary and middle school age. The younger kids love them! Teenage artists tend to hide away in their rooms or with their close friends.

I remember my mother signing me up for a comic book art class in high school, and I couldn’t wait to go. Classes about making comics were impossible to find back then, so I was definitely going. Of course, I was the only teenager there; all the others were elementary school students, but I had a blast.

Unfortunately, my suspicions about how many teens would show up for my class this time were correct.

I was surprised because I can never get any students I usually teach art to at my school to attend these library events. The first person to walk in was one of my sixth graders, let’s call her Amy, who lives in the area and saw that her art teacher was holding a cartooning class at her local library and was excited to join.

Very cool, I thought. I don’t usually get students I know, so this might be fun and more relaxing than my regular workshops.

I’m always put in a classroom with a whiteboard to draw for the students, but this colossal presentation-style room didn’t have one. Luckily, the kind librarian who invited me found a large paper pad and an easel.

We were off and running!

The only problem, no one else was coming in, and it was time to start. Would we only have one student? A student I already teach?

“Let’s give another few minutes for people to arrive, and I’ll make an announcement on the intercom for the whole library.” said “Judy,” our librarian.

It worked. Gradually people started showing up.

A lovely family with a middle school-aged daughter and an elementary-aged son walked in with their dad, excited to sit down and draw.

Not teenagers, though.

A mom and her six-year-old son came skipping in, ready to draw.

Still no teenagers.

Right before I started the class, a woman stopped at the door with her one-year-old daughter looking in like she was eager to join.

Um, was this for her or her child?

Judy, the librarian, ushered them in and gave them paper and pencils. Maybe Mom likes to draw? Her toddler daughter sat quietly with a pencil in her fist, scribbling along with everything. I guess this is fine.

Not one high school teenager in sight.

I introduce myself and share my Fried Chicken and Sushi book collections and Youngbloods graphic novel. Just as we start getting into how to draw interesting cartoon faces, an older man, maybe in his late sixties, is standing at the door staring inside at us with wide eyes.

He was eager to join the drawing fun and immediately lit up, shouting, “Is this class open to the public?! Is this for anyone?! Can I join?!”

I reluctantly said yes. He wasn’t a teenager, after all. But that didn’t seem to matter today.

Librarian Judy didn’t tell him no; maybe she recognized him as a regular.

The man excitedly shouted, “I normally just come to the library to make copies! I didn’t know they had drawing classes.”

He strutted in, grabbed a paper and a pencil, and immediately sat beside my sixth-grade student, Amy. Plenty of other tables were open, so she was mortified he chose to sit right next to her.

“What’s your name?” He enthusiastically asked me.

“Khalid. Nice to meet you.” I responded.

“Cali? Did you say, Cali, like short for California?!”

“Actually, it’s Khalid. Khalid Birdsong.” I clarified.

My last name caught his attention, “Birdsong! Like a singing bird?! Tweet tweet!”

I forced a laugh and went on teaching.

I wish he quietly listened and followed along with my cartooning lesson, but dealing with his behavior felt similar to teaching six-year-olds. He continually shouted out responses to my drawings and tips throughout the class.

It was difficult to get mad because he was charming and flattering to my artwork, albeit loudly.

“Wow! You’re pretty good at drawing, Birdsong!” he shouted a couple of times.

“Hey, you’re cheating and making this look easy!!”

You know those times when you realize you’ll have to practice patience, and the phrase "grin and bear it" is all you can do? I was deep in the bearing it stage.

When I taught them how to draw characters, he continued to talk and shout his amazement at my drawing skills. Flattering, yes, annoying, most definitely.

The librarian tried to shut him up. Politely.

It didn’t work.

I smelled no liquor, but he still could have been a little drunk. Maybe he was genuinely ecstatic to draw again in a real class environment. We’ll never know.

By the end of the hour, he was eager to come up and look at my books and original art. I appreciated his interest and kind words, but it made giving time to the other students difficult.

He gave me his drawing, and it was pretty good. Perhaps he enjoyed drawing at one point in his life and gave it up or lost interest at some point.

The mystery man’s actual drawing from class that day.

I know I’m tall, but I didn’t think I looked as big as he made me in the drawing. I look super huge!

He didn’t put his name on it, so I told him an artist has to sign their work before giving it to someone. It looks like his goal was to stay anonymous because he only signed it as Doodlers 7575. Maybe he somehow knew he’d make an impression on me, and I’d share this story.

When he was ready to leave, he walked towards the door and shouted an enthusiastic farewell.

"Hey, Birdsong. Keep TWEETING!"

I smiled and gave him a nod. My cartooning workshop for teenagers without any teenagers turned out alright.

Definitely, one to remember.

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Even though I was having fun sharing about this unique class experience, I wanted to make sure to thank all the librarians and schools who’ve invited me to teach cartooning to their students and communities.

It’s one of my favorite things I get to do, and I’m blessed to have people who believe in my work and the power of visual storytelling.

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This article originally ran in my Substack email newsletter, A New Creative Life.

You can join us by CLICKING HERE.

The Easter Egg Hunters

A new Honeybuns comic about adventure with a purpose.

The Honeybuns and all characters ©khalid birdsong 2023

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Happy Easter to all who celebrate! It was fun making Baxter and Isabel dimension-hopping Easter bunnies.

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Meditation Cat Reaches the End of Thought

A cute comic about discovering deeper meditation.

Creating this story was a fun way to see if I could illustrate a cute character and also turn an article I wrote into a comic. I'm not sure if Rongo, which is a word from New Zealand's indigenous Maori people that means peace, will become a recurring character, but I enjoy drawing him.

It was so enjoyable I’m putting it out there as a practice for you too.

Assignment: Turn your writing, new ideas you’ve learned, or entries in your journal into a short comic. Try taking your writing, pulling out the main idea, and designing a character to show readers your experiences or ideas.

It could be several panels or something short, like a one-panel cartoon similar to the ones you see in The New Yorker. Even if you’re drawing stick figures, see if you can bring your writing to life or something you just went through yesterday with visual storytelling in a sketchbook or journal.

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If you’re interested in meditation, here’s the article I wrote in the publication Publishous on MEDIUM.

What Does it Mean to Reach The End of Thought?

You can get there with this frame of mind.

Photo by Ashley Batz on Unsplash

Getting up in the morning feeling nervous or upset about everything waiting for you in the day ahead can feel overwhelming.

I’ve been meditating for over twenty-five years and have always looked for simple ways to think about the practice. So many people tell me they can’t figure out how to do it or get to a place where they notice the benefits of being mindful.

I watched a powerful video by Dr. K on YouTube, or Alok Kanojia, a psychiatrist and co-founder of the mental health coaching company Healthy Gamer that stuck with me.

In the middle of “Why Finding Purpose is SO HARD today,” he explains about the concept of reaching the “end of thought.” I had never heard this concept before, but when he shared about it, I could finally put into words how to succeed in explaining the benefits of meditation.

Let’s go through the steps he talked about to reach this enlightened place.

Pick a time for mindfulness and sit with yourself

You can meditate traditionally with your legs crossed, sit in a chair, or even lie on a bed. Start breathing in slowly and deeply, paying attention to the different parts of your body one at a time.

It doesn’t have to be only while you’re sitting and not moving.

If you want to be mindful while taking a walk or even drawing, it’s possible if you intend to make the time to connect with the real you and avoid distractions.

“Get away from external stimuli so you can hear your inner voice.”

-Dr. K

There are several phases of awareness that will move you through to reaching yourself.

Sit with your “wants”

Most of your thoughts will first be related to something that’s irritating you or about what you want right now that’s outside of yourself.

Something you’re told should matter.

Mainly stuff you want to do today or think you need to possess, eat, play, or earn to make your life happy—aka desires!

Make it through the boredom

After all of your desires filter through, you’ll feel like you’re left with nothing but sitting there.

Bored.

Many people who try meditation give up on this part. They think, “I can’t meditate. It’s too damn boring!” Or, they think they’re doing it wrong and should be receiving some sort of divine guidance or inner glow after a few minutes of sitting and breathing.

Remember, boredom is your brain trying to get a hit of dopamine or excitement so that it can have fun again. Don’t let it stop you. Let boredom sit there and be bored.

Stay with yourself and give the emptiness time to just be. Don't get up.

You’ll notice your thoughts moving quickly at first and then start slowing down.

Reach the end of thought

If you’re still sitting with yourself, you’ll reach a place where all the other thoughts cease, and as you keep breathing, you’ll meet your true self.

When this happens to me, I notice a feeling of calm, and I even say hello to the real me. The me that’s not manipulated by what the outside world says I should want or do.

It’s lovely.

How long it takes to reach the end of thought depends on how much is going on in your life and how often you meditate.

I find it takes me around ten minutes to get there.

Not as long as you might think, huh? The nice thing is that you want to stay for a while once you get to that place within yourself. It’s comforting to sit with who you are and be at peace.

I look forward to it every morning.

If an emotion comes up, you can feel it intensely and let it dissipate when it’s done showing itself to you. Your shoulders relax, and you become more aware of your body as a whole.

Discover your personal goals

With your quiet connection to yourself, you’ll start to hear only your internal goals speaking.

Anything that’s important to your overall fulfillment will come into your mind. The values that are important to who you are will be easier to notice and remember.

All the distractions are gone, so you can find out what it is you really need.

The hard part will be accepting what your true self is telling you.

Create a life based on your values

One of the greatest benefits of meditation is the ability to tap into yourself and see what you need in order to be fulfilled.

Not what your parents want you to be. Not what society says you should be.

What do you truly want and need to be doing during your time on this planet? You might be surprised at what you hear.

Meditation helps you become aligned with your personal life goals. Once you know them, you can do the things you need to pursue and reach them.

Anytime you get distracted by external messages, remember to sit with yourself and tune in through mindfulness. You can always find yourself with a little quiet and patience with the present moment.

Dr. K talks about how people are always looking for the reason why human beings are here. What’s the meaning of life?!

“The purpose of life is not in life, it’s in you.”

-Dr. K

It’s all inside of you. Stop looking for someone to tell you what your purpose is and find it in yourself. Then, decide to take the real you exactly where you need to go.

Try meditating again today — maybe after reading this article — and sit for a long enough time to find where your thoughts end and your true self begins.

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The Homeless Savings Plan

A comic story you’ll hope isn’t true…

DISCLAIMER: This comic is not based on a true story, and I would never suggest you do something so extreme to save money.

I am, however, commenting on how ridiculous the housing market is in the bay area and the entire country. It wouldn’t surprise me if someone went to great lengths to save up for a down payment.

Have you heard any crazy home-buying stories?

Share them in the comments…

An Open Letter to Dilbert Cartoonist Scott Adams’ Racist Rant

I won’t hate you, but I’m filled with pity as a Black Cartoonist.

Dear Scott,

You described Black people as members of “a racist hate group” during an online video show and ranted about how white people should distance themselves from all Black people.

Now that newspapers are, unsurprisingly, dropping your Dilbert comic strip and your syndicate is letting you go, you’re complaining about a lack of free speech in America and surprised you’re being “canceled?”

Listen, Scott, you can go on all the ridiculous racist rants you’d like in public, but you still have to deal with the consequences of your actions. You don’t get a pass.

No one is that famous.

As a Black cartoonist myself, not as famous as you are, of course, but my comic strip Little Fried Chicken and Sushi is syndicated online, also through Andrews McMeel on GoComics. I know how hard the weekly grind can be for publishing new strips consistently, and they must be funny and topical always without even a week off or break.

Making a syndicated comic strip is enjoyable but an endless marathon.

It can drive you crazy, but you’re also smiling and trying to make gags that get a laugh. Your over thirty years of drawing Dilbert for over two thousand newspapers worldwide is mighty impressive.

Why would you ruin all that, even though the pressure can drain you, by saying racist crap for attention? You’re already getting plenty.

It’s obvious you’ve been going too far for a while now, and perhaps you haven’t noticed how offensive you are. Some things aren’t funny, though.

Losing your career is a painful way to learn.

I don’t like what you did and am pretty pissed about it. But I’m not going to hate you. That would be too easy.

Let’s see if I can understand you. After all, I’ve read plenty of your comic strips and two of your books over the years, and I’d like to think I was one of your fans.

So what went wrong?

You play the victim like you’re expecting something from Black people.

On your Coffee With Scott Adams online video show, you said Black people are a hate group, citing a Rasmussen survey which shows nearly half of all Black people do not agree with the phrase “It’s okay to be white.”

Adams stated, “I would say, based on the current way things are going, the best advice I would give to white people is to get the hell away from Black people.”

I’m not sure if he’s trying to make a joke, but he states that at one time, he chose to identify as Black and didn’t get any respect for it. What the hell, Scott?!

Apparently, he had been identifying as Black “because I like to be on the winning team” and that he used to help the Black community. I’m not sure how, though.

Adams said the results of the Rasmussen poll changed his mind.

“It turns out that nearly half of that team doesn’t think I’m okay to be white,” he said and decided it was time to return to being white. “I’m going to back off from being helpful to Black America because it doesn’t seem like it pays off,” he said. “I get called a racist. That’s the only outcome. It makes no sense to help Black Americans if you’re white. It’s over. Don’t even think it’s worth trying.”

“I’m not saying start a war or do anything bad,” he added. “Nothing like that.
I’m just saying get away. Just get away.”

Do you want us to give you a medal for being a good person toward a minority group? Once again, I don’t know what he did to “help” Black people. I hope you don’t think finally adding a Black character to your comic strip counts.

I’m a Black man and a cartoonist. I don’t hate white people. I do dislike people who are racist and unwilling to see how closed-minded they are.

I guess you feel you should have the freedom to say whatever you want about Black people, and we won’t get angry or upset with you because you decided to care about us. That’s never going to happen. Being rude and racist is never okay. No matter how much you believe, you’ve done for people.

Think about it. What if you were friendly and helpful to women? Does that mean you can call them names or openly talk negatively about women just because you decided—in all of your high and mighty white male privilege—to be a good human being?

And doing all of this during Black History Month?

You should have expected severe backlash. Or, maybe that’s what you wanted.

You want to escape drawing a daily comic strip that isn’t working anymore

Leaving such a successful comic strip must be a challenge. I bet you’re sick of it and couldn’t figure out a way to escape. Writing gags about working in an office when you haven’t worked in one for years.

You can’t relate to today’s office worker. There’s no authenticity to your gags. Just idiocy. How can you get away from it all? Make everyone think you’re a racist, so they have no choice but to drop you.

I know how getting tired of a project feels and wanting to let it go. My Little Fried Chicken and Sushi strip on GoComics wasn’t working right, and I worked hard with my editor trying to improve it for two years.

After seven years of trying to find my humor and voice through the characters and gags, I ended the strip. Fortunately, GoComics runs the repeats twice weekly so new readers can find it and, hopefully, enjoy the years of work I put into the comic.

Admitting it wasn’t working was hard, but instead of going on a rant and blaming my readers, I fessed up to failing to make the comic successful.

Stopping production on my strip was easier because it wasn’t a big hit. If it were, maybe I would have felt the pressure to keep making it and trying to improve. I might feel trapped. Living inside that small comic-making factory might drive me to say insane things too.

But I doubt I’d turn to fear and hate like you, Scott. You should be ashamed of yourself.

The only upside to this is that you will get people rereading your comic strip and buying up all your books. Controversy, unfortunately, is a powerful drug people want to snort up their noses.

Look at me; I can’t stop talking about you.

I hope your next chapter includes more kindness, but I doubt it.

Unlike most cartoonists, you like to draw your cartoons and write blog articles and books. I respect that as someone who also clearly enjoys doing the same.

I hate to admit it, but you’re interesting.

You’re someone I’ve enjoyed watching and reading to hear your take. Also, I’ve learned how pushing to the edge of culture, and free speech can backfire on you. It’s a slippery slope, and I get that.

You may end up with only an alt-right white supremacy fan base from here on out, but I bet you’ll be able to make plenty of money speaking at Klan rallies and Donald Trump appearances. Probably not as much as you’re used to from those fat Dilbert paychecks rolling in over the years.

I hope you’ve saved your money.

Or, maybe it’s time to retire. You know, stop talking.

Yeah, the allure of the spotlight is too much to turn away from at this point. You’ve tasted success, felt the burn of controversy, and loved the attention. I’m looking forward to seeing how you spin this into something new.

Once again, I don’t hate you, but I’m happy you’ll stay away from Black people. We don’t need your racist rants or fake attempts at “helping.”

I don’t promote segregation, but in your case, I’m fine with you keeping your distance. Just leave us alone and do you.

All the best,

Khalid Birdsong

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You Can Give Up on Art And Come Back Later

If you’re sick and tired of creating — then stop.

My caricature of artist Jean-michel Basquiat.

If you love something, let it go.

You’ve heard the saying. It doesn’t have to be forever, though especially when it’s a hobby or skill you love dearly.

I’ve been drawing all my life (at least since I was three years old), and it’s a skill I’ve worked hard to develop. Unfortunately, I still feel I’m not good enough compared to other talented artists I see online.

I feel like giving up.

I’m forty-seven, and everything I’ve worked hard for in art hasn’t gone as far as I thougth it would career wise. Making comics, drawing a comic strip syndicated online for seven years, and even freelance illustrating have only taken me so far.

I know I should stop, but I can’t.

When you love something and see it as a part of yourself, it’s hard to let it go.

Actually, that’s not totally true. I’ve met people who were smart enough to try making art or cartooning a career and then let it go after years of letdowns. They moved into something else more profitable and never looked back.

Being one of those people is so hard for me. Is it because I’m stupid?

I want to think it’s because I still enjoy making art. The consistent work you have to put in practicing techniques feels good when you see yourself improve.

The whole “Journey is more enjoyable than the destination” thing should be what we focus on more than money.

But what if you don’t care about creating your art anymore?

Stop making art and see if you can live without it.

Giving up feels good. Making your passion less important in your life can relieve creative stress and expectations. There’s beauty in letting it all go.

If, after a few months, or maybe even years, you feel the pull to create again, maybe your love of the art is more a part of you than you realize.

You can always start it up again and slowly and gently add more time into your schedule for creation.

There might be times in your life when it’s harder to make your art. Like when your are a parent of a young child or you’re adjusting to moving to a new city.

When I lived in Japan for two years, I barely drew anything. I didn’t open up a sketchbook, and I rarely drew any comics. Do you know what I did do, though? I learned to speak Japanese — which takes a lot of time and effort, let me tell you. I dated and met my wife. Spending time with someone special takes effort and dedication. Giving time to explore a new country, culture, and relationship was some of the best times I’ve spent in my life.

And I wasn’t drawing or writing. I was too busy living.

Towards the end of the second year, I started writing the script for my graphic novel, Tales of Tritoria: Youngbloods, and it was refreshing to spend some of my time in creation mode.

I didn’t start drawing pages and going all in on the production of the book until I moved back to the states. Yeah, it took me a few months to get back into the swing and stamina of drawing comics again, but the time away was worth it.

I felt refreshed and excited to produce comics again. All I needed was a break.

If you decide to take a break, you might come back at just the right time.

“What if I give up, and then my type of art becomes popular? I’ll miss opportunities?”

I doubt that.

Number one, you will have work you’ve done in the past you can pull out and sell or share. Number two, timing is something you can’t predict. The right time period in your life, combined with trends in the market, could be in your favor.

You never know. That’s why focusing on doing something you enjoy is the key.

The International Society of Caricature Artists (ISCA) holds a challenge in January called Caricature Resolution with a list of names of famous people each day you can choose to draw from.

Today’s person, for example, is 1980s Neo-expressionism artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

It took me several tries to get closer to his likeness. At first, I tried different head shapes and placement of the eyes and mouth. You get the sense of him, but in my opinion, they didn’t have his likeness.

A lot of times with caricatures, you have to try different combinations until you get it right.

THe real basquiat for comparison.

I’m still working on getting better at drawing the likeness of celebrities, and it’s even harder than you might think. I’ve studied books, my favorite being Tom Richmond’s The Mad Art of Caricature, and watched several videos on YouTube to brush up on my skills.

Twenty years ago, I lived in Orlando, FL, and worked as a caricature artist for a small company set up in hotels and special events. All of this while starting to teach elementary school Art during the week.

I was just okay at it. You have to move fast and draw people in three to five minutes, then, I used watercolor to finish them off, and it was truly a challenge.

Sometimes people like how you draw them, and sometimes they don’t.

You grow a thick skin, but mine didn’t thicken up enough. I got tired of the demands of live caricatures and gave up after two years.

I wish I had continued. My drawing skills would have grown so fast, and who knows where it might have taken me. I never worked in Disney or Universal Studios theme parks, but that would have been the ultimate challenge.

My eyes were on making comics and publishing. Funny enough, most of the freelance work I get now comes from caricature illustration.

I’m looking to do more practice work in 2023 for art that generates more income for me.

Caricature is that art form. Why fight it?

I’ll keep practicing regularly.

Take a break for as long as you like, and art will be there waiting for you to return.

Don’t say you’ll give up forever.

Making a living solely from art is extremely difficult. If you tried it and you got burnt out, take a break. Try art directing or going into a completely different field. You can always create art in your free time when you want to get back into it.

There may come a time in life when opportunities open up again for you to get paid, and you can jump back in with both feet.

There’s nothing wrong with seeing your art as a life long pursuit. You can create until you die, so why rush things?

I’m doing everything possible to keep the caricature practice light and fun. Improving is definitely a goal, but I don’t have to be pro level anytime soon.

The real actor grace kelly.

the real malcolm x.

Who knows, in time, I might try getting back into live caricatures again. The thought of drawing people in person with everyone watching seems scary as hell right now. But I’ll go with the thought.

At some point in the future, it might be nice to have this skill to have fun and make money when I can.

If you’re tired and run down from not getting where you’d like with your art, take a break and give yourself time to see it in a different light.

Your passion will be waiting with open arms when you’re ready to return.

If you like my artistic outlook on life, consider subscribing to my newsletter, A New Creative Life, by clicking here.

Tire Pressure

The Time Traveling Anthropologist

A comic about visiting a lost culture.

Visiting a Secret Festival in Japan

A comic essay about confidence.

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A Real Raccoon Uses the Tokyo Subway?

Sticking out isn’t always bad.

Would you freak out if you saw a raccoon calmly sauntering its way through the ticket gate to the subway? Almost like it does this every day.

Just an average day for a busy tanuki.

On September 2nd, a little furry commuter was seen at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, Japan, walking in amongst thousands of other people on a busy Friday evening.

In the photo above and video below, you can see it even had its own personal usher on hand, a station employee clearing a path for it and ensuring passersby gave it personal space. Even though it was treated like a celebrity — it was only a wild tanuki.

JR新宿駅構内にタヌキがいた。 pic.twitter.com/2veMxdtvz1

— CORE Kaopy (@core_kaopy) September 2, 2022

A reader of my Little Fried Chicken and Sushi strip shared this story with me in the comments on the GoComics site, and it got my imagination racing. A tanuki is thought of as a magical creature in Japan that can shapeshift and play tricks on people. Was there a spell involved in this encounter?

I love having Tanuki as a character in my strip, and this event brings the idea of an animal doing human things to life in a new way. Some might have wondered if this raccoon forgot to turn itself into a salaryman to blend in. Maybe it uses the train regularly to get around Tokyo?

The Shinjuku train station it was spotted in has a mascot of a Tanuki with a white swirl on its belly. The mascot’s name is TanuTanu. Was this the real thing?

An advertisement for TanuTanu the subway mascot.

No one was sure about where the Tanuki came from, but it was spotted at the station around 9:30 p.m. The staff guided it from the platform, and the animal went up the stairs and towards the New South Exit, where the video was taken. Then, it walked through the ticket gates and disappeared into the night. 

We’ll never know what the Tanuki was up to, but it sure seemed comfortable in its surroundings. Not scurrying away, frightened of people, makes you think it does this often without much fanfare.

The city must be a tough place for a raccoon. I’m glad the station attendants helped him get where he needed to go.

It’s similar to the time Tanuki started working an office job. It didn’t last too long, though.

P.S. If this was indeed “the” TanuTanu mascot, spirit of, or a real magical tanuki on his way home from a long day of work pretending to be human, it stood out. Still, it was ultimately accepted by the people all around.

The video and news reports didn’t talk about people running away from it in fear or getting scared because a wild animal was walking next to them.

As a human being, a black male, who gets stared at, surprises others by being a tall foreigner on the train and sticks out just about everywhere when I’m visiting Japan. I’m not sure how to feel about this. A wild tanuki in the subway station is unique enough to make the news, but it doesn’t shock or get people’s attention the way a person who looks different can.

Sometimes, I wish I could shapeshift into a tanuki, ride the train with help from attendants, and everyone thinks it’s so cute.

Am I jealous of TanuTanu, the raccoon? Not really. Maybe a little envious, though.

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Baby Yoda Helps My Daughter Sleep

You never know how something small can make a big difference.

©2022 Khalid Birdsong

My daughter couldn’t stop coming to sleep with my wife and me in our bed every night, even when she was nine years old.

Nothing we tried to keep her comfortable in her bed all night worked. We spent time reading and singing to her before going to sleep—even falling asleep with her and then going to our bed later.

Anything we could do to make her feel at ease and comfortable, we tried it. She had stuffed animals and dolls that helped a little, but still not enough to keep her in her own bed all night.

I’m unsure if she was anxious or truly wanted people with her all the time because it felt more comfortable. When we visit family in Japan, she sleeps on the tatami mat floors on futon mattresses with family members next to her.

Traditionally, this is how most Japanese people sleep, all together in one room, even though beds and separate bedrooms for kids are becoming popular.

I have no problems with her loving sleep time with family; I think it’s adorable, but our bed is only so big when we're in America. I’m a tall guy and need space to sleep deep comfortably.

When my daughter’s in with us, I end up pushed to the edge of the bed with my body forced to stay stiff as a board. My wife and I usually wake up the following day with neck pain.

All this wasn’t so bad back when she was three, but a growing nine-year-old did not give her parents enough space to sleep comfortably. Plus, I firmly believe she needs to soothe herself by learning to wake up in the middle of the night and get back to sleep without help.

Something changed when a baby Yoda toy arrived in the mail.

I was obsessed with The Mandalorian series on Disney plus, and my daughter got pulled into it, too, mainly because of Baby Yoda. Yes, I know his real name is Grogu, but I’m not a fan of it.

It seemed like forever for them to make a toy version, and as soon as pre-orders were available, I put my money down. Several months later, we were pleasantly surprised with our Baby Yoda. He makes cute sounds when you squeeze him and truly is super cute.

My goal was to have him as a collectible toy, but my daughter was so excited that she started asking to carry him around and play with him. Pretty soon, he became the most popular toy in the house. So much so that we gave him a name.

Earl.

Maybe to you, that’s no better than his real name, Grogu, but we love calling him Earl and, as crazy as it sounds, started having fun acting like he was a part of our family.

Earl popped in for a visit.

Naturally, my daughter asked if she could add Earl to her stuffies on her bed and sleep with him there too. At first, I wasn’t too keen on the idea. This toy was supposed to be for me and something I would keep in decent condition. But after a couple of days of begging with puppy dog eyes, I gave in to her.

Thank goodness I did.

She cuddled with Earl at bedtime and went right to sleep. I’m not sure if it’s because of the toy’s size, shape, or the fact that we pretend he’s alive for fun at home, but my child’s been sleeping through the night on her own for several years now.

My now twelve-year-old daughter admits to needing Earl with her to sleep well at night. She’s not ashamed of this at all. We take him with us on trips and even to Japan.

Even though we’re thankful for her little green, pointy-eared security blanket, I’m pretty sure she can sleep well without him at this point. She just enjoys having a little buddy with her for that familiar feeling of comfort and safety. I get that.

It’s cute how Star Wars fandom has helped my parenting. Not to mention adding good vibes to our home and family relationships.

I’ve learned the power of staying open to receiving assistance from the unlikeliest places. You never know what will make a difference to you and your loved ones.

Let it in and let it flow.

We talked in a previous post about how planning to submit your project to a publisher or online can help give you the energy to get work done. But what if you need something to motivate you to start the kind of work you do?

This is about more than just your “why” reason for doing what you’re doing. Even if you’re solid on your intended outcomes, you might not feel like making stuff for a day or several weeks.

You can easily lose motivation.

Knowing how to pull yourself back into creating again is what I’m talking about in this case. You don’t need a baby Yoda toy to hold when you’re feeling lazy, but having something similar, like a way to inspire yourself or a system to follow that gets you going again, is vital.

Planning time every Saturday morning to work on your personal project for two hours, for example, is an excellent way to make it actionable. That’s how this newsletter gets done. I think, read, sketch, outline, and plan here and there during the week, and on the weekend, I put in the time to finish it.

I love this schedule.

Perhaps many things exist that can keep you going each day and pursuing what you love. If you haven’t found them yet, keep trying new techniques or hacks. Don’t give up on your motivation.

I have something to look forward to with this weekly newsletter and feel a sense of accomplishment finishing creative work I hope inspires you.

Thanks for being a part of this creative journey.

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Are You Like This at a Concert?

Going with or against the crowd should be up to you.

Illustrated by the author. ©2022 Khalid Birdsong

Last week, I took my twelve-year-old daughter to her first big-time concert.

For their Never Ending Summer Tour, we saw the uber-popular group OneRepublic at an outdoor venue—much safer being amongst the fresh air during covid times.

With hits like “Stop and Stare,” “Counting Stars,” and their latest “I Ain’t Worried (from Top Gun: Maverick),” we had a phenomenal time. They put on a good show.

I didn’t know that the lead singer, Ryan Tedder, writes songs and has written hits for all kinds of artists. The group spent twenty glorious minutes playing short versions of some of the songs he wrote. Like “Halo” by Beyonce, “Love Somebody” by Maroon 5, and “Rumour Has It” by Adele.

Spending the concert in a section far away, I watched most of it on the jumbotron screens where they did a good job filming all the action on stage. They also turned to the audience on occasion.

Cameras zoomed in to a part of the crowd cheering and dancing, and everyone was ecstatic except for one guy in the middle standing there stone-faced.

No emotion, no excitement.

Perhaps he was tired or didn’t want to be there. His partner or friend could have forced him to go when he’s not even a fan—come on, we’ve all been there.

Or, that’s the way he has fun. This guy doesn’t need to smile, dance, or scream at fun events like an awesome concert by one of the biggest bands in the world.

No. He’s fine, just standing there stoically, spacing out.

Could it be we all experience fun and excitement differently? His insides might have been poppin’ with joy and grooving to the beat. He doesn’t need to move. Staying completely still may be how he feels more enjoyment. Is that so wrong?

I wish I could be as comfortable as he is showing and being whatever he’s feeling at the time. It shouldn’t matter what people think.

Being a people pleaser

I enjoy making other people happy. Heck, that’s one reason why I’m an art teacher. The joy on a kid’s face when they discover how a new painting technique can make their art look more real is fantastic.

Helping others succeed is joyful to me—another reason I love writing this newsletter and sharing what I’ve learned from living a creative life.

I’m a people pleaser.

Everyone isn’t. My daughter likes doing the right thing but isn’t concerned with people pleasing. She won’t pretend to be excited about something just to make another person feel better. I was concerned for her, but now I see that she doesn’t need to be like me.

Making sure she’s kind and polite is definitely part of my job, but overall, I should let her do what feels right.

Maybe growing up with divorced parents or being the oldest child shaped me into this person, but it’s hard to deny. I’m happy being a people pleaser and teaching others to create and hopefully smile.

At the concert, everyone stood up when OneRepublic first came out and never sat back down. After a summer off, this concert was in the middle of my first week back at work. I was tired.

You better believe I sat down on the grass and stayed there for the entire time. I danced while sitting and had an amazing time.

I didn’t feel like people pleasing by standing up so that the friends who came with us or the other fans surrounding us would be happy. I wanted to listen, enjoy, and rest.

My daughter stayed standing and enjoyed every minute. Good for her.

Choose to be who you are wherever you can

Your job may make you dress a certain way or wear a uniform while at work. There are written and unwritten rules of society we have to follow.

On those rare occasions where you can decide how you will show up, make it a way that feels authentic.

I’m not an expert at noticing these times yet, but I’m improving. At least, now, when I’m invited to party or get together, or even when I’m getting up in front of my students in an art class, I realize it’s my choice how I present myself.

Normally, I choose the fun-loving playful artist persona, but if I’m feeling down, it’s okay to show that too. There’s no need to fake it to make others happy at all times. I don’t have to be the person they expect every time. And that’s fine.

I just thought of something.

What if the guy who looked upset at the concert was that way because he just noticed the camera was on him and then froze? After it switched to somewhere else, he could have started dancing and jumping back to his usual fun-loving self.

He might hate when people put cameras in his face. Who really knows?

Either way, learn to do you.

Who cares what people think? Especially at a concert.

P.S. We just had a teacher work week before starting a new school year teaching middle school. During one of our faculty meetings, we all sat in a circle, sharing how we felt about getting back to work. Many people appreciated having such amazing coworkers, and others were impressed with how safe they felt to get back on campus during the pandemic that will never end. I shared feeling more at ease than I have in several years. Partly thanks to vaccines and having students back on campus instead of teaching on video via Zoom. Getting back to being in my art room and knowing how to teach within it, even if I’m wearing a mask, is something I did last year, so it’s familiar territory. I’m not as concerned with what will come, and confident I can make a creative and warm atmosphere for my students. I see now how life and work experience can help you feel at ease with being yourself.

Discover A New Creative Life right here.

How to Get New Ideas

Here are some brainstorming techniques that help get my creative juices flowing.

New ideas can be fun, but that doesn’t mean they’re good. © Khalid Birdsong

Mastering getting creative work done is one thing, but what happens if you don’t even know where to start?

Coming up with new ideas can be challenging.

Most people don’t have a magical Japanese Tanuki raccoon by their side to help them brainstorm. Fear not. You can always find inspiration in the world around you, the books you read, the shows you watch, and even in discussing current events with friends. When you expect to be inspired, you’ll look for exciting themes and discover ideas around you.

Okay, maybe it’s not that easy. Here are a couple of techniques I use to get inspired.

Free association can be a fun way to spill everything in your head and make connections by writing words and sketching them out in your notes.

Free association in psychology refers to a process of discovering your genuine thoughts, memories, and feelings by freely sharing all the seemingly random thoughts that pass through your mind. Usually, you are given a prompt like a word or image without context then, you say what it makes you think of. The person leading the exercise tries to create links between the prompt and your response to learn about how your brain makes connections between ideas.

Sigmund Freud was the first pioneer of the psychoanalysis technique of free association. Freud worked on developing this technique further between 1892 and 1898. This new method became a cornerstone of psychoanalytic therapy. Freud based free association on the theory of psychic determinism that informed all his work.

-Better Help

My way of doing this involves sitting down at my drafting table, staring at the wall, and writing down whatever comes into my head—even if it’s unrelated. For a project where I already have characters, like my Fried Chicken and Sushi comic strip, I might have one character in mind, like J, and throw out words that come to me when I think of him.

Some people say it’s crazy, but I also like asking my characters what they want to do next. I’ll often start sketching them in various poses, doing different things like cooking, playing sports, or dancing. Eventually, they answer me, and new ideas for strips emerge, sometimes quickly, after a lot of random writing and drawing.

If you’re trying to write a new story idea from scratch, you could pick a word for something you’re interested in, like football. Write down all the words that come to your mind to describe the game of football and what it means to you.

Can you create a character that wants to play football but can’t, or they only focus on becoming the best player in the world and neglects other essential parts of life?

Like Tanuki stated in the comic above, combining random ideas is fun, but a story is only interesting as long as there’s conflict.

This leads me to my next point.

Add opposites for conflict and contrast.

Anywhere you can put a character with an opposite personality to another, something that feels opposed to everything in the world you create, or an opposing view to the points in an article you write is compelling and will create even more ideas.

I’m still working on getting better at this, but whenever I’m stuck on an idea, whether writing or drawing, I go back to opposites.

Take two things you’re interested in and add something opposite.

Why? Putting two things together is easy but doesn’t make a story. Adding an opposite element to your idea gives natural conflict and possibilities to electrify your new project.

I made this comic by using the brainstorming technique with Tanuki above. © Khalid Birdsong

For example, say you’re interested in writing a fantasy short story. You think firefighters are incredible, and you love magic. Firefighters put out fires. The opposite could be a firefighter who starts fires. Or one who can start fires with magic. Is he doing it to give firefighters something to do? Is he crazy? Does he want to watch the world burn? In what kind of world are they living?

You see, just these three elements have me exploring questions and figuring out a world. Coming up with ideas isn’t as difficult as you might think. I bet you can create impressive new concepts with the above methods. The challenge is deciding which ideas are the best for you to take seriously and then start working on them regularly.

Choosing ideas to commit to long-term is a challenge we can discuss in a future post.

Stay tuned.

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