From the desk of Adam Ming (We go again!)
I had intended to write about everything I know about a sketchbook practice today. But it’s not ready yet, so I’m writing you a letter instead. The ‘supernote’ (yeah that’s what we’re calling them now) about sketchbooks is coming.
Some of you might know that I normally kick start the week with what I call Momentum Monday. It’s the day of the week where I spend 13-15 hours in the studio. It’s called Momentum Monday because during the day I get to ride the momentum during the day, and I also get to take that momentum into the week. The reason I’m able to spend so much time in the studio is
1. I wake up at 4 and get started
2. My wife takes care of all the home stuff and the kid for the entire day, it’s Momentum Monday for her too!
Well today was different. First I woke up with a rash all over my body, a food allergy it seems. And as I was stumbling to the studio, I must have woken my baby girl, who I’m told, stood up and looked at the empty spot on my bed and started crying Dadi!? - Dadi! Dadi! I met her at the end of the corridor and went back to bed with her. The 3(my wife making up the numbers) of us made a H shape on the bed, with my baby forming the bar of the ‘H’, She wanted to be touching both parents as she slept, it was one of those days.
I eventually made it into the studio at 8.30, and I had a good run of work for 5 hours. And another hour tidying up the studio to I transition between projects.
Then I took a nap, normally I nap in the studio so I can wake up and get back to work. Maybe it was the rash, but for some reason I slept in my bed. And I was not able to get back into the studio, until now (10.pm) Because, “Dadi! Dadi!”. It’s one of those day’s maybe it’s a growth spurt. or maybe baby’s get Monday blues too and she still wanted it to be the weekend.
At about 9.30pm after a couple of hours in and out of our reading room, she suggested we go for a walk. We obliged. And walked for a bit around the grounds of our apartment, under 30 year old trees and a starry sky. And 10 minutes later she was ready to come home and sleep. My wife applied some cream on my rash and here I am writing to you.
5 hours, of illustrating is good value for a day, even if I had hoped for more. This job is a bit like a sport to me, specifically like Premier League Football. People tend to say things are like Marathons, but you can run a Marathon in a day. Picture-books, well that takes an entire season.
And there’s so much to learn from how the managers and players approach the games.
They say things like:
We played well in the first half,
Sometimes we need to remember that players are human,
We just weren’t good enough in some areas,
We’ll take the positives into the next game,
And my favourite - “We go again”.
Adam, I'm sorry to hear about your rash, and I hope you are feeling better soon. I really appreciated this post — the real look at what to do when a day falls apart, or just doesn't go the way it was intended to go, and the mantra to keep going. And I loved the idea of a whole season, rather than a daylong marathon, with its ups and downs, and months of getting back to it. (Also, Dadi, Dadi! — I can hear my son's voice in my mind, years ago, saying similiar things. The "H" sleeping position is so sweet.) Thanks for sharing this, and hope you feel better soon!
Before I write anything else, I just want to say that I hope your rash clears and you're feeling much better soon :)
I really enjoyed this post. It reminded me of a few things...
1. The quote from John Lennon: "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans"
2. The book: 168 Hours by Laura Vanderkam... I use a personally modified/simplified version of her time tracker to keep track of my hours during the week. One of the things I love about writing and illustrating is the flexibility of the schedule. If I have things that unexpectedly come up and interrupt my work schedule, I can pivot and add more work hours somewhere else to make up the time (so that by the end of the week I've still put in my full amount of hours... most of the time. (Every once in a while things go completely off the rails and there's simply no way to squeeze all of the hours in.)
I just want to finish by saying thanks for sharing your journey with us... your hard work, dedication, and productivity are inspiring.