WARNING: GARDEN CONTENT (Patreon)

I wasn't going to show this to you, because I was embarrassed that I spent so much time on it (and I know I'll spend more in the future). But my pal Luke posted this:

and because they're posted anonymously and I couldn't help myself, 

And it's true. If I had a different job full-time, I wouldn't have enough time to make full-length stories in comics format. Comics take forever. My stories and characters would be content to just live inside my head. 

But I'd probably draw things that bring me joy more often. I wondered what I would draw just for fun, and then I looked down at my desk.

I'd been drawing for fun for an hour.

And look, I know GARDEN PLANNING is an awfully utilitarian thing to consider "fun art." But I've been like this since I was a kid. I was always drawing bird's-eye views of my dream house (a contained courtyard inside a doughnut-shaped home full of windows), or planning out my next "fort" (basically exactly what I'm planning now, but without the YouTube knowledge of How To Tie A Tripod Lashing, so they always fell apart).

When I was in middle school, I used MS Paint to draw sprite versions of myself and all the clothes I owned, a sort of 8-bit paper doll. It took forever and the colors were super limited, so I gave up before I drew my whole wardrobe, but... well, this is what I chose to do instead of having friends. It was fun. :)

So, here it is, my "fort," the garden version of my digital paper dolls. The entirety of my plans for Spring 2022.

I'm sure this was an emotional response to the current state of my garden, which has gone from lush and productive to overgrown and brown and dying.

I've never put so much work into something that wasn't work related in my life. After spending the past decade ruminating on death (I'm fun at parties), I'm prepared to sit with the end of this project. While I'm clearly distracting myself with what my garden will become next year, I'm also taking time to be present with what is, and what was. Cutting down old dead plants and making space for weeds and decay and whatever else wants to thrive there on its own. Giving up control. It feels good and natural, and a little relieving.

Anyway, I thought I'd show you what I draw for fun. And in case you're interested in what I draw when I'm giving a virtual talk for a library, here are the little Procreate doodles I did last night while attendees asked me questions:

Angry horse.

A reptile by request.

I didn't mean to draw Erin and Jamie, but I totally drew Erin and Jamie.

If you were in the audience, thanks for showing up! Made me want to do livedraws more often. :)

And in case you'd like to see how I made the garden layout on Procreate, I'm attaching a timelapse of it. Enjoy two and a half minutes of me paper-dolling my yard. <3