By Rick Stanton
It seems like a good time to ponder less-heavy subjects.
I came across the link below while searching for answers to why every joint in my body seems to hurt. Years ago, I posed this question specifically about my right rotator cuff to my doctor. His response was pretty telling and probably should have negated my search.
“How many baseball and softballs do you think you threw over 40 years or so? You’re playing with used equipment.”
But I digress, as I often do.
When I was very, very young, my mom, who was an artist and poet, told me, when I asked for a coloring book, “You don’t need to stay inside the lines. I’ll buy you all the paper, crayons or paint you want—but no coloring books.”
At the time it seemed stern, but in my short stint as an art teacher and many years as an agency art director, it was a message I repeated many times to help students and colleagues become unafraid of a blank sheet of paper.
I honestly believe that inside of every one of us is someone with the capacity to convey who they are through visual communications. The biggest problem is having the self-confidence to risk messing up said sheet of paper.
It’s just paper people. Risk it.
I’m not suggesting that coloring books are evil, although the link may suggest otherwise. There are times when staying inside the lines is beneficial. Like, “Where’s your &^%$#@! mask, you moron?”
Allowing yourself the freedom to create is one of the most rewarding things in life. As an art director, I never did a layout, logo design or an illustration that I nailed on the first try.
I went through a lot of paper.
So, in the spirit of the insanity that is C-19 and Trump, if you want to buy a coloring book and spend some time “checking out,” I get it.
But do yourself a favor and get yourself a sketch book, mess up, find the artist in you and—when you have that “wow” moment—realize that it was only a blank sheet of paper that held you back.
https://slate.com/culture/2020/08/coloring-books-history-coronavirus.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab