I’m painting away and get to a spot that needs a very light hand…pretty thin lines and they need to be precise. All of a sudden, I realize I’m getting dizzy. And it’s because I forgot to breathe…how stupid is that?? Holding my breath ’til I damn near fall off my stool. Yeah, that’ll make precise lines, yup…one long, squiggly line all the way off the illustration board

Then I went down the rabbit hole, and started thinking about where ideas come from. I know that if you leave the “problem” and do something totally unrelated, the answer usually comes. I used to solve problems in my sleep when I still had my structural steel drafting business. A sticky problem about putting steel together that will meet the engineering requirements, but also practical for the iron workers in the field to put together without huge problems. Last thing I wanted was an iron worker knocking on my door and making an offer: since the I-beam didn’t fit in the building, would I like to see if it fits in my butt. So, I took great pains to take care of my iron worker buddies. The solution would almost always come to me in my sleep.

Not so with the art. I get my ideas in the shower. Some days I may take 4 showers. I’m not kidding. And almost always, the problem is solved or an idea generated. I’m probably he cleanest artist on the planet.

I’m not the only one who has silly creative rituals, though…..am I??