So I have always been creative. Besides the fact that I have been writing stories since I learned to write, I have always been interested in all manor of other artistic pursuits.
I had a Lion King coloring book when I was around 12 (since that’s when The Lion King came out) that I meticulously colored. I would carefully outline each section by pressing hard with the crayon such that it left a dark line, then I would lightly color in the inside of the lines, such that there was a nice contrast.
My mother also introduced me (and my siblings) to painting ceramics. Taking entirely white figures, usually four or five inches tall, and painting them with acrylic paints. This was also a hobby for many years.
There was also my deep interest in photography, though I don’t remember when I started taking pictures, I was in a class for photography in high school, which put me in the Art Honor Society. I even got one of my pictures published in the high school’s art book.
When I began hanging around online more, after high school, I had a friend who drew pictures and I taught myself to color them in using Adobe Photoshop. I got rather good at it.
These days my main artistic hobby besides writing is painting miniatures. Both Warhammer and Reaper. Some for fun, some for D&D. You can see many of my coloring jobs in my gallery and my mini paintings among my blog posts.
But I came to notice after all these years, that many of my artistic pursuits actively used something someone else has created as a base. My creativity was in adding my own touch to it. I, basically, am very good at coloring inside the lines.
However, my writing is born completely out of myself. Though I am influenced by the ideas all around me (as it’s impossible not to be), the conclusions I draw and thus the characters and worlds I create are entirely of my own making. Writing, I realize, is entirely about drawing my own lines.
