A teacher at a school where I was presenting said that to me years ago, and I never forgot it. It was a good lesson about misrepresenting what we illustrators and writers do. Yeah, I do make my life look like a holiday for the kids. The idea is to encourage them to consider that art and writing might be an okay way to go with their careers – so I just show the fun stuff. The reality would be something I would discuss with high school kids, but I never get that invitation. So, the kids and the teacher figured I had it made.

These are the sketches for a spoof of Robin Hood I am working on, in case you missed my earlier post. It’s a Merry Band of Hikers who get lost and then found by a packrat.

But it’s all work, with the frustrations and failures along with accomplishments that we all hopefully experience in our work lives. I will admit that I do feel lucky that something I work on is eventually appreciated by a few of those kids, and teachers, too.

To note, being a teacher was the second thing on my career list under “artist.” Hey, you all just sit around and play with kids all day! You are so lucky!