How to draw …

A more bittersweet tribute one could not be tasked to attempt. In better times, Joy was publishing one, then another, and another – adorable books on how to draw yet they weren’t really so much about how to draw, as how to have fun trying to draw. Her instructions were clear enough yet weren’t in that literal step by step as one would expect. it’s almost like she was misguiding you to draw something else and yet you could see a direct progression, almost as if she were mocking all how-to drawing guides.

Note how for this simple cat she does not start with the circle body instead with a super simplified stylized kitty nose! And then the eyes. And ears. And finally the encompassing form and lastly tail and toes. See? So even if you never tried to draw this or any cat, you’re now in on the joke and yet even a kid would tell you hey these are funny instructions – and so, yes, Joy (ever an apt name) makes even the lightest topic ever more – joyous.

I don’t recall which of her books I found first, but as I found more of them, it was easy to grab them as I did. Most spectacularly even having met her at a random table outside of whatever venue I was exiting – she not only signed my copy, we had a fun and animated chat about her books and doodles and she graced me with some cool concepts she was working on then – i will have to find my notebook she sketched in and scan those pages here.

Books

If i had to guess though, her radish book may have been my first read. Even the cover exposes her simple and humorous mind in how to approach the drawing of a perky red root vegetable.. and other fun things to do at work!

If I recall this one was one of my favorites (I have so many books at home!)

I sense her sailing cat book was my next acquisition. Her books also cover cute stories and other whimsy as she subtitles as “99 other adventurous things”

Followed by her clam book – which also reveals how to draw a clam on the cover, which to me even appears as a baby clam in stages of growth.

These are among my favorites, of hers and perhaps all books I’ve ever owned. It is an exercise for you to go out and get her entire series. Forewarned there are other people with her name that of course are not she, and authors at that. Just look for the how to draw books.

Examples

Another sweet example, from radish:

And a varied approach to being a barista on paper:

Departure

Searching online, as she passed too soon in 2009, including her own site url no longer valid, found just one grand interview still stands, as well as a tribute, and broken link to obituary. Perhaps other blogs out there too – if you find any please do let me know in the comments.

Q: Have you always been aware of your creativity, or was it something you discovered later on in life?

A: I’ve never questioned my creativity — from our earliest days my mother gave us pencils and paper to keep us busy. There were six children, and Mom went to school as a commercial artist, so she passed that interest along to us. In fact, Mom would unroll white shelf paper along the table and give us a big box of crayons, and we could play for hours.