{"id":277320,"date":"2025-06-06T14:46:39","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T14:46:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/entertainment\/books\/doodling-away-and-finding-oodles-of-joy-by-eva-wong-nava\/"},"modified":"2025-06-06T14:46:39","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T14:46:39","slug":"doodling-away-and-finding-oodles-of-joy-by-eva-wong-nava","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=277320","title":{"rendered":"Doodling Away And Finding Oodles of Joy by Eva Wong Nava"},"content":{"rendered":"


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I took a break from writing recently. On a whim, I decided to register for Jane Porter\u2019s Comics making online course<\/a>. It was another children\u2019s author, the award-winning Candy Gourlay, who inspired me with her Substack blog, where she shares snippets of her life in comics \u2014 comics that she\u2019d learned to make from Jane\u2019s class \u2014 that I thought I\u2019d give it a try. That Candy calls her blog, House of Procrastination<\/a>, is no coincidence. I was literally procrastinating from doing the writing I was meant to be doing when I thought why don\u2019t I try to do some sketching instead\u2026 but before this, I need some lessons, and lucky me, Jane was just about to start her next 10-week online course. It was all meant to be. Sometimes, procrastination does do some good. Writers are well known for procrastinating, as we all know. If there were to be a collective noun for writers, we would be \u2018a procrastination of writers\u2019. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I digress\u2026 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


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Everyone who knows me, knows that I can\u2019t draw to save my life. What I see and what my hand comes up with is rarely in the same likeness. For example, take a look at this drawing (I hesitate to call it an illustration) from a photo I\u2019d taken at a book launch recently. Here we are \u2014 Shireen, Alex and me. Shireen Lalji is the author of So Devin Wore A Skirt <\/a><\/i>(Quarto, 2025) and Alex Falase-Koya<\/a> needs no introduction \u2014 he\u2019s the author of OUP\u2019s award-winning Marv<\/i> series. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


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I wish I could say this sketch was \u2018in our likeness\u2019, but as you can see, it\u2019s, sadly, not. But what\u2019s important is that I had FUN! I had fun colouring in my doodles. I love the cross-hatching (I think that\u2019s what they\u2019re called) of colouring in comic Alex\u2019s shirt. I did try to give him a faux sheepskin coat like the one he\u2019s wearing IRL, but the hand just wouldn\u2019t yield to what the eye is seeing. (If they reading this, I apologise, Shireen and Alex for using you both as guinea pigs.)<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n


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As a picture book author, I get to work with some very talented illustrators. I feel honoured and privileged that they are translating my words into visuals that inspire imagination and make the heart sing with joy. Xin Li <\/b>captured and blended the contemporary and fantastical worlds in I LOVE CHINESE NEW YEAR (Scholastic, 2022) that it captivates every child I\u2019ve ever read this book to during school visits. Natelle Quek <\/b>made dumplings dancing in the hot bubble bath so deliciously alluring in DANCING DUMPLINGS FOR MY ONE AND ONLY (Walker Books, 2025) that stomachs rumble during story time at book tours. I love how Holly Sterling’s<\/b> cutie patootie illustrations of small people and their adults in WEDNESDAY IS FOR WIGGLING (Walker Books, 2025) truly capture how children see themselves.  <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


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A couple of weeks ago, I learned to sketch penguins. I can\u2019t say penguins are my favourite birds. They waddle. They look like waiters. And, their feet are NOT EASY to draw. And I won\u2019t even begin with how I couldn\u2019t draw their beaks. But hey ho, the point of the exercise was understanding that function is more important than perfection. That if your penguin\u2019s form resembles a penguin, the eye will tell the brain that it\u2019s a penguin. And penguins make great characters in comics and children\u2019s\u2019 stories, and they don\u2019t even have to look like real penguins. If you don\u2019t believe me, click on this <\/span>link<\/a>.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n


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After a couple of attempts at penguins, which I think Oliver Jeffers does so well, as this <\/span>Guardian article <\/a>shows \u2014 and mind you, his is a funny comic\/comical one \u2014 I thought I\u2019d try a kingfisher. Why not? They old saying goes, if you don\u2019t fish, you\u2019ll go hungry; if you don’t try, you’ll never know. I\u2019ve never done a bird before, and at the end of it, it wasn\u2019t the form but the colouring-in that did wonders for my mental health. I even learned how to make its feathers fluffy. So proud of myself!<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n


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Here\u2019s one of my versions \u00e0 la<\/span>  <\/span>Oliver Jeffers. Caveat: This is not AI-generated. I drew this cute little thing by hand and added the Marine Bay Sands as a surf board for a bit of fun! You can read about my thoughts on AI <\/span>here<\/a>.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n


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So, readers and writers, if you\u2019re ever in doubt about your sketching skills, take heart! If I can do it so imperfectly and still make a penguin and a kingfisher look somewhat like what they\u2019re meant to look like, you can too! <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n


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<\/span><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I took a break from writing recently. On a whim, I decided to register for Jane Porter\u2019s Comics making online course. It was another children\u2019s author, the award-winning Candy Gourlay, who inspired me with her Substack blog, where she shares snippets of her life in comics \u2014 comics that she\u2019d learned to make from Jane\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":277321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[105197,3779,4438,4678,21645,105198,37549],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-277320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","tag-doodling","tag-eva","tag-finding","tag-joy","tag-nava","tag-oodles","tag-wong"],"yoast_head":"\nDoodling Away And Finding Oodles of Joy by Eva Wong Nava - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=277320\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Doodling Away And Finding Oodles of Joy by Eva Wong Nava - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I took a break from writing recently. 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