I think I’m addicted to steep learning curves. What does that mean? Well, it means I derive huge amounts of energy (probably dopamine hits) from the process of going from knowing nothing about something, to knowing everything.
When I first started work in storytelling for picture books, it’s fair to say I knew nothing – knew nothing about kids, knew nothing (formally) about storytelling, knew nothing about publishing. That’s a lot of nothing to know, but I think it’s for precisely this reason that I’ve enjoyed it so much. The learning curve staring me in the face when I said yes to those first contracts was vertical.
And so, 8 years on from that point, I know a lot more. About all of the things I’ve mentioned above, but also about myself. My ‘journey’ began with making a picture book but what I’ve realised is that the broader field of ‘visual storytelling’ is where I’m finding great joy now (and, still, the learning curve is steep).
By this point, I thought I’d be bored (it’s happened throughout my working career), but instead, I’m finding myself infinitely interested in what’s next; and I’m changing as I go. Ink is playing a larger role in my work than it was 8 years ago (when I was mostly learning off the internet from fine watercolour artists who said things like, ‘never show your lines’). My use of colour – one of the most infinitely complex materials a visual storyteller has at their disposal – is moving forwards, too. So too is my drawing as I only just begin to learn that illustration is more than about illuminating text or drawing the familiar.
Of course, the risk of being addicted to steep learning curves is that we begin to spread ourselves too thin. Once I’ve done watercolour for a few years, maybe I’ll drop that and try sculpture? Or, I know nothing about how to bake bread, maybe I’ll ‘master’ that, next? Cooking, crafts, art, trades – the list of what we could be doing with our time is endless. The question becomes, what’s it for and why?
I recently read a quote that went something along these lines: “If you build 7 houses, one brick at a time, what you’ll get is 7 unfinished houses. It’s better to focus on getting one house complete.” And whilst this tries to reckon with the idea of chasing steep learning curves instead of persisting with ‘one’ path, what it doesn’t account for is why the person is doing it in the first place.
For me, I’m interested in visual storytelling so why shouldn’t I build a village of half finished houses? Each brick I lay at a different site helps me lay the next brick at a different site even better. At this moment, I don’t feel qualified to be building anyone a house, I’m seeking to learn what it takes to build a village on strong foundations. If I don’t finish the houses, that’s OK, someone else will no doubt be coming up behind me to keep working on the job.