100 THINGS YOU LOVE TO DRAW

With this companion to Drawing Is Magic (2015), Hendrix (author, illustrator, and founding chair of the MFA in Illustration and Visual Culture program at Washington University in St. Louis) digs deeper into the creative process.

The title refers to lists readers are encouraged to make, which become the basis for the stimulating exercises, games, and prompts, organized in six chapters. Hendrix approaches the topic with a rare mixture of wit, sound advice, and philosophical musings, building to a work that’s far more than the sum of its parts. He establishes a dialogue with an imagined student—represented via forest green speech bubbles—then dispels myths such as “Your first drawing will always be the best one.” Vintage etchings, the author’s art, and his signature dimensional lettering are composed in green, black, and white, with room for reader art. Interspersed are illuminating quotes from other mentors: Madeleine L’Engle, Plato, Yoda. Asterisks signal artistic vocabulary, defined further in a glossary. The role of expected elements like line, shape, and observation are covered, as are the more surprising notions of play, memory, and how limits can, seemingly counterintuitively, lead to more creativity. Particularly fascinating are Hendrix’s ruminations on the symbiosis between writing and drawing—and the conclusion in which he urges his audience to consider the “why” of art: “What will you help the world see?”

This sketchbook comes with a built-in tutor and muse—and page designs so intriguing, readers will want to try this at home.