How I learned to draw

I know it's a long read, but bear with me.

January 9th, 2008
Photoshop and drawingtablet

A lot of people have asked me how I learned to draw. And there are a number of answers to that question. First of all, I did not go to an art academy, as you can probably tell from my level of skill. I'm pretty good, but not that great, and lack of proper education probably has something to do with that. However, all Dutch kids receive art class when they are in high school (and I imagine this happens abroad too). So I guess you could say my interest in drawing started in earnest, when I first started going to high school at age 13. Art class, and the drawing lessons in particular, was the most fun of all classes. Well, in my opinion anyway. My mother always says I was already good at drawing at a younger age, but I don't know if my childhood doodles should really count. They don't look that special to me...
Anyway, it wasn't just art class that got me started as an amateur artist. It was also because of a certain cat. You see, back when I was 10 or 11, I used to devour several library books (whether they were from the city library or the school library made no real difference) every week. Something I sadly don't have time for anymore, these days. It was this hunger for stories that probably fueled my imagination too. If there is anything I am glad of, it's probably that I grew up without tv and the internet. I know it sounds old-fashioned, but this gave me the time to read and read and read. I could seriously walk through the school's hallways, while reading a book. This almost always went without problems. Well, one day I discovered a new book in the city library, and it was about cats. Well, as you may have noticed by now, I happen to like cats. Very much in fact. So I borrowed this book, Solo's journey by Joy Smith Aiken. On the cover it said the book was written 'in the tradition of Watership Down'. Later I found out that this actually ment that the book was Watership Down, only with cats instead of rabbits. But when you're 11, you don't really care about these things. To me, it was just a magical book about a stray cat called Solo. The kind that eats out of garbage dumps. I found myself borrowing the same book over and over again. I've actually lost track of how many times I've re-read this book. So after a few years an idea started growing in the back of my mind...
Wouldn't it be great if everybody could enjoy this story? For a while, I seriously considered writing a letter to the Walt Disney firm, to try and convince them to make it into a motion picture, like they've done with countless other children's books. But eventually I dropped that idea. I didn't know the adress anyway. While scurrying through the city library one day, I discovered another gem of a book... I... have actually forgotten what it was called, but it was a how-to-draw-animals book. And yes, it also had a few pages on drawing cats in it. About 3 or 4, if I'm correct. So it was really marginal, but it's step by step approach was a really good help for me. I practiced and practiced, and suddenly I noticed my skill at drawing cats had taken a huge leap forwards! Sure, I still sucked at everything else, but hey!! I could really draw cats!!
And so a new idea started forming in my head. Maybe I could draw a comic of Solo's journey! Hah! Who needs Disney anyway?? Watch out, here I come! So I think I managed to draw about 12 pages or so, before other stuff cought up to me. The whole cat-comic-thing sort of ended up in the freezer, where it remains until this day. However, I spent the rest of my high school years drawing the feline characters from that book, I loved so much. They also went through various design fases, with bushy eyebrows, crazy hairdo's, super large feet and yes... Big sparkly eyes. Cats became my single speciality, and eventually I also started drawing other feline species such as lions, leopards and sabretooth tigers. A few years later, I designed Uncia, which by the way was originally intended as a Zelda fanfic character, until I decided I liked it too much to let it play second fiddle to ol' Link. Now Uncia stands on its own.
When I was 18, I started buying how-to-draw books. It started out slow, but once I realized that every time I read one of these things, I got MUCH better, I started buying more and more. Today, these books are literally crammed on my bookshelves, and there is hardly room for more, and still I keep buying. It's like a really weird addiction...
Well, and that's how I learned how to draw. I fell in love with a character, wanted to draw a comic about him, got how-to-draw books, and got a whole bunch more of how-to-draw books, practiced, praticed and praticed some more. And that's about it. When I was 18, I finally started to figure out how to draw humans and other creatures. I overcame my one trick: drawing cats, and became a more versatile artist, which of course always helps...
Anyway, Solo more or less started all of this, so I think it's only fair he gets a sketch too.

Which brings me to the following: the book I fell in love with was written in Dutch. So it was a translation. Over the years, the book started falling apart and the library decided to put it up for sale. And yes, I bought it. Of course I did! Anyway, since it's a translation, I thought it would be nice to read the English original version too. So I tried to find it in various second-hand bookstores, but I eventually realized that the English version probably couldn't be found in Holland. So then I tried getting it via Amazon. Now, Solo's journey is an old book, so there are only second-hand copies of it. In September I ordered a nice cheap copy from a reseller at Amazon. And I payed for it and waited, and waited and waited. A few months later I decided the mail couldn't be THAT slow, so I e-mailed the seller. As it turned out, the book had been lost in the mail and I got a refund. Well, that's great, but I still wanted that book! According to Amazon, the reseller had two copies, so I ordered the book again. And yes, I waited for another month and received no book. It really bugged me, so I e-mailed the reseller again. They were really surprised and said they never received the order AND that they also never had a second copy of Solo's journey either. So basically I STILL wasn't going to get my book. I got another refund and here I am... Still don't have the book I want. Don't feel like trying the last four resellers right now. One of them is selling it for over 30 pounds...
Silly bugger... That doesn't even work in WoW, let alone in real life.
So I would like to use this opportunity to ask you this: if you've read this whole story, then you know how much this means to me. If you happen to have received a package by mistake, containing Solo's journey by Joy Smith Aiken, adressed to a Charlotte Dikken in Holland... Well, that would be me, and I would really like that book. Please contact me. I know it's a longshot, but I just had to ask...

EDIT: January 10th, 2008: Today I was browsing around in a bookstore in Utrecht, and I found this nice book called Tailchaser's Song by Tad Williams. It's about cats, and it's about a journey. Sure, it's not Solo's journey, but it's got cats called Fritti Tailchaser, Pouncequick and Eatbugs (no joke). And when I checked its cover... Yes, it said this book was 'written in the tradition of Watership Down'. If that isn't a sign, I don't know what is. I still want Solo's journey, but right now I'm a happy little girl again.