Everybody's heard descriptions of artists as flaky, flighty people who are not very reliable. They dress funny, they show up late, they stay up all night doing creative things and then sleep all day. They don't have to be reliable because they are "creative."

Huh?

(Okay maybe the dressing funny part is true sometimes.)

Here's a news flash. Many of the best artists and creative people you will ever see are also the most organized, professional people in the world.

Think about what it takes to get a movie made. All those people, sets, props, equipment, lights, cameras, scripts, food, trailers, shooting locations, on and on. Do you think a flaky person can get all that pointed in one direction and end up with a movie? Not likely.

Yet are people who make movies creative? Um, I think most people would say Steven Spielberg and Spike Lee and Martin Scorcese and Clint Eastwood and Robert Redford are just a tad creative.

My drawing table has to be organized. I need to be able to find my materials when I need them. I need to be able to scan my files, and put my cartoons in a database so when someone says, "I want to pay you money to use that cartoon you did about such-and-such," I can find it right away.

So here's the thing. No matter what you want to do in life, be professional. Show up when you are supposed to. Do what you say you are going to do. Be there at call time. Get your drawings in by the deadline. Be someone people can count on. Because it's a lot more fun doing awesome creative things with people who want to work with you, than it is getting passed over because you messed up last time and people don't want to work with you again.

Oh, and if you aren't screwing around with finding stuff and being late, you have more time to be, you guessed it, creative.

This is a 20 minute video well worth watching. Ken Robinson points out that the way we do school nowadays is getting, well, obsolete. I'll let him do the rest of the talking. He's quite funny. I love what he has to say about Shakespeare, and drawing pictures of God. And by the way, when you're done with this, take a look around at other TED talks. There are many many fascinating clips to choose from. Everything from brain surgery to octopi.

3. Know Your (Copy)Rights.

Did you know that when you draw something, as soon as it is on the paper, it is protected by copyright laws? That means that you, as the person who made it, own the right to it. You are the person who says whether it can be copied, used in a magazine, printed up on a poster, put on a website, or whatever else. It is yours.

This means that you have to tell someone it's okay to use your artwork before they can use it. And when this happens, you can charge money. This is how may artists make a living.

You grant rights to someone, say, to use your art in a magazine or website. There are fees that you can charge for this.

Of course, you can always grant rights for free, so that you get some exposure. Or you can donate your artwork to a worthy cause. I have cartoons get copied from time to time and I let it happen because more people are going to see my work. But if someone is going to make money off your art, say by selling a book with your art in it, they need to pay you.

So never let anyone take your stuff without your permission! You created it, you deserve to make a living from it. Enough said.

Last night we had to go pick my husband up at the train station.

I let the kids ride there and back in the car with no shoes on. They didn't bring any. No socks either.

You would have thought they had won the lottery. They thought it was so cool that we didn't have to do the "get your shoes on" process, and that we were doing something out of the ordinary.

I didn't buy them any toys, there was no TV or computer involved, just doing something unusual.

This may not seem like a big deal to you, but try it sometime. Do something totally out of your normal routine. Get ready for school backwards. Brush your teeth while dancing. Eat breakfast outside. It's amazing how doing something differently can make the world seem like a bigger place.

The other day my kids made puppets out of their feet. One had a rocket on one foot and the moon on the other. The other had a flower on one foot and a bug on the other. Then they got upside down, stuck their feet over the back of the couch and put on a show. The rocket flew to the moon, the bug checked out the flower, there were lots of sound effects and drama.

This proves that you can make puppets - and a puppet theater - out of anything.

The next time you have to do a story for school, I wonder if your teacher would let you do it in the form of a puppet show?

2. Tools are not Talent.

What the heck does that mean? I read this in a magazine many many years ago. I made a photocopy, and colored it in pen.

Why did I do that? Because it's such an important point: No amount of fancy pens, paints or paper will make you a better artist. Sure, new art supplies are big fun, but it's what you do with them that counts.

This is especially true about computers. A computer will not make you a better artist. Software does not make you a better artist. Drawing and drawing and drawing, no matter what medium you are using, WILL make you a better artist.

Behind every comic, video game, movie, and animation are some serious drawing skills and creative talents. So sure, if you've got the budget buy yourself some cool pens. But draw as much as you can, with whatever pencils and paper are handy. (I've been known to go through a lot of those pads of paper that you get in hotel rooms.) Tools are not talent.

Yesterday I was fortunate to talk to a group of students at Woodside International High School in San Francisco. I like talking to high school students because they are at such an early stage of figuring out what to do with their creativity.

So if you're a person who loves to draw, and you'd love to grow up to do something creative but you're not sure what that is, I'm going to offer some bits of wisdom I've gathered over the years. I've put them together on a little postcard that I give out when I talk at high schools.

Here's the first one:

1.Be True to Your Gifts.
This means: Don't spend all your time trying to be different from what you are. I know, there are tons of children's books written about this - but as an artist, it's important to notice what makes you feel good and what makes you struggle. Don't beat yourself up because you don't draw characters just like the ones you saw in a book or movie. Your drawings are going to come out with your style all over them, no matter how hard you try to change it. So try lots of things, but be good to yourself, draw the things that make you happy, and then notice what those things are. If you always tend to draw people, pay attention to that. If you tend to draw things that are dramatic or emotional, notice that too. Those are signs that will guide you to what kind of artist you are going to be.

Okay, speaking of Magritte, here is another surrealist painter - from the US this time - Philip Curtis. He was born in Michigan but spent most of his life in Arizona. There is a collection of his work at the Phoenix Art Museum. His most famous painting is probably "The Gift Bearers," shown above. Again, he had the ability to take very unreal situations and paint them in a realistic way so you could almost believe they are really happening. This is probably why Curtis' and Magritte's work kind of makes you stare at it for such a long time.

Have you ever been drawing something, and then realized you weren't exactly sure what it looked like? When this happens, you can do a couple of things: You can just draw it the way you imagine, or you can go find an example.
A lot of people see my cartoons each day, so it's important that I get things right. For example I once drew a lawnmower wrong and people didn't understand the drawing.
A great thing to have around is a Visual Dictionary. I have a big one and a little one - there are lots to choose from. Some are mostly buildings and vehicles and things like that, some are all about animals or science. I keep them nearby when I am cartooning. You can also look online for images through Google, but often you don't get a very clear picture or the results aren't really what you want. A visual dictionary is great when you just need to look up what a semi-truck or a guitar or a fire hydrant look like.
So if you have a birthday coming up, maybe you can ask for one!

There are lots of time-lapses on there, I've only gotten through a few of them. But they are really cool and fascinating.

The next time someone gives you a hard time about losing all the matches to your socks, just make a puppet. Then put on a show. Nobody will give you a hard time any more.
Here are some tips:
1. Put the sock on your NON-writing hand to decorate it (example - if you are right-handed, put the sock on your LEFT hand), so you can see how the sock fits and so you can use your writing hand to do the work. Or, you can stuff the sock with crumpled newspaper to make it poof out while you decorate it.
2. Use white glue, and press everything on firmly.
3. When you want to get the sock off your hand to let it dry (or just rest between performances), pull it by the nose, gently.
4. And of course, as the example shows, you can never have too many googly eyes on your sock puppet. Googly eyes also rule.

Do you draw what something looks like in real life, or do you draw what you THINK it should look like?
It's hard to draw what is in front of you, because the lines that make up something often don't look like anything at all. The edge of a table is just a slanted line. A person's face is really squiggly and weird looking.
Try this: Pick something, like your hand, or a flower, or something in your house. Put it in front of you. Now, try to draw the outline of it EXACTLY as you see it. Just follow the lines, wherever they go. Don't try to draw a thing, just draw lines. You may be surprised at what you get.

Superheroes, sidekicks, villains, and giant battles to save the galaxy are cool. Everybody knows that. So what do you need to make your own? Well, anything you want.

Not too many artists get to have a color named after them, but Maxfield Parrish is one. The distinctive blue color that he gets in his paintings is called "Parrish blue."
Maxfield Parrish was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and lived from 1870 to 1966. Like Arthur Rackham, he had a unique style and used it to illustrate all kinds of fantastical stories. Nobody really comes close to the look that his art has. One of his most famous paintings is called Daybreak. His panting "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" can be seen on the wall of a bar in San Francisco (you can get a look at it here), which is named Maxfield's. I've been there - it's really neat. I think you have to be 21 to get in though. But no rush!

When I was a kid, we had a copy of Alice in Wonderland that was illustrated by Arthur Rackham. Arthur Rackham was English, and he lived from 1867 to 1939. He illustrated tons of stories, including Fables and Peter Pan. He had this cool style that I always found really beautiful and really creepy at the same time. He could make the most realistic monsters you can imagine. You can learn more about him from Wikepedia here, and see a bunch of his artwork on Google here. Take a look and see what you think. Creepy? Cool? Both?

This is a really cool project that came out of nowhere while we were messing with folding and cutting paper.
This is just a piece of thick paper, folded in half. Then we put two cuts in the middle there, and popped that piece out in the opposite direction.
Then, we took pens and decorated the folded part like a chair. The chair's back goes on the background, the seat goes on the top folded part and the legs go down the front of the folded part. Then we added a little rug, a bed and a window.
This one is a work in progress. You could certainly add more, like a popup table, or a cutout window. You could make a copy of your own room, or a room that you make up. Put posters on the walls. Add wallpaper or an electric guitar or stuffed animals or monsters.
But there's something about just the little chair that is also very neat to look at.

Okay, what does this guy have to do with art?

Well as it turns out, a lot.

Ludwig van Beethoven is considered by many to be the greatest music composer we've ever had. Even if you don't think you've heard his music, you probably have. And to top it off, for most of the later part of his life, he was deaf. Stone. Deaf. And he wrote his 9th Symphony, while stone deaf. When they premiered it, someone had to turn him around on the conductor's podium to see that the crowd was going wild. That's how deaf he was.

Anyway, what does this have to do with art? Well, the arts are connected to each other and to the world. Paintings and symphonies. Dance and writing. Beethoven often said that he got his inspiration from nature. He would take long walks outdoors.

So, here's a cool site by the SF Symphony that has a "radio," that lets you play bits from all kinds of pieces of music, including Beethoven's. Poke around. And while you're listening, close your eyes and imagine what the music looks like. Does it look like warriors riding huge horses? Or hippos doing the ballet? Or just colors and shapes? Then draw what you see.

ASK JACKSON is a new art advice column run by my best friend's dog (that's him, peering at you at the top of the page). Besides being good at eating pine cones, Jackson is also great at answering kids' questions about art. I (Betsy) might also kind of help him sometimes since he has a hard time with the keyboard. You can send your own Ask Jackson questions to: mail@betsystreeter.com.

QUESTION: I am bored and I can't think of anything to draw. How can I come up with a good idea?

JACKSON: You, my friend, need to jump-start your pencil! Here's what you do: first, write down every kind of creature that you can think of. You can make a list, or put each word on an index card. Octopus, fireman, worm, moth, etc. etc. Get a nice long list going.
Now, close your eyes and pick two of the words. Like, alligator-panda. Or, Bug-policeman. Now draw what you got. Before long, you'll be creating characters and stories. Maybe add some scenery. Do a couple of combinations and have your characters talk to each other about how weird-looking they are. Figure out where they live, what they eat, where they go on vacation. Maybe make them into a monster movie.
This is a great way to get things going. To use your words again later, keep the list or index cards. You can make a game out of this with your friends too. Enjoy!

ASK JACKSON is a new art advice column run by my best friend's dog (that's him, peering at you at the top of the page). Besides being good at eating pine cones, Jackson is also great at answering kids' questions about art. I (Betsy) might also kind of help him sometimes since he has a hard time with the keyboard. You can send your own Ask Jackson questions to: mail@betsystreeter.com. Here we go!

QUESTION: The other day, I drew a picture at school and a couple other kids looked at it and laughed. It made me feel really bad. What should I do?

JACKSON: There are lots of reasons people laugh, and they are not all bad. But it can feel bad if you think someone is laughing AT you. First of all, when people see something that makes them feel good, they might laugh. This is good. You made them feel happy. Often grownups will do this when you show them art. They are not laughing at you, so don't take it that way.
On the other hand, sometimes other kids laugh in a mean way. This is because they are not as brave as you are, putting your ideas out there on paper like you did. These people would probably be mean no matter what you were doing, and are not worth bothering with. If they are a good friend, you can say, "Hey, that hurts my feelings. I didn't mean for this to be funny." If they are a real friend, they will listen to you and apologize. If they are not, they should go fall on their head on the playground and leave you alone so you can draw.

... For some change.

You'll have to excuse me, you grownups out there, but I need to talk to the kids.

About Important Art Stuff.

It's been nice being all big and wordy and all that, making various graphs and things.... but frankly, I do better when I talk to my kids. Not so much the big diagrams and squishy words and all of that. Too mooshy! Too boring!

So, here goes. You grownups are more than welcome to listen in. And, share this with your kids. We'll have advice, stories, project ideas, and experiments. Shoot, grownups can use some of that stuff too. We can all use more reasons to get out the crayons, frankly.

And it's all about being the Best Artist in The World. So there!!