Kate Ristau's Blog, page 31

Demon dinosaur: Drawing Dragons Day 128

I promise little demon dinosaur. One day, you’ll get to be a real dragon.

But that day is NOT this day.

Keep creating,

Kate

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Finished feet: Drawing Dragons Day 127

That took longer than one would suppose. I think, if I was writing a Dragon Theme, that would be the repeating line…with occasional roars.

Keep creating,

Kate

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Folding wings: Drawing Dragons Day 126

Cleaned the carpets today. Now, I’m drawing this dragon. I like the fold of the wings, the claws starting to form.

But the smell of cleaner is in my nose, and still, I am tired.

Keep creating,

Kate

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Ready for Action: Drawing Dragons Day 125

There was much eraser involved in this dragon’s head.

I was trying to make one of those dragons with the big eyes, you know?

There was so much NOPE along the way. But I think it’s getting closer. When I showed this one to Bob, he said: “Ready for action!”

I think that’s a good thing.

Keep creating,

Kate

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Rosalyn: Drawing Dragons Day 124

Wonder says this dragon reminds him of Rosalyn, almost falling asleep.

Maybe the dragons are not really all gone. Maybe they are just taking a quiet nap.

Keep creating,

Kate

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Happyish: Drawing Dragons Day 123

“Draw a happy dragon,” he said.

“Happy how?”

“Don’t make it a thing. Just make it happy.”

“Done.”

Keep creating,

Kate

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We need to write better stories: Drawing Dragons Day 122

I saw a movie with my husband tonight, which meant I ate a box of Milk Duds. This does not matter at all in terms of what I am going to say.


 


But as I watched the movie — I watched the destruction, the death, the carnage, the uncaring sprinting forward of the plot — I realized I was cringing. This wasn’t the movie I wanted to see.


 


I loved these characters, but this wasn’t about them. In fact, they were barely there at all except as set pieces on a burning stage. In the end, I knew some of them would fall. After all, they were set up that way, like little dominos on their way to a burning trashcan of death and oblivion plus some garbage and dumb stuff.


 


I get the point of the movie. I know what they were doing. It’s all about the villain. He just has so much he needs to do, you know? Worlds to destroy, and all that.


 


But we have to do better than this.


 


If we’re not going to develop characters — if we’re sacrificing them for plot or action or an epic twist at the bitter end, well, then maybe we need to write a better story in between. one with pacing that makes me fall in love with the world, or be pulled into the story, or at least have a moment to breathe as a character dies, or laugh when they throw out a joke. A story that doesn’t just pull me forward — it pulls me in, with an understanding that on the time I spent in that movie theater isn’t just affirming what I already know — that there are people who are terrible who have enough strength of will to burn down the world.


 


We need to tell better stories.


 


I know they’re not going to all be big and beautiful and life-affirming, like I want. But if they’re not, they need to sing with their own kind of truth.


 


That’s the thing I was missing. That’s the reason I was recoiling into my seat and chewing my Milk Duds to pieces.


 


I want the truth, some version of it. And all I saw tonight was movement. No characters. No life. Just an erratic and meaningless trek toward inevitable death.


 


So I came home and added the dragons’ claws. I thought about dinner, but really, I’m too far gone: angry and frustrated and sad. I’ll leave you with a dragon because at least I can give you that. That’s the truth I can see right now, and the one I want to share with you.

Keep creating,

Kate

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I keep looking for dragons: Day 121

In October of 2000, Ursula Le Guin spoke at Literary Arts. You can listen to her speech here at the Literary Arts archive project.

Slowly, she unfolds where ideas come from. She talks about the power of the imagination, whole and true. Fire and beauty.

 

But the phrase that held me in, and that I keep coming back to all these years later is this one: “I keep looking for dragons.”

For me, it was never about fire and flight and flame. It was about the idea, the possibility, that something bigger and wilder and stronger than us could exist just on the edge of our imaginations. That we could envision something just on the other side of the mountain, ready to take flight.

“Dragons are one of the truths about us,” Le Guin said.

I have to believe that is true. I have to believe that we can BE those dragons too, alight on the edge of possibility. Full of hope and fire and flame and most of all the belief that our wings will carry us into the sky.

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Denying the existence of Dragons: Day 120

I went to the Oregon Book Awards today. It was a night full of joy and love of books. Words. Writing. Stories.

I sat next to writers I love and thought about writers I love and celebrated writers I love.

Then I heard the words of Ursula Le Guin washing over me. Dragons, she said.

I remember that speech she gave. She talked about being open. Listening. To take your time and practice. To be ready.

Then she talked about dragons.

I’m listening to that speech tonight. I’ll share the quote tomorrow. Because right now, I’m thinking of dragons, and the gift of practice, and how much we have to learn about each other.

Keep creating,

Kate

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Batdragon returns: Drawing Dragons Day 119

Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah BATDRAGON!

Keep creating,

Kate

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