10 ways to draw a dead author (or anyone)

in less than a minute

I love the photo of Leonora, but hand-made drawings are always so much more interesting than a photo anyone can find on the internet. This is just a preliminary list for folks who tell me I CAN’T DRAW. I’ve been jotting down a bunch of other ideas too. Maybe I’ll share them another time. For now, here’s a quick video of me creating those drawings on Procreate:

Events etc

The Habit of Art Happy Hour! The next zoom hangout for paid subscribers will be Friday Oct 3 at 5pm ET. We’ll start with a couple of one-minute dead author drawings. Registration link can be found here.

I’ll be at Proof: A Midwest Lit Fest in Indianapolis on Saturday, Oct 10. You can write your own Letter to a Dead Author from 10am-4pm at Loudmouth Books, and I’ll be signing copies of my graphic memoir The Keeper from 3pm-4pm.

Last week at Letters to Dead Authors & Artists,

Samantha Dion Baker

created a handwritten letter to outsider-artist Henry Darger. She even shared a process video of her creating her portrait of Darger. We recorded a Substack Live that I’ll share too. Coming this week: An illustrated letter to Vincent Van Gogh!

Last weekend I was so happy to be a part of Monica Ong’s book release for her stunning book of visual poetry, Planeteria, which celebrates women ancestors and scientists by rewriting the stories of the stars. I got to share some of my work along with the poet Naoko Fujimoto (a former student of mine!). We were at the wonderful Woman Made Gallery in Chicago.

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Thanks for reading The Habit of Art by Kelcey Ervick, a Substack Featured Publication (twice!). I love writing and drawing these posts and am grateful to everyone who follows along. I’m the author of four award-winning books and a professor of creative writing in Indiana.

-Kelcey