“I can only draw stick figures.”

In undergrad I had to take public speaking as a required class. One of our speeches had to be a live demo on any topic we liked. As the only art major in the class, I decided to make my speech interactive. I started by giving everyone paper and asking them to draw a tree in two minutes. The class giggled at their collective lack of skills and a forest of hesitant (yet respectable) stick trees ensued.

I then started a slide show of tree photos and demonstrated quick drawings using a projector. The demonstration part of my speech involved referencing the tree photos: pointing out how to reduce the shapes of different tree species, different ways to handle branches, scribble leaves, and so on. Observing how a tree is made and then drawing it instead of drawing an idea of it. All within 15 minutes and with a very simple art style.

The final slide was a collage of many tree photos for reference. I asked everyone to draw another tree using what they’d learned from my 15 minute speech. Everyone now had some practice, references to use, some ideas of handling details, and the same amount of time as before. The second stick tree forest was way more detailed and drawn with confidence. Instead of laughing at their stick trees, my classmates were proud of what they drew. 15 minutes to increase my classmates’ confidence in their art. It was a fantastic feeling!

After that, the idea of a fully fleshed-out stick figure book never left me. Ideally, I would like this book to appeal to a wide range of stick figure artists from children to adults. Being able to draw a stick figure and read are the only prerequisites. (And ideally, the book’s drawings would be clear enough that reading wouldn’t be a hard prerequisite.)