Book-Inspired Doodle #1

I thought it would be fun to kick things off by posting a drawing and writing a little about what inspired it. I absolutely love to draw, paint and read. I also love to read about what inspires others, so I thought that a blog post would be a nice way to be able to write a little more about some drawings than I can in an Instagram caption. I have seen a few people I follow posting blogs, so I wanted to join the fun!

I thought it would be interesting to draw or paint a picture for each post inspired by a favourite book or piece of writing. Depending on time, they might vary in detail, but I would love to post one every week or two and have a chat about the writing that inspired it.

This drawing was inspired by the symbolic green light in F Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’, one of my favourite books. Having watched the film for the first time only recently, I thought I would spend a few hours drawing my own take on it. Although the far-off subject is a woman in a boat rather than Daisy Buchanan’s East Egg home across the bay, I wanted to include a hand stretching out, trying to grasp the unreachable.

I loved this idea of reaching out and thinking about what we all reach out for. Perhaps in Gatsby’s case, it was the constant pursuit of the American Dream, for the past that could never be retrieved or restored, for the promise of a perfect future. What do you reach out for?

‘Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter – To-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther…And one fine morning—-

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.’

So, that’s it, just a few short words to accompany the first book-inspired doodle. This was made using Liquitex ink and white acrylic for the background. I then added everything else in using Uni-Pin pens (01 and 05). I can’t wait to start another drawing! There are so many books I adore, especially the American Classics. If anyone has any recommendations I would love to hear them if you follow me over on Instagram. If I have read it, I will add it to my to-draw list, and if I haven’t read it, I will add it to my to-read list!

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to posting another soon.