What It Is

by Lynda Barry

Hardcover, 208 pages

English language

Published May 13, 2008 by Drawn and Quarterly.

What It Is demonstrates a tried-and-true creative method that is playful, powerful and accessible to anyone with an inquisitive wish to write or remember. Bursting with full-colour drawings, comics and collages, autobiographical sections and gentle creative guidance, each page is an invigorating example of exactly what it is: 'The ordinary is extraordinary'. Lynda Barry explores the.... ...depths of the inner and outer realms of creation and imagination, ... ...where play can be serious, ... ...monsters have purpose and ... ...not knowing is an answer unto itself. How do objects summon memories? What do real images feel like?

These types of questions permeate the pages of What It Is, with words attracting pictures and conjuring places through a pen that first and foremost keeps on moving. Her insight and sincerity will tackle the most persistent of inhibitions, calling back every kid who quit drawing to feel alive again …

"Deliciously drawn (with fragments of collage worked into each page), insightful and bubbling with delight in the process of artistic creation. A+" -Salon

1 edition

Pentaro Pentarovsky reviewed What It Is by Lynda Barry

"Ojalá supiera qué escribir" Se cierra un dedo en la mano del mono en la portada

5 stars

Este libro en realidad son tres, intercalados entre sí como si fueran un mazo de cartas: un cómic autobiográfico en el que la autora muestra el camino que siguió para decidir que sí, la creatividad deja; un análisis sobre el origen de las ideas y cómo interactuamos con ellas, y un libro de texto con ejercicios de escritura creativa para el lector. Parte de la belleza del libro radica en su hechura: está realizado en hojas de bloc de notas usando una combinación de dibujo, acuarelas y collage (en puntos incluso rozando la sobrecarga sensorial), las cuales son reproducidas de manera facsimilar, incluyendo imperfecciones y tachaduras. Después de todo, la perfección es la enemiga de lo terminado.

Chulada de máiz prieto.

bittertea reviewed What It Is by Lynda Barry

None

5 stars

Got me thinking about all the reasons behind why I started writing and why writing/creating start to feel hard when you're obsessing about being good. A good exploration of what creativity is.