View the archive of my two-hour class and discover the Five Things I’ve Learned from a lifetime as a cartoonist and writer, and the pleasure and fulfillment that comes with looking inward and observing of the world around you.
Hi, I’m Liza Donnelly. I have been a cartoonist and writer all my life. As a little girl, I was painfully shy, my parents were worried about me. What saved me was that I loved to draw. I could communicate with others without having to open my mouth to speak, and I was encouraged to draw. It took me a lifetime to realize that drawing is not only for others, it’s also for yourself.
You may have seen my work in The New Yorker magazine, where I have been drawing cartoons and writing essays for 40 years, or on social media where I share my in-real-time live drawings. Or maybe you’re familiar with my Substack newsletter, Seeing Things, where daily I share thoughts and observations about life and politics.
In the beginning, I drew funny pictures to make my mother laugh. Now I do so for a much larger audience, and over those years, I have learned so much. I overcame my shyness and my lack of self-esteem to express myself freely and live a full life as an artist, wife and mother of two girls. As a creative person, I realize there are some things that I do in my work that translate to life in general. I learned from observing others, that creativity not only involves observation of the world around me – the wonderful and funny things we all do – it also requires a lot of looking inward.
It’s these things I’d like to share with you in my upcoming 90-minute class, Five Things I’ve Learned about Creativity. In this class, I will share with you some of the tools I use to help draw and write, and elaborate on how these things are lessons that can be carried over into how we live our lives.
What have I learned?
Of course, the most obvious element is humor – we all know that’s crucial! But I also hope to share with you the tools I use and the strategies I have learned for dealing with issues that every creative person faces – challenges like creative blocks, generating ideas, communicating with others, and solving problems.
In our time together, I will talk with you about these things, and more, and expound as to how I discovered them and use them. I will even draw for you on camera, live, as we explore them.
When we’re done, after we’ve had a lot of laughs, you just might want to pick up a pencil and draw. If you haven’t already. I assure you it’s something that will give you great pleasure and fulfillment. LIke me as a little girl, your drawings may pull you out of a place you wish you weren’t, and they will make others happy. And as you draw, you will begin to learn more about others and about yourself. That is the creative process.
-Liza Donnelly
Liza Donnelly is a writer and award-winning cartoonist with The New Yorker Magazine, where she has been drawing cartoons and writing about culture and politics for forty years. She has contributed to CBS News and CNN, creating political cartoons as well as live-drawing special cultural and political events. Donnelly also writes and draws for The New York Times, CNN Opinion pages and the Washington Post.
Liza's impact extends beyond the written word and illustrations. She is also a screenwriter, working on her third feature and currently pitching a documentary. Her widely acclaimed TED talk, translated into 40 languages and viewed over 1.4 million times, and her role as a frequent speaker at SXSW, the United Nations, and The New Yorker Festival, as well as her work as a Cultural Envoy for the US State Department, solidify her status as a prominent advocate for freedom of speech, women's rights, and the power of cartoons worldwide.
Liza is also the creator of a new digital visual journalism called live drawing. She is a pioneer in live drawing for major news networks, employing her tablet to quickly capture and share live events with humorous and insightful commentary. Liza's extensive coverage of high-profile events and her innovative approach have earned her a prominent place in the world of journalism, celebrated by various media outlets.
Growth and Change
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