Make a World

Ed Emberley’s drawing books as my creative home base

There are times in my career where I’ve gotten lost, artistically. It’s in those moments, I revisit some of my safe havens. I envision little creative, peaceful ports away from the storm of whatever is rocking my boat in the moment. Maybe the most influential of these, the most core to my illustration, is the drawing books of Ed Emberely.

I can say with full honesty that I came by this all naturally. I started drawing from the pages of Make a World, Ed Emberley’s Drawing Book of Animals, and Ed Emberley's How to Draw Monsters and More Scary Stuff since I remember drawing at all. Somehow, the lessons learned seeped into my little boy heart and I never stopped.

If you’re not familiar, this is how these books work and present the act of drawing. I think I drew every item in every book.

I changed, as I got better and my interests expanded, mostly into Spider-Man and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,¹ then Lord of the Rings, and finally, Pixar inspired stuff. When I resurfaced after having my own kids and set my eyes upon children’s publishing, I’d nearly forgotten my time in Ed Emberely’s world. It just kind of appeared slowly in my work, like a forgotten and dormant perennial.

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I’m Jacob Souva, an author and illustrator of books for kids. This post is for paid subscribers! 1/4 of all of my posts here fall into this exclusive category. They also get access to the full archive, complete with card catalog and dewey decimal system (if you know, you know). I’d be delighted if you became a paid subscriber as it’s super supportive of this endeavor.

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Recently,

Greg Pizzoli

wrote up² his own “ode to Ed” and it reminded me once again to travel to home base, draw a bit and really think about just why Emberley sits in this place of honor in my creative life: