I draw everyday, either for my work as a storyboard artist or for fun, so when I became a mum, it was very natural for me to reach for a pencil. As my baby napped I’d draw to record that day’s experiences.
I shared my drawings with friends who had babies of a similar age. I’d post drawings, they’d post silly stories. When you’re up in the middle of the night feeding, reassuring or worrying about your little one, contact with other mums feels like a lifeline, its wonderful to feel like you’re not alone.
It was also comforting to think, when going through a particularly difficult little ordeal, that at least this might make for a funny drawing that my friends will enjoy!
A baby’s development from 0-1 is breathtakingly! Every day brings something new. I didn’t want to forget any of it. I wanted to try and capture the stuff that cameras often miss. Simple little things, that, pre-motherhood, I knew nothing about. Stuff that I hadn’t read about in parenting books.
By the end of my daughter’s first year I had amassed quite a collection, badgered by friends and family I decided to try and get them published… That’s when the wonderful Isabel Atherton of Creative Authors came in, a few weeks later I had a publishing deal with Running Press. ‘Doodle Diary of a New Mum’ (my first book) was in bookshops March 2015.
It’s a very strange experience seeing my book in print. The doodles were produced completely un-self consciously. I could never have imagined when I started doodling that lots and lots of people would be looking at drawings of my wobbly, stretch marked belly. If I had thought it through, my doodles would have looked a lot different – I would have slimmed myself down, kept my clothes on and stayed off the toilet!
The reaction to the book over the last couple of weeks has been pretty dramatic! The feedback has been generally astonishingly positive (for which I’m hugely grateful) but there has also been some negative criticism – namely that I am portraying motherhood in a negative light.
I think if those same people bought the book they would realize that I have documented both the highs and lows. If I had concentrated just on the highs and drawn picture after picture of myself staring dewy eyed at my daughter with a caption reading… my god, I love you so much it hurts (a common vignette of my first year and probably every other parents) I don’t think many people would be very interested in the book!
The point was to have a laugh at the difficult bits. If those criticising the book experienced no tricky bits they should high five themselves and try to muster some empathy for those of us that didn’t have a perfectly smooth ride!
You can see more about Lucy’s book here: http://www.runningpress.com/book/doodle-diary-of-a-new-mom/9780762455881
“Isabel has great taste, and is a pleasure to work with. She’s flexible, reasonable and professional.”
Lee Wade, VP & Publisher, Random House Studio
