Wednesday 14 May 2014

Inspirational Interview - Emm Roy

To counteract some of the dark issues I write about, I like to find people, photos, articles, and quotes which make the world a lighter, brighter, and much nicer place to live. This week I've been honoured to speak to Emm Roy. Emm runs Pleasestopbeingsad over on Tumblr. I discovered her blog a couple of months ago and check in every day for a dose of cute and happiness. Her doodles and advice reach thousands of people and if you need a pick-me-up, or just want to smile a bit more, her blog is guaranteed to do it. Without further ado, please welcome her to the blog!

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"Firstly, tell us a little about yourself."

Hi! I’m a 22 year old French Canadian illustrator. I like cats and drinking a lot of coffee.

“You run the amazing Tumblr blog Pleasestopbeingsad. What inspired you to start it?”

Thanks! It wasn’t always the way it is now. It started because I was in a bad place, and I thought it would be helpful if I had a drawing diary to chronicle my progress as I tried to heal and get out of that bad place. I also wanted to let my friends know how I was doing, so I decided to put it online in blog form instead of keeping a more traditional paperback diary. Eventually, it started getting popular, and I decided to switch the focus of the blog so it would be more about helping people and less about my personal journey.

“Your wonderful doodles make a lot of people smile. What inspired you to start drawing? What do you use to make them? On average how many do you draw a day?”


Again, thank you. I’ve been drawing for as far as I can remember. When I was younger, I was one of those kids who was always drawing in class or skipping class to draw. I mainly draw using a wacom bamboo create tablet and photoshop cs6. It’s hard to tell how many I make a day. “A lot” would be my best guess.

“Sometimes you speak about your daily life. Do you make time to draw every day? Is it an “Okay, for the next hour this is what I’m going to do”? Or do you just sit down and go for it whenever the mood takes you?”
I’m very into scheduling. I make schedules and I plan things so that I can be more efficient and maximize my productivity. Drawing is currently my only source of income, so I always make sure to organize my schedule so that I draw at least 40 hours every week. To be honest though, I’m always so excited about drawing and creating work that my biggest problem is scheduling myself time for rest and breaks. I find it a lot easier to draw than not to draw.

“What advice would you give to someone who wants to be creative but finds themselves with a block? How do you deal with creative blocks?”
I think one of the easiest way to be blocked is to set your expectations too high. I have friends who are very talented, but they want everything they make to be perfect, and as soon as they make a mistake or they reach a hard step, they start getting nervous and unhappy about what they’re doing, and they’re no longer enjoying it as much. It’s important to allow yourself to fail. I think people should try to make bad art just for the sake of it sometimes. It’s fun and it helps put perfectionism in perspective. I’m also a big fan of drawing and painting with other people. It’s an amazing feeling to be alone with your thoughts while working on a painting, but company can be a lot of fun too. I’m also a big fan of taking breaks. Everyone needs to recharge sometimes. It’s okay. You’re not any less of an artist if you need to stop making art for a week.

“You give out a lot of wonderful advice and I always find myself smiling whenever I see it. If you could give one piece of advice to everyone, what would it be?”

Be kind, but don’t mistake kindness for letting people treat you badly. There is nothing mean about standing up for yourself or putting yourself first. It only means that you’re extending your kindness to yourself.

“Many people will agree that the world’s not a great place at the moment. What do you think could be done to make it better?”

People need to be more considerate. So often we hurt people, not because we’re bad people or because we want to hurt them, but because we simply haven’t taken the time to fully consider the consequences of our actions (or lack thereof). I think we need to pause and reflect more on how we’re affecting the world. I believe that positive change can happen, but I believe that it happens in small steps. I don’t expect to end poverty, but I can donate a few dollars to someone who needs it. I don’t expect to end bigotry, but I can tell someone when their actions are hurting me, and I can listen when they tell me that my actions are hurting them. I’m a big fan of the idea that small steps are still important steps.

“The doodles are available in books! Where can we find them?!”

Right now, they’re only available on Lulu.com (http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/pleasestopbeingsad)

“More importantly, where can we find you online?”

you can find me at pleasestopbeingsad.tumblr.com where I doodle little things to make people happy
or at emmisnotshortforemma.tumblr.com where I draw things about my life. 

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 Thank you so much, Emm! And everyone else, go and check her blog! Go now! You won't be disappointed!

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