Cartoonist Gavin Aung Than has, since 2012, been posting cartoons based on various inspirational quotes and stories at zenpencils.com. For his newest book, Zen Pencils--Creative Struggle: Illustrated Advice from Masters of Creativity, he selected quotes from some of his favorite authors, writers, musicians, and scientists and drew them in comic book form for our enjoyment and inspiration.
The featured subjects are eclectic, and the quotes are, indeed, inspiring: Leonardo da Vinci's Notebooks, Stephen King's Memoir, Akira Kurosawa's Autobiograpy, Nikola Tesla's My Inventions, Ernest Hemingway's Nobel acceptance speech, and others. The quotes are well-selected. Stephen King reminds us that "Life isn't a support system for art. It's the other way around." Kurosawa encourages us to read actively, with pen in hand, collecting memorable quotes and thoughts in a notebook.
Most of the cartoons set the subject in his or her natural setting, but in an unusual turn, Than applies the writings of the Indian mystic Jiddu Krishnamurti to a modern urban setting. I don't particularly like Indian mysticism or rap music, but I loved the message that art should be created for the love of it, not merely with the aim of notoriety or material success. "Our present education is rotten because it teaches us to love success and not what we are doing."
I thoroughly enjoyed Than's approach to this book, presenting the respective figure's words without editing, but with his own clever illustrated interpretation. As one of his subjects, Brenè Brown, writes, "There's no such thing as creative people and non-creative people. There are only people who use their creativity and people who don't." Check out Creative Struggle and be inspired to unleash your creative side.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
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