Reader’s Digest Canada

Tom Froese

10 images

Tom was commissioned by Reader’s Digest Canada to create these charming cover and feature illustrations, exploring the touching stories of random acts of kindness during the first few months of the pandemic.

1 of 11

Created by

Tom Froese

View artist profile

More work from Tom Froese

1 of 5

Latest News
The Graduate Hotels I Promise Village x LeBron James
Tom has teamed up with The Graduate Hotels for the I Promise Village with LeBron James Family Foundation!
View story
Latest News
The BlackLine
Tom teamed up with the Silicon Vally tech company The BlackLine to create this series of illustrations to tell the story of a
View story
Latest News
Icheon Airport
View story
Latest News
Vancouver Airport
View story
Latest News
Airbnb
View story

What are you good at, and what do you want to do? These are two huge factors that determine your style.
.
People often ask whether you need to have a singular, consistent style and how to choose just one from many.
.
At first you will have many styles and your work will be driven more by your ideas and by the styles of others. Over time, as you become more aware and well versed in what you can and want to do, what you are good at and what you strive for, your work will take on a voice of its own, and the images you create will be driven by this voice.
.
Whereas at first you will take your cues from outside sources, later you will take your cues from your own world of insights and understandings.
.
There is no possible way to design a definitive style once and for all, in some grand, concentrated effort. I’m not saying you couldn’t make something amazing, but if you’re setting out to create a style by a series of short cuts, you’ll likely find yourself resenting it in due time. Only a style that emerges from diligent effort and attention over time will stand the test of time.
.
If your style is allowed to develop slowly, part by chance and part by effort, over time, you’ll naturally see what makes sense for you.
.
There are so many good resources out there for developing your style. I have a few classes on skillshare that really aim to get at this, especially #sweetspotsillustration and #drawingtowardillustration, albeit in a roundabout way. But I think also of @andyjpizza’s new class on style, as well as @yourbuddymeg’s audio class on @knowablefyi. I haven’t seen anything that comes close to the depth these two humans are bringing in terms of classes, and of course, I mustn’t leave out @lisacongdon’s amazing books Find Your Artistic Voice.
.
Ask anyone who developed a recognizable style, and I’m certain they’d tell you a story that includes lots of experimentation, trial and error, influence, imitation, and occasional moments of euphoric eurekas. I doubt any would say that sat down with determination and over a short amount of time they crafted the perfect style. If I’m wrong about this I need to know who and how that went!
.
#illustrationstyle #illustration

A thank you note to all of you. There were so many responses I could barely keep up! Stay tuned.

Confession time. I am in a bit of a creative rut. After returning from my long weekend vacation, I found that someone had just launched a Skillshare class on the exact topic I have been planning on for the past month. I watched it through and saw how it covered so much of what I wanted to say. The wind has truly been taken from my sails. To be clear, it was very well done, and I’m so glad it will benefit so many people, and honestly, there’s no better person to teach it right now.
.
Although it is hard to see so much work seem to go down the drain, I am adamant that this is a gift I disguise. There is nothing better in art and writing than to be proven wrong or called to a higher and deeper task than you though you set out for.
.
So I am eager to find out what this higher task is and how I will do it. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt this negative experience is the real deal, the fuel for my best work.
.
Meanwhile, I’m contending as always with self hatred and doubt as far as my art is concerned. I don’t feel like I am at the level I ought to be at. I feel like my abilities and my art fall so short of what I could be if I would just put in more work.
.
I went a bit nuts this morning and decided I was going to make a mural on my studio wall, no plan, no sketch. I should know better. I started to draw things and I was like why these? What’s the point? This isn’t good nor meaningful. This isn’t an idea. It’s not going to be nice to look at. It’s self indulgent. So I tried painting a quote. It was a great quote. But I wasn’t able to do the lettering with the paint and brush type I had. In the end I concluded I would just paint the wall over in one colour. And then I realized I had no rollers in the house.
.
So here is my half painted wall of unfulfilled creative expectations. It’s okay. Really. I haven’t felt this doubtful and angsty is a long time, and this is exactly the fertile ground I need to grow all over again. This is the beginning of a new chapter, I am going through yet another metamorphosis. I don’t know how or where it ends, but it begins here.
.
#muralart #artthoughts #selfdoubt #workingthroughit #illustration

Failure is a cliche topic for creatives. We hear about "embracing" and "facing" failure to learn all the time.

Of course, failure is necessary to all growth. And overcoming the fear of failure is the only way we can succeed.

That being said, I think failure is often praised, seldom specified. Is there “good” failing and “bad” failing? How do you know the difference? How do you avoid the bad kind?

I don’t know about there being “good” and “bad” failure. But I do know where the most valuable kind of failure happens. And I also believe there are times we should fail with a safety net and other times we need to fail without a safety net.

In training for karate, you train in the safety of basics training and kata. But then you must prove yourself in competition, where you might actually get hurt. In training you fail often, but in learning mode, you see more growth than failure. You can accept that you don’t have it all sorted out.

But then there’s the competition, where you put your skills to the test. Suddenly you understand what is working/not working. Hopefully you will find yourself strong and winning. But often, you will find yourself on the floor wincing in pain.

Obviously you want to avoid failing in competition, but you have to be willing to risk it. And the feedback you get will be more instructional than any other kind.

There is a time to fail in safety and a time to risk failing dangerously. If you’re early on in your development as an artist, you must grow in safety, just as plants begin in a nursery, shielded from the elements. But if those plants are going to flower, they'll need to get out under the sun and face the weather.

Where are you in your growth? Are you a tender shoot in need of shelter? Or are you outgrowing your nursery, ready to be rooted in the exposed, outdoor soil? Are you still learning the basics, or are you ready to test yourself in competition?

It's only in risking painful failure that you'll learn who you really are, what you're really good at. In training, you gain confidence in your mentors. In competition, by risking failure, you gain confidence in yourself.

#failure #motivation #illustration