Welcome!

Seven newcomers brings our total to 69. That's three packed classrooms. It's like if physics, chemistry, and biology all went to exhibit at a science fair together. We'd need two buses.

I'd do mine on how the brain processes visuals vs words. Been thinking about this a lot lately, as the next section will show... 🙃

Thanks for being an early subscriber to my digital postcard. I prefer the description postcard (rather than newsletter) cuz it feels more casual, personal and specific to a moment in time. Each week I share updates, anecdotes and links to things I enjoyed recently.

TIP: First-time recipient? A reply will help prevent these emails being marked spam. Don't feel obligated to say something kind or clever. In fact, I encourage the opposite. Make your reply as conveniently incoherent as possible. A quick: "sDGHsdasd" is splendid :)

Third Sketch

Last Thursday, I posted my 3rd illustration on Twitter:

Tommy Lee @thomaselliotlee Comments and replies nourish creators to keep going and keep growing. pic.twitter.com/CUSl93Yu8g January 27th 2022 19 Retweets 137 Likes

It amazes me how much further images travel than text.

As I type, the image above has 12.8K impressions (views). I gained 47 followers. My sketch before was similar: 14.5K impressions, +45 followers.

It got me thinking.

If this pattern continues, I'm 17 images away from 1000 Twitter followers. That feels quite attainable. These 'explainer illustrations' are the most clear cut credibility tool I’ve found online for audience building.

It's easy to lose sight of what 47 people IS online. That's why each week I humanize the subscribers in my postcard introduction with an analogy. It helps personify a digit.

Each one those new 47 Twitter followers is a unique person. Each visual has sparked conversations with some of those cool people.

Realizing 20 effective images = 1K followers has been empowering.

Behind the Sketch

The first draft of my sketch looked like this:

The image above is what I posted in my drawing group, Draw in Business. My friend Mike encouraged me to push it further. I added a flower and posted it in my other illustration group led by Janis Ozolins:

Feedback there was to further emphasize the contrast of likes vs. comments. Here's v2 (left), and the final image (right), side-by-side:

The left version has numbers that seem 'random' to the eye. It requires effort to process. The strain diminishes the 'instant' impact.

The final version on the right keeps a pattern of 2 vs. 26 (comments) and 884 vs 81 (likes). This makes the image 'faster'. Anchored by the repetition of 8s and 2s we immediately see "oh this is 10x bigger."

Drawing in Groups

👆This header has two meanings.

👉 #1: I'm a feedback driven creator. Having two illustration communities as checkpoints makes a HUGE difference.

Here's the creation arc of a sketch. First it has to make it through my own taste filters. Then it goes through a few rejections from my girlfriend's taste filters. By then, the sketch is pretty decent.

Posting it in my drawing groups serves as a pre-launch. Feedback reveals what's been hidden in my blind spots. I'm biased, cuz I know what I'm trying to say. The notes I get in those groups show where clarity is missing.

It also helps me see a sketch in a new environment (phone, rather than laptop). There, I get a bird's eye view. If the words and concept aren't legible as a thumbnail, the text and visual details are too small.

👉 #2: Once a sketch is posted on Twitter, my community of support helps draw in a larger group. Between my friends from Write of Passage and my two drawing communities I have a solid Twitter base. It's how I get posts up into the air.

Once aloft, algorithmic trade winds carry sketches beyond my small audience. 🌬

Without my base of internet friends, I reckon it’d be hard to catch flight, regardless of quality.

Slow is Smooth

My friend Vicky is on a legendary streak of daily illustrations. This one has stayed in my mind since I saw it last week:

vicky zhao 🚢 @beeamp_vicky Visual Zettelkasten Day 15: The Speed Paradox Navy SEAL philosophy: Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast. Contrary to popular belief, slow and fast are not opposites. #ship30for30 #visualzettelkasten pic.twitter.com/n7kMSS1RNk January 24th 2022 0 Retweets 7 Likes

It's best to do something slow, smooth, and well. You avoid fumbling in haste. No need to start over, or be doomed with an exploding grenade in your hand.

I've always had this mindset. Glad to now have a sleek Navy SEAL mantra in support of my ways. The Tortoise and the Hare didn't have quite the same ring of credibility/cool factor in business settings... 🐢

First Day of My Life

I found out today I wasn't chosen for a grant I spent months pitching.

A number of you in this email were a huge support with feedback on it. I was bummed this afternoon. But, surprisingly, only for about an hour.

For all the reasons mentioned above (20 visuals = 1K followers) I feel there's a clear path ahead to grow my audience. I can do that on my own terms (Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast). I can focus on publishing consistently and enjoy the opportunities and conversations it sparks.

Bright Eyes' song "First Day of My Life" embodies that fresh start feeling of love and possibility. It's one of my all-time favourite songs to sing and strum on acoustic guitar.

I typically don't notice lyrics until the 12th time I hear a song. Here the words came through on first listen.

So good.

First Day of My Life Bright Eyes

That's all till next week!

Thanks for reading,

Tommy

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PS. Replies Encouraged :)

• If you have 27 seconds to jot an impression of this postcard, please do!
• I know each of your lives bustle with activity. If it helps, think of the reply as a text (rather than an email).
• A quick jotted: “Always enjoy the context you give before the song” or "Dig these 'behind the sketch' bits!" is valuable signal of where to re-invest :)