Draw What You Like. Draw What You Know.

Only a month has passed since the New Year, but with so many things happening around us that drain our emotional and physical energy, it feels like years. It is a hard time to sit down and create. We might feel angry but also lethargic, hopeful but also despairing. But as Justin said in a previous post, creation is a form of resistance. We do what we do, and we do what we can. Creators help fill the world with joy and spread hope—especially for children, who see what we see, hear what we hear, and feel what we feel. 

When we're not in the mood to create—affected by everything happening in society—it is especially daunting to face an empty canvas or blank document. When this happens to me, I try to remember what I want to create. This is my last guest post, so I’d like to share the mantra of my artistic endeavors for the past decade. It consists of two simple phrases that took me years to truly understand:

Draw what you like. Draw what you know. 

These are deceptively simple phrases (yes, so deceptive I couldn’t even believe it) from late Marshall Arisman, the chairman of Illustration as Visual Essay MFA program at the School of Visual Arts. He was a fantastic artist and a master storyteller. I remember so clearly how I felt when he said this in a classroom over a decade ago: I felt deeply inadequate. I didn’t know what I knew. I didn’t know what I liked. 

It seemed like my classmates and other artists were interested in and passionate about something big and meaningful. They seemed to make illustrations to address social, political, and environmental issues, or expressing admiration for the grandeur of nature. But what did I know? What did I like? In despair, I remember jotting down three words in my sketchbook:

Cat, Korea, Food

That was all I could come up with. They are three solid items, right? Sadly, to my young and immature eyes, these three didn’t feel significant or impressive to draw. It is often hard to grasp the value of the things closest to us. Today, cats rule the internet, Korean culture is a global phenomenon, and food is all anyone talks about—but back then, before my friends and I even had Instagram accounts, I wasn't sure. I wondered: Shouldn’t I be addressing society with my art? Shouldn’t I use my illustrations to change this unfair world?

 

Regardless of that inner struggle, I kept working. I published picture books and told the stories I wanted to tell. I didn’t stop to think about why I wanted to make a book about a stray cat riding a bus on a cold winter day. I didn’t analyze why I felt so passionate about making a book about kimchi pancakes, moving through draft after draft and workshop after workshop. It was only years later, while preparing a guest lecture for college students, that I realized all my books have been about those very three things:

Cat, Korea, Food

 

A blurry photo I saw online that inspired
my first book, Cat on the Bus

Coincidence? Of course not. Without consciously trying, I was making stories about what I knew and what I liked—just as Marshall Arisman had advised. I think that’s when I finally made peace with myself. I realized I can focus on what I love and what I know, however "insignificant" they may seem. By telling stories that amplify empathy—something we desperately need right now—I am building a career I can be proud of and contributing to society in my own way. This realization gave me the confidence to keep working, no matter what the outside voices say. So, I want to tell you today: believe in yourself. Believe in what you love and what you know. Tell it the way only you can tell. I hope this mantra helps you face the uncertainty of these times, just as it has helped me.

All my books have 1, 2, or 3 elements from Cat, Korea, Food

Thank you SCBWI and Justin Campbell for letting me share my stories in the blog! It has been an honor and has gotten me off to an amazing start for the new year. I hope everyone's 2026 is filled with joy, fulfillment, and love for one another.

________________________________________________________________

Aram Kim is an award-winning author and illustrator of many acclaimed picture books, including the Yoomi, Friends and Family series. Aram's work has been recognized by the Junior Library Guild, Bank Street College of Education, the Mills Tannenbaum Award for Children's Literacy, and more. Raised in South Korea and now living in Queens, NY, she creates stories that bridge traditional Korean culture with universal childhood experiences. Find more about Aram's work at AramKim.com.