"Maddy, will you come draw on the walls of our daughter's nursery?"

Why yes, I’d love to!

This spring, I was asked to do some of my wall drawing, but this time for a nursery! My first wall drawing experience was completely unplanned, the result of pandemic boredom and my unwillingness to completely remove the wallpaper bits from the walls in my home office. In that project, I did a little bit over the course of months and slowly developed a sense for what I was doing. With this project, I would only have a few evenings. Could I do it again?

It turns out, I can! I planned a bit more than I had last time, but still left a lot open to improvisation and experimentation. We decided on a color palette ahead of time, based on what is available in the larger sized Posca markers that I like to use and what would look nice on yellow walls. Once I arrived onsite, we had to establish what would go on the mural. I knew I wanted to draw a duck, a sheep, and some turtles. She asked for a hedgehog. So, that’s where I started. I sketched out a basic landscape with duck, sheep, turtles, and hedgehog, and then took to the walls.

After the first day, we knew it needed more. She requested a moose. I learned how to draw a moose, and it went up on the wall. I finished it up with some buzzing bees. Throughout the process, we critiqued and edited together, making it a more collaborative process than my first mural.

This project came after a fallow creative period for me, so it was particularly affirming to be able to stand in front of it and say “look what I made!” And when, during the baby shower, some kids appeared and started playing with stuffed animals against the drawings, I was especially glad to have created a space for that kind of imaginative play.

Hedgehog and plans

Photo of a nursery mural, feating an orange hedgehog.

Exhausted from drawing

Photo of artist Maddy Buck resting while working on her nursery mural.

Hedgohog inspiration

Photo of a stuff hedgehog in front of a nursery mural that features a hedgehog. Mural is by artist and illustrator Maddy Buck

Drawing while lying down

Photo of artist and illustrator Maddy Buck working on nursery mural. Image shows many animals, including turtles, ducks, and chicks.

the duck

Photo of a nursery mural, showing a large duck in front of a water scene. Colors are yellow, orange, and blue.

the duck and the sheep

Photo of a colorful, whimsical nursery mural, showcasing a quizzical duck surrounded by tiny blue chicks and some bees and a butterfly. The colors are orange, blue, and green.

rambunctious baby ducks

Photo of a nursery mural showing a number of tiny blue chicks diving into a body of water. The illustration uses wavy lines and is blue, orange, and green.

final wall

Photo of a nursery mural, showcasing an illustration of a nature scene with ducks, butterfly, and more animals. The style is full of lines and the colors are orange, blue, and green.

angry turtles

Photo of a scene from Maddy Buck’s nursery mural, showing a chick diving into a water, overseen by another chick who is standing on top of a turtle that looks like a rock. The style is full of waves and curlicues and is in orange, green, and blue.

concerned sheep

Photo of a blue sheep drawn on a nursery mural by Maddy Buck. The sheep looks a little nervous.

nursery mural

Full-length photo of Maddy Buck’s kid-oriented nursery mural, showcasing nature scenes and animals.

nursery mural by maddybuck

Photo of artist Maddy Buck standing in front of nursery mural. Mural is drawn with Posca markers in blue, green, and orange, with lots of curly and wavy lines, and showcasing many animals.

nursery mural reading nook

Photo of nursery with Maddy Buck’s kid-oriented mural in the background. Nursery include a chair and a soft lamp, and a window.

The Glorious North Woods

You know those times where the bugs actually aren’t that and you pretend you’re safe and it’s just lovely? And then a few days later you discover they were there all along? Based on a true story.

First page of zine or picture book by Maddy Buck. It is in the shape of the state of Minnesota. Illustration includes a woman with her arms raised, saying “The Glorious North Woods!” With collaged watercolor blobs, the illustration shows lakes and green trees.

Illustration from Minnesota-shaped zine shows a person in shorts and a yellow t-shirt saying “The glorious north woods,” while slapping themselves in the arm, clearly killing a mosquito.

Illustration of woman laying in bed, dreaming “The glorious north woods” as mosquitos buzz about all around her.

Illustration of woman in Minnesota-shaped zine. She looks a little unhappy, there’s a pink exclamation point about her head, and mosquito bites on her leg.

A page of a Minnesota-shaped picture book, where the illustration shows a woman in multiple poses trying to itch her new mosquito bites. She doesn’t look happy and her legs are turning red.

In a Minnesota-shaped picture book, the illustration shows an enormous mosquito saying, “The glorious north woods!” and flying above a green north woods landscape. The illustration is done using watercolored collage.

Last past of Minnesota shaped picture book. Illustration is done using ink, marker, and watercolored paper that is collaged. There are a few pine trees, a sun, and a lake.

Transcript:

Page 1: An exuberant woman stands in a collaged north woods environment, on the front page of a Minnesota-shaped book, as she proclaims “The Glorious North Woods!”

Page 2: The same woman happily slaps at a single bug that is shown buzzing around her arm, all while proclaiming with a simple “The Glorious North Woods!” She’s unperturbed.

Page 3: The same woman snoozes with a smile, dreaming “The Glorious North Woods.” She’s completely unaware of the the few bugs shown buzzing around her.

Page 4: The same woman, stands surprised and alert with an exclamation point over her had and “itch me, itch me, itch me” coming from a red bump on her leg.

Page 5: In five drawings, the same woman is shown discovering more and more mosquito bites all over. She gets increasingly angry.

Page 6: An enormous mosquito character is show flying above a collaged north woods environment saying happily “The glorious north woods!”

Page 7: By Maddy Buck 2022, amidst some collaged trees, a lake, and dotted lines indicating bugs.

Mad (dy) Libs

For much of 2021, I had no ideas. I knew I wanted to make things, but I never knew what to make. And some days I just needed to make SOMETHING to feel that satisfaction of having completed a project. So I started a sketchbook I called the “I need to make something” sketchbook, in which I made faces out of blobs and turned them into people.

When it came time to make my yearly book, I decided to use the blob faces, simply turning them into Mad(dy) Libs.

I love them. It’s so crazy where setting restraints and creativity can take you. I love it.