Americans fall in love with Italian early. As kids it begins with "spaghetti!" and "meatballs!" and "pizza!", soon it's "espresso!" and "cappuccino!" and "latte!" –Darrell Fusaro
I feel compelled to share how I arrived at the above illustration as an example that successful ideas are fun and always flock to a playful mind.
The challenge of coming up with the full-page illustration and quote for "Darrell's Corner" in each issue of i-Italy | NY magazine has taught me to rely on joy as my guide.
I have a routine. After my morning coffee and inspirational readings I doodle. I begin drawing the first thing that comes to mind. It could be my sleeping dog, a smiling cup of coffee, or a man taking a selfie with a cat on his head. The key is that I ignore reason. I ignore what I think I should be drawing and trust my intuitive thoughts instead. This takes courage because these intuitive thoughts are usually ridiculous. It feels risky to do this, but every time I abandon myself to follow a silly hunch I'm thrilled with the results. It's taught me to aim for joy rather than perfection or approval.
On one morning of doodling a man joyfully tipping back an espresso cup began to take shape on my pad. Right before I was about to draw in the espresso inspiration whispered into my inner ear, "It would be fun to draw the stream of espresso pouring into the word 'yes' inside his mouth." So I did just that and, as always when I carry out a hunch, I loved how it turned out.
Recently I've got into the habit of recording myself drawing these doodles with my smartphone. When I'm done I get a hold of my friend, and musician, Edward Biagiotti. He joins me in singing a humorous soundtrack we feel inspired to accompany the video. For this particular video we had the hunch to sing, "That's Amorè" (See video below). As soon as we were done I was inspired once again, and became enthusiastic knowing that this would be my submission to i-Italy | NY. The inspiration was just one minor adjustment; replacing the word "Yes" with "Amorè".
I'm not surprised but I'm always in awe every time I experience proof that trying hard to succeed at anything will never work as well as having fun.
"To succeed in any undertaking, any art or any trade or any profession, simply keep it ever persistently fixed in mind as an aim, and then study to make all effort toward it play or recreation. The moment it becomes hard work, we are not advancing." –Prentiss Mulford
Follow me @FOOZARO on Instagram and be entertained watching these daily doodles come to life.
The challenge of coming up with the full-page illustration and quote for "Darrell's Corner" in each issue of i-Italy | NY magazine has taught me to rely on joy as my guide.
I have a routine. After my morning coffee and inspirational readings I doodle. I begin drawing the first thing that comes to mind. It could be my sleeping dog, a smiling cup of coffee, or a man taking a selfie with a cat on his head. The key is that I ignore reason. I ignore what I think I should be drawing and trust my intuitive thoughts instead. This takes courage because these intuitive thoughts are usually ridiculous. It feels risky to do this, but every time I abandon myself to follow a silly hunch I'm thrilled with the results. It's taught me to aim for joy rather than perfection or approval.
On one morning of doodling a man joyfully tipping back an espresso cup began to take shape on my pad. Right before I was about to draw in the espresso inspiration whispered into my inner ear, "It would be fun to draw the stream of espresso pouring into the word 'yes' inside his mouth." So I did just that and, as always when I carry out a hunch, I loved how it turned out.
Recently I've got into the habit of recording myself drawing these doodles with my smartphone. When I'm done I get a hold of my friend, and musician, Edward Biagiotti. He joins me in singing a humorous soundtrack we feel inspired to accompany the video. For this particular video we had the hunch to sing, "That's Amorè" (See video below). As soon as we were done I was inspired once again, and became enthusiastic knowing that this would be my submission to i-Italy | NY. The inspiration was just one minor adjustment; replacing the word "Yes" with "Amorè".
I'm not surprised but I'm always in awe every time I experience proof that trying hard to succeed at anything will never work as well as having fun.
"To succeed in any undertaking, any art or any trade or any profession, simply keep it ever persistently fixed in mind as an aim, and then study to make all effort toward it play or recreation. The moment it becomes hard work, we are not advancing." –Prentiss Mulford
Follow me @FOOZARO on Instagram and be entertained watching these daily doodles come to life.
It all began with step number fun.
Now I get a little amorè every time I glance at my phone. Download my illustration and you can too.
–Darrell Fusaro
Darrell Fusaro is the author of What If Godzilla Just Wanted a Hug?, co-host of the Funniest Thing! with Darrell and Ed podcast and a contributing columnist for i-Italy Magazine.
Darrell Fusaro is the author of What If Godzilla Just Wanted a Hug?, co-host of the Funniest Thing! with Darrell and Ed podcast and a contributing columnist for i-Italy Magazine.
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