"The Gentle Pen" Painting My Dreams

🎨 A Beautiful Life: Painting My Dreams, Creating My World

By Liv McLean – Author, Illustrator & All-Around Dream Builder

Some people wake up to punch clocks. I wake up to paint brushes, plot twists, and half-finished sketches stuck to the kitchen table with toast crumbs.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Being a children’s book author and illustrator isn’t just a career—it’s a lifestyle, a calling, and sometimes… a very messy table. But it’s also a life of freedom. A life built on imagination, storytelling, colour, and connection.A life where what I dream at night becomes a book by morning.

✏️ The Magic of Making

I’m blessed beyond words to spend my days creating. Not just writing down stories, but drawing, painting, and bringing them to life.

Many illustrations you see in my books were created with love, laughter, and likely at least one spilled cup of coffee.

These are the images that tumble out of my brain and onto the canvas:

• Hazel racing barrels in a dusty arena with her horse Buttercup 🐎

• The colourful, diverse kids in I’m Not the Same as You, learning that being different is beautiful 🌎

  
  

I create every one of these worlds with my own two hands—and sometimes a paintbrush in my mouth when my hands are full!

🖌️ Always Creating… and Always Tired

I won’t sugar-coat it. Creativity is exhausting. When you're writing, painting, designing, editing, and marketing your work, there’s barely time to remember where you left your glasses (usually in the paint water). I work 50 to 60 hours a week, not in a corporate office—but in my own little world of storyboards, characters, and deadlines that only I can set… and miss. 😄

But I get to dream in full colour.I get to make kids laugh with a painted duck in a bathtub. I get to hear from parents and teachers who say one of my books helped a child feel seen, or brave, or included.

And honestly? That’s better than any office job I’ve ever heard of.

💛 Living the Dream—Literally

Do I make a living yet? Not quite. Am I still hoping enough people find my books on Amazon to help me keep going? Absolutely.

But I’m rich in every other way. I have the joy of waking up every day with a story to tell. I have paint on my clothes, ideas in my head, and the freedom to follow wherever my imagination leads.

It’s a beautiful life. A creative, chaotic, cup-of-tea-fueled life. And I’m so glad you’re here with me.

📚 You Can Support My Creative Life by Buying a Book

If you've enjoyed any of my stories—or you're just curious to see what a life of imagination looks like in print—please visit:

📖 My website: livmclean.com🛒 Amazon (the best way to support me)✨ Books perfect for ages 4–12, and for anyone who loves laughter, heart, and a little bit of wonder.

From my whole heart and tired paintbrush, Liv McLean, Author. Illustrator. Dream-painter.

Gently,

Liv McLean

Happily Painting....