Lori Mitchell: Sketching the World Around Her

Native Californian Lori Mitchell loves to travel and sketch the world around her. As a child, she and her two sisters were encouraged to be creative by her mom, a fashion designer, who would set up an art studio in the garage and put on backyard art shows for all the neighborhood kids.

Mitchell graduated with honors from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena with a BFA in Illustration. She has since illustrated myriad projects, including 10 books. Her most famous book, Different Just Like Me, which she authored and illustrated, was featured on Oprah and The Today Show.  Her work is known for its warmth, humanity, and charming detail.  One of her favorite pastimes is sketching in locations around San Diego.  A long-time art educator, Mitchell has taken groups of students on sketching tours in Europe.

Detail of Sunday

Writing about the pieces in the 20/20 show, Mitchell says: “I am fascinated by the dichotomy between opinion and truth. Whether we are discussing religion, politics, science, history, or if the color of that dress on the internet was black and blue or white and gold, we each have our unique perspective. That two perspectives of a single subject can diverge should not automatically instigate a hardening of positions, but rather should invite exploration of that which we consider self-evident. I learned long ago that my ideas about myself, my surroundings and the world at large didn’t always overlap with those of others. The German filmmaker Wim Wenders once said, ‘the more opinions you have, the less you see.’ With ‘Saturday’ and ‘Sunday’ I hoped to begin a conversation about opinions and truth, and about the value of different perspectives. What you see here today – what you see as dynamic or uninspiring, what you find clear or puzzling, what makes you smile or roll your eyes – will almost certainly differ from the view of the person standing next to you. Go ahead and ask – and revel in the notion it could enhance your own perspective. After all, if you always see things as they are, you’ll never be able to see things for what they could be.”

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