The Art of Art

I'm having the most fun designing my own comic books/graphic novels than I've ever had in my entire life. At the same time, while I muddle through one panel at a time, I'm learning hard lessons.

It just took me a solid week to figure out what I was missing from three whole pages. There needed to be a shadow behind the tree. Sigh...

The main reason I decided to delve into the world of independent comic books is because of my work experience. I've been a computer graphic designer professionaly since 1997. I remember when Photoshop didn't have filters and it took about ten steps to create a drop shadow. So, I figured, with my years of experience, I can totally do this.

This past week I have been seriously considering giving up. Things were dragging. I kept bitterly complaining to friends. I can't do this! It's taking way too long just to draw one panel! What's holding me back?!

Answer: experience.

There are fantastic advantages to a lot of experience: strong work ethic, following schedules, meeting deadlines, meeting client's demands perfectly, getting it right the first time, etc, etc.

Experience can also become an incredibly bad habit. In this past week, I've been chipping away at all my experience and going back to basics. I'm working for myself, not for any clients' specific instructions. No boss, no one to work for but myself. No steady paycheck, but that's a topic for another blog post.

On a side note, people who get jealous of experience and independence, and try to drag others down to their level are fools. Moving on...

It's about art. My art. The lesson I keep learning. Stick with the art and forget everything else. Then, it's a smooth ride from there. I'm still learning though. Thank you for your patience.

P.S. Three pages finished for Cottonseeds, Issue No. 2, and I hope to have a 5 - 8 page preview available soon.

Experience

There are so many books, blogs, websites and social media dedicated to teaching aspiring writers how to become authors. There's even a million and one paid workshops that you can find anywhere, especially on the internet. But here's the only thing you need to know: experience.

There just isn't any substitute for direct life experience. You can read all the articles you can find, memorize each word, and it won't make a difference. At best, reading any kind of how-to guide will teach you how to get started, but that's it. At worse, it'll teach you what not to do. You need experience. It's the only way.

Not everyone can travel the world, earn a PhD in literature or become a Buddhist monk. So you do what you can, in the only way that you know is right for you, in order to gain experience.

Take a book out of the library that's on a subject matter that you would never read.

Go camping in your own backyard.

Try your hand at making clay sculptures, even though you don't have the talent and just know it will be a failure.

Check out that cafe you pass by each day on your way to school or work and you think to yourself, my friends would never want to be seen at a place like that. Go anyway! Gain experience, and live to tell the story.