Inking, drawing, inking some more...

Brush, pen, india ink, white out over col-erase pencils.
Buzzfeed posted an article called It's Totally Mesmerizing To Watch Artist Draw Comics.  This is my life right now- learning to ink better. This goes hand in hand with cleaner, more detailed drawings. All this comes from studying and observing.

Actually, that's pretty much all I have been doing lately is trying to soak up techniques like some of what the artists have posted here. It's easy to get caught up in other ways to create art- like digital painting- but I remind myself that will come back as a need in time. Right now I need to get better at inking.

So far, I think I've been doing alright. I just need to keep it up!


Why I left Facebook


Trading in Facebook for tangible skill building.
So, I gave up Facebook. Why? Well, for starters I was finding that I was unfollowing more and more of my friends- I got tired of the drama, pictures of dinners, selfies, and pictures of injuries (I hate those the most), invites to games and events. I have a few friends that I keep in touch through messaging- but they’re close enough to have my phone number and email address. And if someone truly wants to get a hold of me, they can always contact me through here.

I was finding that it was a huge time-suck. I’d browse through the newsfeed and get caught up in articles that people would post, which didn’t really reflect my interests. I’ve read that Facebook is detrimental to your health- an unhealthy addiction that robs you of your motivation and mental endurance. I don’t think that’s founded, but it sounds very likely in my own experience. And then, there’s the ads! So many promoted items on the newsfeed, it was becoming cluttered. I understand the ads are what makes Facebook free, but the noise is just like television.

In the end, I needed to break the habit of spending so much time on Facebook. It was robbing me of the time I need to fulfill my dreams. I’m only a day into it, but the compulsion to check it only hit me in the morning, and when I was bored during my lunch. I found other ways to fill my time that were more educational and more entertaining. I've also been able to use the time to really concentrate on honing my skills with the croquill pen.

I still have my Instagram- which I like better anyway. I’m also on Twitter- I don’t use it much but it’s nice to have. And lastly, I have a Vimeo account as well.





No Plan B's.


Pen and India Ink study of protagonist from graphic novel.
One of the greatest quotes I’ve ever heard- one that hit me right between the eyes- is one that I heard recently. Will Smith said, “There’s no reason to have a Plan B because it detracts from Plan A.” It’s so true. I’ve always had “lots of irons in the fire” but I could never figure out why I wasn’t making any headway into anything. I mean, I was busy, I had a lot going for me… but success just seemed to elude me.

Fear is a big part of it. I was screwed over by people I trusted, and instead of getting up and dusting off, I used excuses and blaming others for not moving forward… when really, it was because I was fearful of being taken advantage again.

For what? Fear may have kept me safe, but it’s also kept me hidden.

I’ve recently tried concurring my fear for many situations. I am finding confidence in my art and writing. Conversely, I am discovering people don’t always want to know how you feel. The price of facing your fears is high, but the benefits are far-reaching… John Steinbeck once said “And don’t worry about losing. If it is right, it happens — The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.” Fear of loss keeps you from moving forward.

Also, knowing what your Plan A should be is a gift. Not everyone knows what they want to do. “Follow your passions” doesn’t really mean much if your passion is something that isn’t sustainable. I’ve had many passions. I spent much time trying to decide what was the best fit for my life, so I experimented and made many new friends along the way.


CONCURING FEARS THROUGH HARD WORK
Yep. Hard work. Day in, day out. You face it, and you work at it. You work towards it. I used to be so afraid of using the croquill pen. I tried using it when I was starting out, as well as a brush for my inks. The results were a big, gloopy mess. It scared me. I would look at magnificent artists work like Mark Schultz and dream the worlds I could create if I could just master those tools. But daydreaming isn’t enough. So, I finally took my fear head on and practiced. At first, I used ball point pens- innocuous enough. Then moved on to the more fountain type pens. I began to get annoyed with the limitations of those implements, and one day I took out the 10 year old croquill and ink (which was still fresh) and went to town. All those years of working with the ballpoint and fountain pen paid off- and my hand was steady. Now, when I use the croquill, I have a steady hand- and steady hands come from confidence- confidence which came from practice.



THE GRAPHIC NOVEL
It is progressing. I am tidying up the plot, and twisting in some juicy subplots. I want to use a number of realworld props to help me illustrate my world better. One book- “Imaginative Realism” by James Gurney has been a wonderful guide to creating things to use as reference.