How’s it going?
Things are progressing nicely these days as I’m getting a handle on staying organized. I’ve been sorting and prioritizing my work, setting tasks and whatnot. Now that I’ve finally got my bookmarks and notes under control I’ve been putting calendars together. Before I’ve always had the trouble of writing stuff down and then never actually doing it when I said I was going to. This time around I’m getting into the routine and keeping on schedule fairly well. The two key things are to be consistent and realistic. I need to go to bed at a regular time and get up at a regular time. I need to be working on certain things at specific times of the day. There’s some wiggle room here and there. I like drawing in the morning when I wake up and writing in the evening to wind down but I’ve found I can color the comics almost any time of the day, even later into the evenings. There is a point to just stop and go to bed – when I’ll do more harm than good. I’m not in college anymore and I shouldn’t be pulling all-nighters but sometimes the work’s engaging and can benefit from that type of environment. And some nights I just can’t go to bed so I might as well be in the studio. Luckily that usually comes around on weekends.
You get what you give
I’ve seen people fail to visit their own sites regularly and then wonder why nobody else can be bothered to, either. I’m taking this to heart and I’m going to announce this here: The site will be updating every weekday for the foreseeable future. This could be blog posts that are newsy such as this one, they could be info dumps with useful links and advice, random pieces of art or previews of work I’m doing, hopefully more podcasts/reviews/interviews, or it could be comic updates. Rest assured I’m going to have something new on this page every weekday and I’ll try my best to make it worth everybody’s time.
Brand new comic “2071″ launches next week
Speaking of regular content – the new comic should finally be arriving a week from today on Monday the 15. Why the 15th? Getting all my ducks in a row, writing new blogs to be posted later, and to give myself time to hit the ground running working on the next section. I’ve already been doing research and collecting ideas. I’m eager to move on in the story from the part I’ve been laboring over lately. I’m very proud of what I’ve accomplished so far on this. I can’t wait for everybody to see it.
Pencils and preliminary inks on the prologue to 2071 are done. The next stage involves scanning all the analog work and touching it up digitally. This includes whiting out inking mistakes, straightening out lines, fixing some wonky circles, and over-all getting the best linework we can get before toning/rendering/lettering/what have you. I’ll be streaming it live and blogging about the errors I’m fixing. I haven’t settled on a streaming service yet but I’ve tried most of the ones out there. Everyone’s invited to come watch and join in on the chat. Following NoRights on twitter is the best way to keep up with me.
“Nobody in life gets exactly what they wanted – but if you work hard and stay positive, amazing things will happen.”
Those are some of Conan O’Brien’s parting words on his final episode as host of The Tonight Show. As I watched it on Hulu the other day, I was reminded what a class act he is. He refused to compromise the integrity of a show he loved doing even at the cost of leaving it. It’s a shame NBC didn’t give his show the chance it deserved. He grew his fan base over the years on Late Night and put in a lot of work to earn Leno’s seat. Jay Leno’s a decent guy, too, but I’ve always found Conan’s show funnier. Maybe it’s because he was the underdog working hard to make you laugh and having fun. (A reason why I enjoy catching the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.) I know I and the rest of Conan’s fans look forward to following him onto whatever project he pursues next.
Something I like to take from all of this is try to be happy with your lot in life. Don’t settle, keep working hard to reach your dreams, but don’t forget what you do have and appreciate it. Some people let what they could have been in life overshadow what they are and it bums them down. Your dreams should be a goal you strive to obtain, not some specter of failure to haunt you. Rather than being bitter about his situation O’Brien chose to be happy that he got to host a show he dreamed about hosting his way and had no regrets for it. Now that’s the way to live.
I put this blog on the main page to share and learn from my experiences. Some of it’s technical concerning software, tools, or skills, and some of it’s philosophical and life lesson-y. Lately I’ve had a lot on my mind. Drawing/inking is usually a quiet zen-like experience where it’s just you reacting to the work and you can dwell on things. So I’ve jumped into other projects that have been more about problem solving and keeping my mind occupied. I’ll share some of these in future posts but right now I’m trying to focus on cartooning again. I’m almost done inking the section I’m working on. Once it’s scanned I’ll be streaming the digital side of the work and I hope some of you can join me. I really recommend you follow me on twitter so you’ll get the updates from the site, any links or other stuff I put in the feed, and if you’re on twitter you can comment on the blogs I post here.
