Drawing my First Comic

So -- I've talked a little here and there about the differences between comics and screenplays. I'm pretty happy that I'm drawing my first comic. It's given me a little kick for my long lost artistic talents. I was almost an art major at one point -- so we'll see.

I heard J.M. DeMattias at WonderCon talking about how -- if you could draw and write -- why would you do anything but comics?

I guess that's a good question! Lately the idea of having my own work, that I can get up an on its feet -- that doesn't need a budget, that doesn't need anything but my sweat equity -- is a neat idea.


So -- I'm starting the comic. I'll keep you guys posted on measurements, how to -- stuff like that. I'll try to take better notes in class so that I can let you guys know the stuff I'm learning.

Sketches from Comic!!

Sketches from my comic for my comic class.  To Catch a Tooth -- the comic!

Comic Books....

Well, the journey to writing and drawing my first 10 page comic has begun.  This weekend I'll be drawing 4 pages of thumbnails.  I'll post them here when I'm done -- I have to have them by Wed, so you should see them soon enough.

Matt Fraction has panel breakdowns like this:
http://www.comicbookscriptarchive.com/archive/panel-1/matt-fractions-box-doodles/

I'll be doing thumbnails.

My favorite artist at the moment is:
http://www.ryanottley.com/

Thumbnails

So, for my comic book writing class - we have to do Thumbnails of the 8-10 pages -- mine came out at 15 pages -- so I'll have to do more with less -- here's one of the images that's a little more concrete.

Comic Book Writing Class - Metldown Comics

Miss me?

Work has been busy.  But I've been writing.  You'll see some more posts up here (although I'm not sure who is actually reading this)

I've recently started a comic book writing class at Meltdown Comic Bookstore - part of their Meltdown U -- http://www.meltcomics.com/blog/

On the first day we had twenty minutes to draw a one page comic.

I've attached it here :)

It may not look like much, but it gave me the confidence to think maybe I could dust off my old drawing skills and bust out the 8 - 10 page assignment for the class.

So, I'll start posting pages of the comic - and my process - and some bits about the class as we go.  Just  a quick post!

Willpower- and Habits

Lately I'm reading this book, "The Power of Habit: Why we do what we do."  You have to understand - I'm a bit of a junkie for this stuff.  Any book that talks about maximizing time, or addressing un-used hours in the day - I'm in.

I'm probably a quarter of the way through the book - and I gotta tell you - it's really good so far.  I'm reading it on my newly-given-to-me - Kindle Fire.

One thought I'd leave you with today is something I just read - the difference between WILLPOWER and HABITS.  So, we all only have so much WILLPOWER to get through the day.  Willpower is that thing you force yourself to do -- Habits on the other hand -- we have them all day long.  They are just things that we've taught ourselves -- do we brush our teeth when we get up, do we have coffee, then brush our teeth -- the order of things, cue, habit, reward -- these things are just there.  These things, these habits -- do not require any brain power.  So, the trick is - to turn as many things into habit as possible -- because if you really want to get something done - you can only white-knuckle your way through so many days -- through so many activities -- the way you love your spouse, the way you address the morning, the way you THINK about a problem -- has to be a habit.

The whole thing kind of takes the mystery out of things doesn't it?  It's like... so you're saying I can teach myself good habits about pretty much anything?  Well, that's what it seems like -- some of us had the benefit of having habits taught to us early on -- maybe by parents, or school, or something we just picked up - then there are other habits that we need to look at and go -- this is fine, but I want better -- how do I get better?

Habit.

The trick is focusing on one habit.  Just one -- and then others will fall in line.  This is nothing new.  This is very similar territory to 7 Habit of Highly Effective people.

But you are what you do.

What did you do today?

Blogging....

So, for some reason - recently -- I started thinking about blogging as a way to start creative projects.  You know, get them up and running -- without too much effort or financial needs from the get go.

So, I'm going to try that.  I've got an advice type site that I'm going to kind of Ghost Write for a friend - and then I've got another story - that I think I'm going to start just putting out there.  I'm sure it will be rather messy -- and a little rough around the edges.  But, I keep thinking of all Diablo Cody's "Candy Girl" the one where she recounts her time as a stripper -- she started it as a blog, I guess - and someone convinced her to write it to a book, and then after that, somebody was saying she should write a screenplay -- and she wrote Juno.

Like anything - it's about momentum - and things come from things.  Success breeds success.  And it is easier to steer a moving car.  So -- let's start driving  We can always adjust.  At least this way things are not just in my head.  So --

-- the trick, like anything, is going to be -- keeping it going.  So I'm going to have to commit to - what, a daily post?  Is that crazy?