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Where It's At
Apr. 19th, 2004 09:50 amMonday morning has arrived finding me skating into a nervous cycle again with interrupted sleep and generalized tension and fatigue throughout the day. It's partly money worries. Things aren't in any way grave, but as soon as the expenses mount and the bank accounts dwindle, I start to feel awkward that Snake makes more money than I do while I am actively rejecting freelance work and pushing at my day job to remain three days a week. The idea is that my time is clear and free to do art, specifically my comics and my music, but contemplating my "new life" is, by itself, filling me with doubts and worries.
I got back to work on the educational book I'm doing with my sister. We are supposed to have that on press by the beginning of July. Once I get back into that rhythm, I will be spared feelings of uselessness temporarily. In the meantime, I continue to cook the plot arcs on the comic. Yesterday, I finally began understanding what the action of the second act is. It helps that I'm reading the excellent Manga! Manga! - the World of Japanese Comics by Frederik Schodt. The Japanese artists make action and drama out anything, including games of mah jongg and studying for exams. This high drama approach to everyday life made me realize that the creation of a CD (with a couple of romantic and adventure backplots) can be Wham! Bam! enough to drive the middle of the story.
Another interesting clue from the universe was reading a collection of Alan Moore and Steve Bissette's Swamp Thing comics from the 80s. I had thought I was reading for Moore despite Bissette, but in fact, I sometimes found Moore's dramatic devices overly contrived and I focussed instead on Bissette's exquisite attention to detail. He's not a comfortable or natural artist.; his figure drawing lacks fluidity and balance. But he understands pain; he understands that what people wear and the details of their houses and the looks they give each other are the fundamentals of storytelling, not just the glaze on the cake. This is what I believe, too and it makes me feel less insecure about my own deficiencies as a draftsman, knowing that I have the ability to be a good storyteller.
I have more to write, but I'm going to try to keep entries unintimidating.
Topics for later:
-3 movie reviews (Ripley's Game, Madame Sata and The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone)
-Puppy colloquy
-The startling lack of opposition to Bill C12
I got back to work on the educational book I'm doing with my sister. We are supposed to have that on press by the beginning of July. Once I get back into that rhythm, I will be spared feelings of uselessness temporarily. In the meantime, I continue to cook the plot arcs on the comic. Yesterday, I finally began understanding what the action of the second act is. It helps that I'm reading the excellent Manga! Manga! - the World of Japanese Comics by Frederik Schodt. The Japanese artists make action and drama out anything, including games of mah jongg and studying for exams. This high drama approach to everyday life made me realize that the creation of a CD (with a couple of romantic and adventure backplots) can be Wham! Bam! enough to drive the middle of the story.
Another interesting clue from the universe was reading a collection of Alan Moore and Steve Bissette's Swamp Thing comics from the 80s. I had thought I was reading for Moore despite Bissette, but in fact, I sometimes found Moore's dramatic devices overly contrived and I focussed instead on Bissette's exquisite attention to detail. He's not a comfortable or natural artist.; his figure drawing lacks fluidity and balance. But he understands pain; he understands that what people wear and the details of their houses and the looks they give each other are the fundamentals of storytelling, not just the glaze on the cake. This is what I believe, too and it makes me feel less insecure about my own deficiencies as a draftsman, knowing that I have the ability to be a good storyteller.
I have more to write, but I'm going to try to keep entries unintimidating.
Topics for later:
-3 movie reviews (Ripley's Game, Madame Sata and The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone)
-Puppy colloquy
-The startling lack of opposition to Bill C12
