Grrl Power

Ta-dah! I finished something! (Pending approval, of course.) It only took a MONTH longer than normal. Obviously, this was due to the move/grad school panic - and commission man knew it would be delayed going in - but I still feel bad it took this long.

Now I move on to the long-term Dionne/Autumn commission. I'd like to get it done before I move, so that gives me a week to finish it. NO MORE EXCUSES, CHRISPY!

Stop playing games!

Where's the damn Copper Road strip, Chrispy?

The answer... I dunno? This is a problem I run into whenever I integrate the Copper Road kids into the main Precocious strip... they're too occupied to have adventures on their own. Yes, I suppose I could simply focus on the Copper Road-only characters, but I'm lacking on ideas there too. I'm sorta all in with this group projects storyline. Sorry!

The other side of Copper Road is that it can serve as a running commentary on current events or my life... a life which has been nothing flashy of late. Woo! Hey, at least there's always current events... which I'm barely keeping up on. This is self-sabotage!

I'll have something up for Copper Road soon enough. At worst, I'll use the "in case of emergency, break glass" idea I've been sitting on. (It's only meh, so I've been procrastinating on it.)

Maybe I'll lift up my head and start noticing things around me soon. But, hey, while my head is down I AM MAKING AWESOME PRECOCIOUS STRIPS! Starting Monday, all the set-up is over and the long story begins to draw to its epic end! (We still have around two months to go. As I said. EPIC!)

The absent-minded gamer

Oh, man. I've been warning about a painting post. I prepped the painting for the post. I mentally composed that post. That's all I need, right? Oh yeah, I FORGOT TO MAKE THE POST! Whoops. Oh well, maybe tomorrow? *hangs head in shame*

Today I wish to talk about something else, something that is murdering my productivity and keeping my brain distracted enough to make errors such as NOT BLOGGING: Video games.

As you may know, I'm one of many who have been trapped due to all those massive DC snowstorms. During the height of stir crazy, I needed something to keep my brain from eating itself. And, no, productivity is useless in those brain-eating times. I need to burn off some stupid so that I may then be productive. In desperation, I turned to Amazon.com and ordered a video game I've had my eyes on: Disgaea DS.

I was hesitant to get this game because I've seen it on PS2, and I know it can be addictive. It's one of those games that gives back the energy you put into it, so you KEEP PUTTING ENERGY INTO IT. Gah! Sure enough, I've addicted myself horribly, to the point of massive distraction. It's well beyond the burning off of energy - we're into soul-consuming mode!

Thank goodness I'm mostly done with the inking for this week. Tomorrow I really should finish that up, though, so I can get the Sunday off to Matthew for coloring. (Plug: Have you visited Sometime Alone today?) I have fallen behind in email too (video games > other people?) so if you wrote me recently and are among the honored few who read this blog, I'M SORRY! I'll try to get replies out tomorrow. I have a lot to do tomorrow. Crap, that's gonna eat into my game time...

Old habits, but goodies!

I am repeating myself here, as this is the same process that I go through with any painting. Too bad for you! Blah blah blah blah!

I'm really fumbling around wildly with this one, and having a rather good time doing so! I have only the loosest sense of where things are going, but I haven't destroyed it yet - that means it's working!

I was worried starting out today, as the basic structure looks really nice, yet totally incomplete. That means each time I add something, it starts out by distracting. Purple as an addition was a risky choice, as I had planned on using it for the background, but I think it works decently. Not GREAT, but good enough for now.

So, I then turned to my old fix for everything painting: BLACK AND WHITE! (It's how to view the world, kids!) Well, I only got through the black stage - my now-purple hand taught me it was best to let each layer DRY first - but it looks much better with the more confident lining. Next comes the whitening. I'm unsure as to where it will go, so I put it off for the next time!

Tonight, I shift focus to grad school again. I have an essay to write! (And, uh, several letters I've been putting off.)

This ruins my procrastination plans!

I enjoy video games as much as the next man, but I'm very picky about which ones I play. I don't have the patience for a lot of what is out these days. I like turn-based RPG stuff, like Final Fantasy Tactics. I like games where I can pull off funky tricks by using the rules of the world - such as my expert pokemon breeding experiments! Bascially, if I am going to sink hours of my precious life into something, I want it to be on MY terms. If I like a game, I will go all out with it - but if it FORCES ME then it's hissy fit time.

One of my all-time favorite games is The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the DS. It's Zelda! How can Zelda ever be bad? It uses the touchscreen of the DS wonderfully! It keeps everything fresh, making each level of gameplay fun! I like it so much, I don't mind that I've never beaten it! (Stupid final boss.) Needless to say, I was friggin' thrilled when I found out a new Zelda game in the DS style was out! The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks! Instead of traveling on a boat, you travel by train. Fair enough. Even if it's a damn clone of Hourglass, I'll be happy.

What a crushing disappointment that game is. It's like they took all the least-awesome elements from Hourglass, highlighted them, and made everything move at half-speed. This game has been a joyless experience so far, and I'm debating whether to keep trying with it. Right now, I am stuck on a tutorial where I have to play a flute. To play it, I move the flute around with the stylus and blow into the microphone, like I was playing a real flute. Inventive!

FRUSTRATING! It's not fun to do this, and I can't seem to do it correctly, meaning I am stuck repeating this annoying task until Mr. Tutorial lets me go. You know, guys, the music part of these games is supposed to be SIMPLE. Heck, Hourglass didn't bother with it at all - WHICH WAS A GREAT IDEA! So far this game has been all "innovative" DS tricks and no actual fun.

At least I didn't pay for it. I used an Amazon gift card some fool gave my internet-averse mother.

I had such high hopes for this game, and I was ready to devote myself to hours of game play. Now what do I do? Is this going to be the second game in a row that I failed due to DS innovation. (The World Ends With You was fun, but way too complex. Tying all bonus material to a damn minigame was a BAD IDEA, guys!) I don't want tricks for the sake of being tricky. I don't want something so complex the learning curve is insanely steep. I want a solid GAME to play. Why is this so hard? How am I going to waste my life now? All I have to do now is work!

(And yet I'm procrastinating anyway!)

New Years Revolutions

The unholy rebels in my soul have risen up to conquer the ruling procrastination regime of my brain. Death to the ivory tower eggheads! Up with productivity! Long live hope and change! Viva la revolucion!

Of course, such battles are long, bloody affairs with many casualties. (Sanity? First to go.) But we must fight for what is right and good! It hurts, but it's a good kind of hurt.

So now it's time for me to make some OFFICIAL resolutions for the new year. This is the day of optimism, and I intend to ride it! Here we go, with them in no particular order.

- I will keep Precocious going strong! This is intentionally open to interpretation, as changes may be in store. I want to keep going with the current format as long as I can, but I may have to scale things back slightly to fit in all these other resolutions. Don't panic yet! I'm just being cautious here. Ideally things remain as awesome as they are now.

- I will get my lazy butt into grad school. This one is major, as I've dilly-dallied far too long now. Granted, I've had my reasons, with all the chaos going on in my family. It's very hard for me to leave right now, but I've given myself over for two years now. I'm going to be in my 30's before I start school again no matter what, but 30 is way better than 31! (I'm also desperately in need of a change in venue.)

- I will find a way to start making money from my cartooning. This means designing shirts and setting up a store. I want to create a Precocious book as well, but that may have to wait until I'm in grad school. I should set up an shop, on etsy or somewhere, where I can sell prints and paintings. My birthday gift to myself should be a quality printer, which can enable me to create prints and such to sell! On the website side, I have to consider ditching Project Wonderful for a more paying ad service. I like PW because it helps other comics, but I'm not making close to what I could with my readership and pageviews. I should also start attending conventions to learn how I can one day *successfully* attend them as a vendor.

- I will do better to enhance my presence in the comic community. My horrid antisocial tendency might doom me, but I want to make myself known. This involves posting more on message boards, READING all those webcomics sites that I've been ignoring and becoming somewhat likable on twitter. I should reach out to other cartoonists and build more friendships. Once people know me, attending conventions becomes a little less intimidating!

- I will finish my Little Anxieties painting series. This can take all year, but I want it done. (Commissioned paintings do come first, after all!) If I get it done, I can start looking for galleries to display the series. (Getting into grad school might help me here!)

- I will work on improving and expanding my art skills. I want to learn how to use watercolors, so I can be like Bill Watterson! Ink and watercolor Precocious paintings make more sense than forcing acrylics to work like drawing. (Drawback: Watercolors and ink drawings do require me to mat them.) I also want to work on drawing furry. As I wrote a few days ago, I never set out to be a furry artist, but the fans sure seem to wish I was! This isn't just me giving in to pressure, it can potentially open up new illustration venues without starting from scratch and learning to draw comic humans. Human or furry, I must re-learn non-cartoony anatomy drawing. That would help me immensely, and likely make Precocious' drawing more dynamic.

- Like everyone else in history, I want to drop at least 10lbs. The stress from family crisis after crisis, combined with sedentary behavior has made me plump. I know I'm not fat, but any extra weight on my scant frame looks bad! I'd love to start exercising again, focusing on cardio, but I'll settle for better eating/living habits. When I visit the grandparents, I need to have more willpower - everything here is drenched in butter! If I have to start bringing my own snacks here, then so be it.

- I want to end this year better than how I started it. As you can see from these resolutions, many tie into each other. Getting into grad school gets me into a better environment, which enables my art skill-building and improves my health. Improved art and spirits help me find the energy to keep Precocious going AND do the extra work to get the store going and socialize. Becoming more social in the comic community gets me more readers and earns me invites to conventions, where I can make more bonds and potentially money! One good change encourages another.

So there we are. Let's check back in a year to see how I did. Heck, let's check back in two weeks, when grad school applications are due. (Good lord, I'm terrified!) My first test, of course, is probably my hardest one. Wish me luck!

You do the action, I'll sketch

I've decided to turn procrastination into a positive thing: I'll sketch! Sketching is so helpful! I get the practice I desperately need, I can work out new ideas and tougher poses before it's go time - and I can look busy when mentally I want to do nothing! It's also something I can do and still appear social!

Today was a family day. The lovely Donna came down from Delaware to take grandma out to lunch. While they were munching and chatting, I hung with the mini bro and sketched up a storm while he played Uncharted 2. I'm a turn-based game player, so a 3d-fest like that is way beyond me. It was fun to watch, though - as I sketched! Later on, it was movie time with Grandma and Donna - Julie and Julia - and I sketched the whole two hours! I was a social sketcher!

Sure, I *should* have been painting or working on the New Year's Copper Road, but that requires my full attention and some alone time. This was not an alone time day. This was a fun family sketching day!

(There are still a few hours post-midnight for me to Copper Road.)

Returning to work

Well that was a fun diversion, but it's back to the grind! New Year's a-comin' and I've got to have strips ready! It's about time for for me to switch the date over on all my files - and finally move said files to an appropriate directory!

There's a lot to do for the new year, most of which will be the subject of procrastination. The transition will be the easy part. The "put it off until next year" will be hard. I need to update the archive page, redo the cast page and, of course, finally get a store for Precocious. That will take a lot of time, and I'm not yet sure where it'll come from. Ahh, but the new year is for PROGRESS, and progress I shall.