Are you doing multiple personal projects at once? Or WANT to do a webcomic, short film, picture book or app but are stuck in the idea phase?
Press PLAY and listen to Chris and Lora discuss:
- Why you should consider your dream goal when picking a personal project…
- How to pick which of your ideas has the most success potential…
- Why you should avoid “Artist-Whack-A-Mole”…
- How to make your idea stand out in a noisy world…
LINKS:
PWP #10 :: What To Do When Your Dream Seems Far Away
Three Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Started My Webcomic (Part 1 of 3)
PWP #6 Seven Time Management Tips to Accelerate Your Personal Project
PWP #7: Six Time Management Tips To Create More Space In Your Life
We Want To Hear From You!
Which of these questions do you wish you’d asked yourself before you started your last personal project and why? And which of these do you plan to use as you’re choosing your next one?
Great episode, Guys. I am so guilty of the whack-a-mole syndrome. I know that I get bored and lose focus if I totally restrict myself to one project. I also know that having more than 2 (or possible 3) projects going at the same time leads to a lot of wasted time and productivity.
I find that focusing about 80% of my creative energy on a large project allows me to accomplish my larger goals. Then, when I need a distraction, the other 20% of my creative personal time can be used to plow through my idea/to-do lists. I feel that these are creatively productive “distractions” that either grow into the next large project, re-focus me on the current project, help develop my skills, and sometimes even becomes a cool little thing on it’s own. 🙂
I too like doing small side project as a means to relax and refocus my creative energies and let off creative steam! We talked about this in one of the earlier episodes. I wonder if it was the “When Your Dream Seems Far Away” episode, I can’t exactly remember.
I think those other ideas just shouldn’t have the same priority or goals. That way they don’t compete for your limited resources like time, money and emotional investment. It sounds like you’ve come up with a pretty good breakdown!
Great point on lowering priority on side projects! If I have 10 hours a week to work on personal projects, the side/relax/refocus project could only have 1 hour of my time – that’s how I’ve tried to work them in.
That’s great, Denver. I have to say that the Illopond’s “8 In Space” was a real temptation for just a fun, small project… …but I had to resist. With PW and my comic going, I have to wait.
Aw DUDE that would be so AWESOME!!! We’ve never officially offered you a welcome, Shame on us, but you know you would be more than on any future project. That would make my quarter century! Who knows! one of these days. And to you, Lora and everyone of the wingers can drop in and comment and encourage the participants. There are times when you can here the crickets chirping over around the pond so any and all new voices would be more than welcome! When time allows… :o)
The point in this that I relate most to is TOO MANY CREATIVE IDEAS. So, I’ll pretty much be using all of them in choosing my next project … which I think I’ve chosen (I’ll talk about this in a sec). I was just barely working on a project which was the WRONG one. I think the idea was good and unique, but as I executed it, I made alot of mistakes and was receiving bad reviews from my circle of trust. I also knew I had only a limited amount of time to complete this project I no longer felt was my best work. So I threw it out a chose a faster/more dynamic project (which became faster and more dynamic as I went along – mostly due to peer feedback) that could set me apart even further and I’ve had great results. The cool thing about this project is that this project was one of my “lightning in a bottle ideas” I had months ago but I put it away in storage. It also included the BEST ELEMENTS I had accumulated while working on the project I THREW AWAY.
So my next project. Observing that people typically animate clips from a movie, I’ve found some actors and we’ve recorded a two person dialogue which I feel could be special. It has no complete sentences, lots of grunts and other emotional sounds and the animation would be very simple, but with a strong subtext. But now the doubts come in … is this really the next best thing for me? I’m going to apply your suggestion and present it to people and get their take on it. Sure, I’m excited about it. But I still think it can be better and I’m a bit nervous to start as my last two character shot went badly. But I’ve learned and grown since then and this time I’m really diving into the character development…which is the reason my last 2 character shot failed. Any thoughts or advice from the wingers?
Oh and just as a plug…hope it’s not inappropriate…I’m currently looking for a character animation position to roll onto after my current project ends (October 14). If you know of anyone I could contact in the LA area (or San Fransisco, if necessary) who could help me reach that pressing goal, I’d be SO grateful.
Great thoughts, Scott! Along the lines with your thought “Is this projects the next best thing for you” I’d say also ask, Is this project something that you’d do for a living? Would you want to do this for your dream job? Or is it too narrow and not allow your talents to shine? Also, Keep in mind does the project showcase what you and your circle of trust identify as your Strengths? It sounds like from your prelim. assessment that this does show your strengths and has character development that will really sell your talent as an animator and storyteller. Good luck and keep us posted on your decision and progress on your chosen project!
I guess before you throw the whole thing out (re: ‘is this a good idea for me’), I would assess whether you really are questioning the idea and not that you are getting cold feet. While it’s good to have skepticism about your motives for doing it, you’ve got to keep the idea separate from the execution. At least that’s what I’m getting from this post.
It seems you already have some idea as to what you feel went wrong with the last ones. You should make a special focus on reinforcing the parts of the project that led to the weaknesses of the final results of the prior ones. Maybe the timing was off – so add some time and love to the storyboarding side. Maybe you feel your characters were weak, so make it a priority to come up with x character variations or do at least so many iterations on the design. Maybe do some tests to make sure the aesthetic and designs are working right. Your plan to do early-phase feedback also sounds like a good idea.
Animation is totally not my thing, even though I love it, but one of the most important things I took away from it in doing it is resource management. It’s about creating a process that will allow you to produce the desired length of animation with the desired story by utilizing a manageable aesthetic to do the project in a reasonable time frame. One of the biggest problems I ran into was that I always overwrought my style which then multiplied Work across the whole of the sequence, and brought down the whole thing like a house of cards, while the smart animators in my classes made these absolutely beautiful sketchy animations or simple shapes or whatever – because they realized that was the most economic way for them to express their idea given the timeframe. I’m not sure if that’s your problem per se, but something to chew on.
Well, I’m definitely taking a different approach. In answer to your analysis, I have 20 percent cold feet and 80 I’ll be animating something soon, and it will likely be this new 2 character piece. You’re spot on in that my other 2 character shot had week characters. That is not the case this time, and I will definitely create a manageable time schedule and finish in a timely fashion. Thanks for the thoughts to chew on, I definitely needed a sounding board!
Oops, I did finish my sentence above. 20 percent of me has cold feet and 80 percent is questioning the quality of the idea. Whatever I’m animating, I want it to be my best…and better than my old stuff. Every project I’ve had, failure or not, has been a step in that direction – topping my last work. I definately work to be open to change and revision.
Man…I “DIDN’T” finish my sentence above – has spell check ruined my grammar skills?
Finding the personal project that fits best was always a challenge early for me in my art education. I was torn in so many directions, that I spread my resources too thin, so that no one project really shined. After finishing school, I knew I had to pick something that I could stick with and see to the end. I started with a comic based on a superhero that I created, I finished a lot of it, but in the end found it wasn’t quite where it needed to be. I put it on “the shelf” and will absolutely develop the character more later. But, it was when I got in touch with Mark Harmon, Christopher Tupa, Sam Kirkman, Ben Powis, Michelle Kondrich, Denver Wagner, and Craig Pirral for the 8: a Kids book anthology, that I really started to find some focus on my personal projects. If 2 heads are better than 1, then in this case 8 heads were better than 1! This group helped me stay committed and helped me really hash out the groundwork for my project. I have participated in 3 anthologies now, and have ventured onto a Graphic Novel project called EXP/RAT/ON DATE. All of these projects have helped fuel my fire for creating art, and I know that persistence in my craft through these focused personal projects will lead me to the dream job! Chris and Lora, thanks so much for your advice, experience, and motivation. Listening to the PW podcast helps to keep me motivated and on track with my dreams! I’m a Winger and Proud!
Didn’t you come up with the Winger term, Lee? Your next project really does look inspiring. Thanks for sharing the insight from your journey. I too am seeing the value of great creative relationships!
HAHA! I don’t think I created the Winger term, but if I did, I must have already forgot 😉 Thanks Scott, I couldn’t agree more that there is great value in creative relationships! I have a buddy, Chey, he’s a member over at the illopond, he’s into animation, and would love to coordinate a animated anthology! Maybe, one day, you guys can talk a bit and get the ball rolling if there are others interested. http://www.illopond.com/community/#/discussion/60/series-of-animated-shorts
I’m a Gonna Cry :o} Lee I am so with you. Our creative philandering over on the pond is a daily confirmation of being “on the right trackedness”. There’s safety in numbers, but more importantly there is moral support. And to have that here as well as a fellow “Winger” is more than I could ask for.
You guys, you’ve got to check out Lee’s project. The Premise is SO exciting and to see it come to life through Lee’s art is an inspiration!!!
I’ve been checking out your stuff over there at the ‘Pond. What a great idea, and some great work.
Thanks Chad! Come join us if you have a chance!
Thanks to your latest podcast I finally got the guts to comment here. I’m only a freshman at RMCAD, but I figure it’s never too early to be prepared for the real world, especially when it’s terrifying. I’ve learned a lot from this site and the podcast.
Currently, my personal project is a comic I started 2 years ago, and now that I have maybe a year left on it, I have 3 more stories. I’m really excited about all of them, so I’ve been looking at which ones my friends, family, and watchers have been most excited about.
For me, the most important questions right now is which one is most likely to be successful and stand out. My current project was just a learning experience, and now I really want to build my readership and make something more consistent.
How do you like RMCAD? Are you from Denver? I lived there for 2 years. I love that town.
Let us know what you think about your education there. And it’s VERY wise to use Paper Wings as a supplement to a more traditional art education because typically, art schools overlook the business and internet realms in favor of teaching you to paint and draw… …which they typically do VERY WELL.
I’m not from Denver, but I am a native Coloradan. I love RMCAD. It has a great atmosphere, and the instructors are excellent.
I will. So far they seem to really stress the writing classes for communication purposes. At orientation they encouraged us all the work with career and alumni services. Apparently the students who work with them are much more successful the first few years after school.
Yay for a fellow Colorado Comic Artist!
Have you heard about the first Denver Comic Con that will be going on in June 2012? Might be a good opportunity to share your stuff and see what people key into. You could even have artwork from all three future projects and just observe what people connect with.
You could also try running it by folks at local artist meet-ups, like the Denver Drink & Draw. (Of course, for all I know you’re already a regular there — in which case, we should totally hang out and talk comic shop! 🙂 )
I haven’t heard about either one, but I’ll definitely look into it.
I would love to take my future projects, but the one I’m working on now… the beginning is very, very rough, and I’ve improved A LOT in this past year. It’s only the encouragement of my art friends that keeps me from starting over a second time.
Also, it would be great to have more people to talk comics with. I don’t know anybody who actually makes comics well, and none who are local. I need to search my campus a bit more.
I’ve just started a second webcomic, just as my first webcomic is nearing the end of its first season. I think Question #4) IS it a story? was key in figuring out what the 2nd project would be. The thing is that it took a while to come up with a good reason why THIS story deserved telling but once I did, it was like a floodgate opening.
I know it’s more commercial than the niche of a niche I’ve been doing, but it’s still crazy persona as it combines my favorite video game genre with history.
We like floodgates! There’s often alot of clean up / clarification needed when huge creative ideas like this, but it sounds like you’re up to the task. Are you going to continue writing the first webcomic. What are your plans for juggling the two?
Yep, definitely going to do both webcomics. I believe in buffers for webcomics. I have a 3 week one for Rival Angels and I plan on having a 10 week one for the new series. Once they’re both up and running, planning and sticking to schedules will be the key to success (I think).
If anyone but you said this, I would think they were biting off more than they could chew. But I believe in you!
Thanks again for a great episode!
I have a white board in my space that has a notes section where I write all of my future projects in (it’s pretty full). The act of writing them out relieves me of the guilt of maybe “forgetting” them and I have time to think about which one I should do next.
I have my magnum opus graphic novel that I want to do but I have a couple of “training wheels” comics that I want to do first. That way I can practice working out story and drawing new things etc.
My comic that I am working on now came out of a workshop comics jam. I think my brain works best under some type of pressure, “Draw a 6 panel comic in 2 minutes, GO!”.
The characters I came up with in the comics jam had nothing to do with anything I previously had in mind but now am in love with them.
Lora, I liked in the 3 part series you had mentioned not having read web comics before wanting to do one. I respect the Just Do It attitude. I always felt like I couldn’t do comics in general because I was never really into them, I would be a phony poseur faker!
My guy is very much into comics and subsequently got me into them too . Now because I decided I wanted to draw them, I am buying comics all the time.
Since my formative years were during the Comics Dark Age (aka the 90s) my guy says it wasn’t my fault I never got into them. :p
You dodged a horribly-proportioned, foil and hologram embossed bullet missing the 90’s comics. I envy you! 🙂
Ha! Yeah, when we go to our local comic shop my guy pulls out some of the lenticular and embossed comics to show me. To which I look at him cock-eyed and say “why would anyone want these?” and he just laughs.
Oh speculator boom!
I used to screw myself up pretty badly with Whack-a-mole. I’d be in the middle of a project and my mind would start to wander. I’d come up with a new project and that would be the beginning of the end for the ongoing project. I think I’ve got it under control now.
I just worked my way out of a really bad dry spell. I had NO projects and desperately wanted one, but wasn’t really “over” my last flame. I cried to a friend for awhile and he got sick of it and something he said knocked me out of it. I wish I could remember what it was, but I almost immediately found an old, buried idea that I’d never really considered seriously.
Stuck on the plot part right now… and putting together a concept pitch.
Ooh! Can’t wait to hear more!
You know, I really think I’m on the right track. This JUST happened to me. I was getting into the 4th and final issue of Ouwangalaymah when I was asked to do a 10 to 20 pager for http://Darkmischief.com by Jenny Gregory at Ka-Blam! It ran out side of my usual genera (huh Chris) but it did bring up to the front a story I have wanted to do since I heard it over 27 year ago. Should I step out of my comfortable, Kid Friendly, all ages niche? The other names involved in this project are STELLAR! I couldn’t say no. And since this story fit in without grossly going outside my all ages persona I said YES! Short deadline almost scared me off too. Jenni DM’d me on the 9th of August and the deadline was October 1st!! But with Dogged determinedness and a week of vacation time I gotter done! This will be a story that I am confident will reach a larger audience than my usual fare, didn’t side track my initial trajectory, and helped me grow as an artist and story teller to boot! We’ll see I guess, but I think I picked the right project!
If it’s the one I was thinking of…it WAS the right project. Inspiring Story, Sam.
Yup! That’s the one! Jenni Gregory just launched the kicksarter campaign that will be used to pay all the contributing artists a page rate! This has the chance to be my first paid gig! I hope I’m not a schmeal for campaigning, the idea again is for us to figure out how to get this stuff out to the general populace, get the masses to come and partake of our wares, but still can you think of a better way to support fellow independent creators? Just Tweeting & Google plus-ing about it is a big help! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/742471571/dark-mischief-a-collection-of-the-frightful Thanks everyone, and I promise not to be like an NPR campaigner. :o)
I hope you don’t think I’m a Blog whore, It’s just exciting! And to share stuff like this I hope will encourage everyone to keep hammering away at it!
We totally think your being supportive / encouraging and I totally tweeted it. This is exciting!
That parseltongue stuff made me laugh so hard I dropped my Whack-a-mole mallet! 🙂
Seriously, once again you’ve hit the nail squarely on the head. I often suffer from the “drinking from the firehose” problem when it comes to ideas and trying to focus. One technique I’ve learned was from Kevin Cross on the recently finished Art & Story podcast. He uses a large corkboard to pin up notes on all his ideas, and then a smaller corkboard in a different location where he pins up a single notecard with the one project he’s focusing on. It serves to retain the flood without drowning you. I’ve found even that simple visual separation is useful.
On another note, to anyone listening to the podcast or reading the comments, you should feel free to step out of the shadows and join in. I spent a great deal of my life as an introvert and it’s cost me many opportunities, personal and professional. In an attempt to engage better, I’ve started thinking of the community here as sort of a safe place to train myself to pitch, whether it be to a industry executive, a person asking questions at a show or just anyone who might be interested in what I do. (a lot of this is still future planning, mind you, but I’m ramping up!) If I can type massive essays like this one, you should feel free to post your almost certainly more coherent questions and comments 🙂
Sorry for the rambling, but the community here is something I feel passionate about, and I’d love to help even one person be able to share in the participatory atmosphere.
Oh, and Nathan Hale rocks (I’m named after him!)
Right on, Nathan! For those of you who are introverts out there, like Nathan, I also spent a lot of time hiding behind my introversion. After doing that for quite awhile, having just moved into a new city and not knowing anyone, I decided to go into the belly of the beast, and started attending marketing functions (marketing being tangentially related to my profession), events crawling with the extroverts that make extroverts need to take a break after speaking to. The one major realization that I came to while doing so is that introversion and social interaction are completely separate concepts. The introversion/extroversion dynamic deals only in the energy exchange incurred during social activity – the notion that introverts are drained of energy during social activity and recover via time with oneself, and extroverts gain energy through social interaction. Mastering this is simply an act of learning to balance your time (scheduling personal time to recharge) and distribute your energy. However, the *act* of interaction itself is completely independent, and is a *learnable* skillset consisting of common behaviours that are highly repeatable and templated, as well as boilerplate practices for maintaining and controlling conversation. Once I decoupled the two from each other, it was just a matter of training that skillset just like any other skillset.
Of course, you will still have on and off days, it’s not bulletproof, and I’m probably still pretty obviously an introvert at public events, but thinking of the social stuff as something I could practice and get better at helped me tremendously as a change in the way I perceived the act of communication, which in turn helped me to communicate better in one-on-one conversations and in writing, and also helped me shift the social interaction framework in such a way that I personally felt that I could move around in that space without any issue.
In much the same way, Paper Wings also helps in that regard in that it helps you to hone how you communicate specifically your artistic ideas, which as Nathan said will help you when you are ultimately in the position of pitching to someone in the industry or perhaps fans at your booth at a con, etc.
Just a couple of cents from a fellow introvert. 🙂
When I realized this via Meyers Briggs it literally changed my life. I love talking to people and used to fill my schedule to the brim with social events but was running myself ragged. I didn’t know why.
Learning that I am over 90% introvert changed everything. I’m aware of what I need to feel healthy and balanced and make sure that happens. Of course I work from home now so I get plenty of me time now!
Oh my! Nathan “Hale” Seabolt, if you had made that confession over on my webcomic site instead of here at Paper Wings, you would have just gotten yourself five dates.
But… “We are all weird,” right?
Absolutely!
http://www.seaboltdesign.com/temp/BottleTop_WeirdWallpaper.JPG
This is a wallpaper I made when I worked briefly in the Home Entertainment industry here in AU. It’s from a kid’s show, and I think it sums up my philosophy about this pretty eloquently.
Introverts unite!
For me, the most anxiety occurs before I go to an event…or start posting on message boards.
However, I am really good at nagging myself to do things that are good for me.
If I do one social thing a week that is good enough then I can slink back into my Fortress of Solitude for a while. Bliss.
As long as your Fortress has some windows, you should be cool. Oh, and a giant key..you have to have a giant key too.
Hello Wingers!!!!!! ( I am so gunna design a t-shirt for that. “I wear with pride, these wings help me fly!”, look for it soon!)
OK, I could speak on all of the points but, I must hold back so I don’t completely clog the infinite server space of PWP. One main point that I am latched onto is deciding what success is; this definition can change from project to project. Obviously, the goal is to create an income from the project most of the time but there are many ways of doing that. Example; one of the children’s book ideas I have, “Kodi the Starfish” is going to be my entry into the 8 in Space anthology with illopond (they are so awesome over there!). Now, there is not a monetary reward upfront on this but, it is an amazing opportunity to get published with a lot of awesome artists and gain ground with our joined reputations. I mean, come on, I am visiting with people in Australia on there, now that is special! Additionally, I will be using it as a marketing tool to be representative of my artistic and creative services which should gain me more projects when marketed correctly. More projects, more income and that can all be perpetual. So, the success is not initially financial income and, though it could result in that, I consider the success of the project to be experience, time gained with others on the same path and potential future projects. This makes it a worthy venture many times over.
I also want to point out my method of project organization; my little “lightning” box. I have a small, metal file box I keep in my home office. It can be carried around easily and closed away. I have manila folders inside all marked with different projects and one each for my site and blog. I take notes and make sketches throughout the day and then drop them in their respective folders. Then, I close the box…that simple. In my mind that information is safe and waiting for me but because it is closed, it is not in my face clouding up my thoughts. It is there if I need it and not if I don’t. Don’t know if that makes sense but it helps me reduce the immediate distraction of my creative self some. I am not trying to stop the flood, just manage and capture some of it.
Thank you Chris, Lora, the PWP team and all of the Winger (even yee silent ones..I can see you) for being my creative wings. The air is fresh and clean up here and I can see for miles ahead thanks to all of you.
Best wishes ‘ta ‘ye,
Captain Dutz
This is exactly what we mean by defining your goals! Not every project has the potential to take you straight to your dreams. But you can and should think of them as stepping stones, or stairs and each one gets you closer to the hope.
So glad to have yo aboard Captain! Kodi is going to be Stellar! 😀
Hey Sam!
Thanks you, Lee and Paul for the encouragement and for directing me over to the pond! I see a lot of amazing potential for me over there and I am almost clear of my current submission project so I should be starting on Kodi later this week! I will be posting ideas I have on the forum so any Wingers that want to come over and make some noise water-side are more than welcome to visit!
The main forum to find all of the space themed participants for this anthology is:
http://www.illopond.com/community/#/categories/8-a-space-anthology
Hope to see you all there and sail on!
Captain Dutz
Cap’n! See if you can get the paper wings logo when you design this shirt….
Ahoy Scott! Yes sir! Will do. I can work on this as long as the PWP is ok with it. I just thought it would be a neat idea. I want to put a pait of the illustrated wings on the back at the shoulder blades. Easier to fly when they are there. So here is the official request. Chris, Lora and team, would you mind if I designed a PWP t-shirt? I would be able to set proofs for review…how ever you would like, if you would like. I would just need some time to do it and I would look at creating a vector version of the logo for clarity.
Best to ya’
DUTZ
I REALLY like the idea box concept. So much of my ideas end up on scattered scratch paper. I have a filing cabinet, but much of what goes in never comes out, IF it ever goes in at all. Having individual manilla folders that are project based, in a box that is reviewed regularly, sounds like a great idea.
Thank you! It is an easy way for me to keep up with the scraps too. I usually grab any random thin around me and that leads to a disorganized pile so each folder helps to contain at least that. I will try to collect other ideas I have and present them on my blog so you all could look in to other methods I have. I actually posted a few on one Captain’s BLOG a few weeks back. Link below.
http://dutzart.blogspot.com/2011/08/captains-rant-1-organization-and.html
Best wishes and everyone keep being awesome! You are daily inspirations to me, take care,
Captain Dutz
I definitely have to say that I have been able to begin honing in on the particulars of what I want to accomplish in a project, and I definitely owe it all to the mental engagement that the Paper Wings community and podcast has provided me. I’ve had so many great conversations and tons of excellent advice through the comments! Unfortunately, if I’m to be completely honest, I’ve been in a very long creative drought….I really haven’t had the ‘too many ideas’ problem :/ …but in the last couple of months, for the first time in awhile, I can feel the gears beginning to turn. They are rusty, they are creaking, they are grinding, but they are moving and I can definitely feel progress being made. Thanks to everyone for the great discussions, and to many more.
As an aside to that, I cannot begin to describe the impact that the Strengths Finder that was described in the interview with Chris has had on me. Not only has it helped me to realize the nature of my personal project based on my interests and skills (essentially removing the heavy, detailed development aspect and focusing on creating works with overarching themes), but I have also been at a major fork in the road, career-wise, which I was struggling with even before Paper Wings, and have been able to unequivocally make a decision on that based on thinking about what I enjoy doing at my job and viewing it through the Strengths prism. So big, big thanks for turning me on to that, Chris and Lora!
The one thing that I wish I had asked myself a long time ago, is what exactly I wanted to gain from doing a personal project in the first place. Over the last few days, I started to really ask myself the ‘why,’ and I realized that none of the reasons I came up with were good. It was then, that I had a major paradigm shift. Essentially, I have been stuck in the ideas phase, because I have been trying to come up with a project that I felt I could 100% execute on. Given my dearth of artistic practice, coupled with the kind of project I wanted to do, this pretty much eliminated moving forward on pretty much any idea. I was completely paralyzed with ‘performance anxiety.’ However, I decided instead, that maybe I could do a project that would be partially be a completely new learning project for me, so I decided to take on digital painting (I do vector illustration and design now). In deciding this, it has made me completely zero out the ‘performance anxiety’ part, while simultaneously serving to get me excited about the prospect of diving into learning the painting stuff.
So I’m going to do something that combines those 3 things. I have an idea for the format, but I’m not 100% sold on it, but I’ve finally got at least enough to get started on it, and that has caused me to have a whole bunch of creative inertia that I’ve been able to begin capitalizing on.
Chad, this is just so exciting. Please keep us posted! This sounds like a legitimate breakthrough!
Hey Chad, just to encourage you on one of your points: there are many types of creative people. There’s an author I admire who will only think of one book at a time. Personally, I am like that. I don’t have hundreds of ideas flapping around my head all of the time. Quite the contrary! I used to live in a mild state of panic: what was I going to do when I finished my webcomic story?! What would be next? Do I have any more great ideas, or was that it?
You know what? All you need is one great idea at anytime. For now, I’m good. It sounds like you’re moving in this direction as well. Good luck!
Chad, that’s awesome! It sounds like you’re really taking charge of your creative distress. Just remember that your subconscious will lie to you and tell you to be afraid to use new creative muscles, but you just have to take that way of thinking and destroy it…so to speak.
I’ve been finding that when I feel I’m afraid to try a new style or technique, that fear confirms that I actually need to try that new style or technique. Once I break through the first barrier of trying that new style/technique, it completely destroys any fear I have about it, and it becomes easier to do in the future.
really good points paul! And Chad, speaking from my own experience after breaking my 20+ year drought some five years ago, once you allow yourself to start rolling, the snowball takes effect. in a good way. you build confidence and ability along with momentum. you will LOVE digital painting. I would say my shift to digital is what has helped me be more productive than I could ever hoped to have been otherwise.
Breakthrough indeed. Sounds like there’s exciting growth in your future…and it’s great to hear you know what your next project is. Now the key is to focus on progress and not perfection. But you’re a learner … you love progress, right?!
“What are you doodling.” That’s a terrific statement made by Lora. I have a story that goes well with that.
Once upon a time, in a galaxy far far away…
OK, so a few years in ago in Chicago.
I started out as a “realistic” editorial illustrator and had done that for many years. My wife would always say to me “Guy why don’t you do work like you do when your doodling?”
When we moved to California I had a meeting with a rep and thought to do some doodles and put them in my book to show and see what kind of response I would get.
I got the rep and she began getting me humorous and children’s work.
that was a little over 17 years ago. I have never went back to realistic illustration. Now I (somewhat) doodle for a living.
Thanks Paperwings for bringing that up. It a Gem of truth.
Hey Guy! So glad you’ve come to doodle with us! I’m trying to pull away from “realistic” work myself and pic projects that make me experiment more with a cartoony style. It is TONS of fun!
It when we’re relaxed – no all tense and trying hard – that the great work often comes through. I need to get better at doodling for a living as well!
Totally agree, Scott! One of the things I’m working on is that, when I start drawing or working on ideas, I put *so much* “deliberate-ness” into it. Like, I can’t just draw, I *plan out* EPIC SUPER DRAWING AND IDEA TIME a lot. And I realize that just sets things up to not work out at all. In that sense, when a night of ideating and drawing doesn’t end up with something worth using, it becomes more of a failure, rather than just ‘a bunch of ideas that didn’t pan out.’ But I *do* realize that it’s all a process and persistence and practice is the key. But I build up this whole perception and romanticization and set of walls and constructs around doing artistic work. Which is frustrating because I totally call friends and out on doing that sort of thing with personal situations, or work, or other areas where they need advice, yet here I am with my art, doing the exact same thing.
I think one of the important things to remember is that if you’re able to assemble complex universes around your perception, you can also apply that imaginative ability to actually building other universes. 🙂
Chad that happens to me with “super-awesome scripting time!” I should just write when that wave of excitement hits me. I’m a lot better at producing art when I’m not “inspired” than writing.
Lora, Alternatively, there’s always SUPER AWESOME 3 O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING TIME. If you can’t work with your conscience, beat it down with fatigue and win by a TKO. 😉
😀
Doodles can be amazing windows to our own motivations! When I finished my first project I was in a huge creative rut. There were lots of new projects I had planned to work on. I was going to do TWO new webcomics simultaneously – because clearly Past-Me was insane.
I bought special notebooks for them. I did research into different art styles. I borrowed literary books to perfect the deep and inner workings of my plot lines.
And I never got more than about three drawings a piece per story.
The frustration started impacting my day-job too. I was so blocked I couldn’t do anything. Then, on a whim, I got some scratch paper (the back of a report I was supposed to read) and started doodling with no goal or thought in mind. BAM! Suddenly I was awash in ideas, which were fluid, evolving, and FUN. Many of them are a huge part of LeyLines today.
To echo Guy, “Thanks Paperwings for bringing that up. It is a Gem of truth.”
Hello Again,
I wanted to say something more on the sketchbook comment.
From my last comment, I did not want to leave an impression that I have in any way arrived. I look at my sketchbook today and find things very different from years ago (more in flavor not content) .Lora’s comment caused me to “take a look at my book”. And to remember.
THANKS.
Robin and Scott make excellent points. Its that relaxed no pressure that really lets us put our soul on paper.
I like what Chris said in his interview, how he leaves the office to draw sometimes. I like to do that.
Here is my challenge now. How to maintain the freshness of the sketch as it translates to a finished work.
I tell my wife art pieces are alive as I work on them but if i go past a certain point they start to die. Good planning helps avoid that to some degree. But I really don’t like when the freshness is gone.
any thoughts? It seams that that moment of the piece at its best is so short.
Appreciate ya’ll
Guy
Hello! Of the four questions that I seem to… well… ignore… it’s probably all of them. For a long time, I could work on more than one project at once (until freshman year of college when I wrote two stories the length of novellas in a period of three months at the same time, while writing research papers, which led to a three-year-long dry spell).
I have a horrible problem with not thinking about my future. Maybe I’m just that afraid of it? I have a general idea of where I want to work and what I want to do creatively, but I don’t have anything specific. Right now I’m happy where I am volunteering, but that brings in no income. My sketchbook is filled with drawings of characters, rodents, and owls. Recently I’ve been drawing octopuses. I feel most comfortable when I have a ball of clay in my hands, though, but somehow I haven’t touched one since I finished college three months ago. Partly it’s due to joint pain — I have a genetic condition that causes me to dislocate my joints, especially my hands and fingers, so anything for a long period of time induces pain, swelling, and frustration for days. It’s tough when the things that make you happy cause you physical pain. I guess I get afraid of experiencing the pain and the frustration again, so I just… stopped creating.
I’ve also tried breaking projects down into small things, and into to-do lists, but they visually just look like SO MUCH it’s overwhelming. Wunderlist worked well until the list of things to do got so long I started avoiding it. Does anyone have any suggestions? I don’t own any new-enough technology for apps, and can’t afford it right now.
In happy news, I am out of my creative slump, I might have found a bracing system that works for my hands, and this morning I came up with how to make my current project even better.
By the way, naming characters often seems to be a hurtle for me and other folks I have talked with. If you haven’t tried this random name generator, you should (also good for sparking some lightening). http://www.behindthename.com/random/ The main website is also good for researching name meanings as well.
Also, this quote seems appropriate: “The world has joy in it. When you find a place that allows you to experience that joy, when you find people that make you feel safe and loved like you belong, you don’t walk away from it, you fight for it.” — Myka Bering, “Trials”, Warehouse 13
There are several schools of thought for the list thing. Sounds like you broke things down by breaking down each task and it looked overwhelming. Maybe break it up by time? This little piece will take less than an hour, then there’s this bigger to-do that takes 4 hours, and then there’s this really big one that’s like a whole day. Then you can mix and match things that work into your schedule. I understand what you mean when you say that sometimes breaking things down feels worse rather than encouraging. I’ve also broken things up into multiple to-do lists and prioritized within that. Sometimes you feel like you have momentum to do a certain type of thing, say, you really feel like doing some colouring today, well, you could knock out all of the related tasks rather than traversing your projects and project to-do lists in a linear fashion.
Good news that you are out of your creative slump!
Perhaps this episode should be renamed the Paperwings Gigglecast?
:0)
I was thinking the same thing!
Absolutely! I thought I could take it at first but then about midway I broke down and was giggling at the hissing, it was great!!! This has always been one of my favorite parts of the show, laughter!! I love how happy y’all are when you do the show!
Thank you for helping us enjoy it that much more!!!
Dutz
Yeah, there are few things I look forward to as much as recording the show with Lora and spending time teaching and learning with my Apprentices. I heart PW.
Awesome to see all those comments!
Great podcast once again and though I don`t struggle with this particular issue at the moment, it did speak to me along with the previous blog posts about “what I wish I knew before I started my webcomic” in that my webcomic will be a fair lot of pages. The blog suggested that it would be wise to not do such a huge project if you`re just starting out and that got me thinking that maybe I am too ambitious.
I got some great feedback in the comments about trying out a fictional schedule of producing pages and just starting out. Maybe I should try something shorter for a year or so, see how it goes…I do have some other ideas, but my comic is the one I`m most passionate about. Just brainstorming a bit…I wonder where I`ll be a year from now.
I would say: Don’t compromise your ambition. It’s not that you’re too ambitious. It’s just all about picking which thing to work on by considering/ weighing the qualities of the season of life you’re currently in or the one that is approaching.
Hey guys! I just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU for doing this incredible podcast! If i had to invent the perfect podcast for me, i think it would have to be exactly like Paperwings. I just started studying iIllustration this year and right now i’m having a hard time deciding what kind of projects i want to do in the future, what i want to specialize in etc., and i’ve already had so much valuable and insightful input from Paperwings. I think i need some time off now just to process all this new info… 😉
Awesome! That’s amazing. So glad we could help. That’s why we’re here.
If you’re considering taking some time off from art school, this interview I did with Thomas James might help you process that:
http://chrisoatley.wpengine.com/2009/10/04/ep29thomasjames/
Thanks! The interview looks really cool, i’d love to listen to it, but the links to the “Artists and the web” podcasts doesn’t seem to be working? 🙁
Hi Wingers! Ack, I am grumpy at myself for not being active the last few updates; I admit I am not very good as setting aside time to write posts, I mostly end up sketching instead (my poor blog is being neglected in the same way).
In response to the podcast content, I find “Artist-Whack-A-Mole” not as troublesome as for some of you. Granted, I don’t have dozens of ideas floating around in my head and I’m not trying to do all of them at once. I currently have three main story ideas pretty much figured out plot-wise and I have been developing them interchangeably through many years. My worst problem used to be getting so burnt out on one thing that I would go into a slump and have a hard time pulling myself out. By having three main projects (one set in the 1790’s, one set in 1812ish, and one set in the 1940’s), I work on one for a few months and when creativity starts to become mush, I move back to another project. Not all three of the projects are equally progressed, though; honestly, the newest of the three (1940’s) has become a great passion project for me, and I believe it’s the one where I can get to my dream goal.
Very recently (like, two weeks ago), I had a break through with my creative stop-light I’ve been at for a while. My sketchbooks are all full of characters heads and torsos — here and there a full figure. I constantly have storylines and background history of my characters flooding through my head; I love history and have binders full of Smithsonian articles of historical bits and pieces that inspire or interest me; My love of cinema and great movies makes it more impossible to have a social life (though I’m not complaining); I write pieces of story down, but never full chapters; I’ve tried screenplays and played with the idea of a graphic novel. But nothing really ever progressed beyond things in my head and character profiles in my sketchbooks.
Then my dad sent me a link to an NPR interview with children’s book author and illustrator Brian Selznick (The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Wonderstruck). My brain blew a gasket. I had a mixed reaction of complete awe to annoyance of “Why Didn’t I Think of That?” – and then back to awe. Selznick combines elements of picture books, novels, and picture sequences much like a storyboard to make his book. I immediately ordered his latest two books and have slowly started plotting out how to set up my own book. My dilemma, of course, is what day job to get in order to support myself through this book-making venture. Eeeck, that’s another whole conversation.
I can definitely identify with your post, Bethany. I have a digital file in Evernote full of wikipedia links, youtube videos, photos, illustrations, etc. for my topic [’40s-’60s], as well as a whole bunch of little paragraphs of character or story ideas, or [mostly] rules about the universe I’m creating. However, I don’t really want to do full-on character development, or fine plot details, so I’m looking at similar approaches to yours. I’m currently leaning toward an ‘Art of’ kind of book, but Selznick’s books are right up that alley.
Hi Chris and Lora
I really enjoyed this episode, especially the whac -o-mole lol! I can relate.
What Lora said about making sure you are doing what you really want to do instead of what you think you want to do really struck a chord. I’ve been painting and enjoying it but since I started back drawing it’s released a whole new spark for me and I have reawakened the passion for drawing that had been buried a long time ago. So excited to be seeing things come together now that I am listening to what my passion ‘really’ is.
Hey guys, not sure if these get read so far from when they were posted but I really appreciate the show and all the advice you guys give. Just found you guys through an old professor of mine a month ago and these podcasts have been great to listen to while inking, shading and coloring.
I felt that your advice on getting your friends to really evaluate your story and particularly tell you if it’s fresh or old was something I’m planning on doing now. I’ve talked with my pals about story ideas (and vice versa) but we’ve never really discussed the nitty gritty core concept of “is this new or cliche.”
I’m pretty excited for the next time we get together now.
Thanks again.
Thank your professor for passing us along to you!
If that point got you excited, you’ll have to listen to the “Circle of Trust” episode next!
Welcome aboard!
Great podcast guys! And for me it couldn’t have come at a better time. I was bogged down hip deep with projects and no idea which one to pursue. It became clear after the first two questions what I should do. Keep up the great work!
I am a new listener to the podcasts and i have to say i love them. You guys are so insightful and the information that can be found here is so valuable for artists. I have to say that i am an early riser and try to spend at least 1 hr drawing every morning before work. Sometimes its 2 hrs depending on the day. In the podcast you talk about picking a project. Wow! on some levels that’s almost rocket science.
You mean i have to make a choice. There are so many things i think i would like to do and there are so many that i don’t know how to do or where to begin i guess. I love drawing with my wacom tablet and i have to say i am getting better with it everyday. I can’t wait to do figure studies or animal studies and feel so fullfilled in doing so. My passion as always been hand drawn animation and working for disney but that seems so far away. Ive been through a 3d program in college but it wasnt very good. I think it took me away from my real passion which is drawing. I just can’t decide what to do with it. I know there is a story in there but what, and what medium? Thanks again for you podcasts, and please keep it going. Your helping us all out here.
First time comment.. oooh it’s daunting. I’m a graphic designer by education, but had put my artistic career/life aside for a time in part due to introversion and that horrible measuring your own talent/skill up against other artists. It’s taken quite some time to take myself seriously.
I just wanted to let you know how much the podcast is helping to convince me to unearth the years of writing that I have hid from the world. This episode in particular is really helping me to understand which ideas in my files are probably going to produce the best initial work. I’m so excited to work and write after listening to you guys, and have started to seriously consider assembling my own avengers team out of my school contacts and other acquired creatives, when I would normally live in my own stubborn world of a project and potentially get sub-par work, or worse, stuck.
Thanks so much, and I will be haunting the comments here as I track my way through other episodes.
All four of these questions resonate with me, but if I had to decipher which one of the four relates to my current situation the most, it’s question 2. Recently I found myself coming up with way too many ideas, that I’d put one to rest after a couple of months of posting new concept art. Then I’d get started on posting new work on another project and later, I’d shelve that one, too. I recently decided to put my website under construction until mid to late January so I’d have some time to reorganize and rearrange my plans. Right now my only concern is selecting the project that is going to best reflect me and how I want to be represented. Right now it seems that there’s no consistency with the kind of work I say I normally do vs. what I actually do and what I want to do. Even though my website has the word ‘comics’ in the title, I also do animation and I’m working on an indiegame. This is where question 1 best describes me mostly because I don’t seem to have defined my audience clearly.
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