Wow. Just released Louie, Kid Prodigy #1, and only a week late! It was good, though, that I took that extra week - there was no way I could've gotten all the little details figured out and fixed up. I've never done a full-color comic before, so it was sort of a crash course. I think it turned out very well, all things considered. And now I've got a bunch of new strategies under my belt (special thanks to Christie Hans of Orc Quest for showing me the "point" system in Photoshop! Saved hours of coloring), so LKP #2 should be a (relative) breeze...
Right now I'm enjoying that muzzy-headed relieved feeling that comes after completing a big project on a deadline - it's sort of a pleasantly twitchy boredom, like waking up late for work only to realize it's your day off. You get to snuggle back under the warm covers with an unbearably smug little grin, and fade in and out of consciousness for a while.
On a more personal note, I count this as sort of a milestone: I haven't finished such a big project on a deadline in a long time. My trouble is that I tend to get really, really worked up under that kind of self-induced pressure. I get these mental typhoons. Extremely unpleasant. The only real way to stop them is a) just forget about the whole project and take a couple months off, or b) actually finish what I'm doing in time. For several years I went with option A, simply because I couldn't cope. It was frustrating, and I'd often end up extremely depressed.
With this project, though, I had a full range of strategies built up - discovered over the years through trial and (a lot of) error. It's hard to explain, really; but most of them had to do with short-circuiting the procrastination cycle. Procrastination, at least for me, stems from the fear of confronting a complex or unpleasant situation. For instance, I will often have panel inconsistencies, like furniture that moves or characters that switch sides from one panel to the next. Once I finish the laborious task of scripting, penciling, inking, and cleaning up a panel, it feels set in stone - why the hell should I go back and mess with it again? Thus fixing the inconsistencies often gets pushed down the road. Odd as it sounds, when I'm right in the midst of the project, there's often no way to get myself motivated to perform this task - I'd rather just throw the whole thing down and go take a walk. One walk turns into several walks, and suddenly it's a week before deadline and I'm stuck with all these goofed-up panels. The first step to combating this procrastination is to accept that it is real: I'm not an artistic machine, that simply needs more oil or fuel to plow through the tough bits. The subconscious will rebel against a task it feels is ridiculous or unnecessary, and there's no arguing with the subconscious. Instead you have to slowly and patiently convince Mr. Subconscious to get back to work. One strategy is to take frequent breaks in which you just sit and do nothing. If you're the twitchy sort, a walk might help, but it has to be meandering - walk like you're combing a beach, let your thoughts wander and bubble to the surface, talk to yourself. Even if you don't achieve a point of deep relaxation, even if your mind is still preoccupied with your project, just that few minutes of doing nothing makes all the difference. Next, once you've decided to get back to work, take the job and break it into bits. Make a list, with the top three priorities marked, and see what you can do at the moment. Breaking the big task into smaller tasks makes the subconscious less flighty, and helps to re-engage your interest. The biggest thing, above all, is to convince yourself that your project isn't that big of a deal. Not to say that it's worthless - that's going too far in the opposite direction. But if you act like this is your big break, you'll freeze. The best thing to say is, "This is practice. My next project will be my Big Break." Then say this for every project. You'll immediately find that your muscles loosen up, and you have a lot more fun. Don't get cynical, or say that no one will care about what you do, but do remember that it's not that big of a deal.
That's my experience - I hope it helps someone out there. Eventually I want to write a book, a sort of "Rick's Down-And-Dirty Approach to Comics". No frills, just maximum efficiency on the technical side. If I'd known half the things I know now about putting together a comic, I might have gotten started several years earlier. Oh well. I'll make up for lost time.
Rick Out.
Right now I'm enjoying that muzzy-headed relieved feeling that comes after completing a big project on a deadline - it's sort of a pleasantly twitchy boredom, like waking up late for work only to realize it's your day off. You get to snuggle back under the warm covers with an unbearably smug little grin, and fade in and out of consciousness for a while.
On a more personal note, I count this as sort of a milestone: I haven't finished such a big project on a deadline in a long time. My trouble is that I tend to get really, really worked up under that kind of self-induced pressure. I get these mental typhoons. Extremely unpleasant. The only real way to stop them is a) just forget about the whole project and take a couple months off, or b) actually finish what I'm doing in time. For several years I went with option A, simply because I couldn't cope. It was frustrating, and I'd often end up extremely depressed.
With this project, though, I had a full range of strategies built up - discovered over the years through trial and (a lot of) error. It's hard to explain, really; but most of them had to do with short-circuiting the procrastination cycle. Procrastination, at least for me, stems from the fear of confronting a complex or unpleasant situation. For instance, I will often have panel inconsistencies, like furniture that moves or characters that switch sides from one panel to the next. Once I finish the laborious task of scripting, penciling, inking, and cleaning up a panel, it feels set in stone - why the hell should I go back and mess with it again? Thus fixing the inconsistencies often gets pushed down the road. Odd as it sounds, when I'm right in the midst of the project, there's often no way to get myself motivated to perform this task - I'd rather just throw the whole thing down and go take a walk. One walk turns into several walks, and suddenly it's a week before deadline and I'm stuck with all these goofed-up panels. The first step to combating this procrastination is to accept that it is real: I'm not an artistic machine, that simply needs more oil or fuel to plow through the tough bits. The subconscious will rebel against a task it feels is ridiculous or unnecessary, and there's no arguing with the subconscious. Instead you have to slowly and patiently convince Mr. Subconscious to get back to work. One strategy is to take frequent breaks in which you just sit and do nothing. If you're the twitchy sort, a walk might help, but it has to be meandering - walk like you're combing a beach, let your thoughts wander and bubble to the surface, talk to yourself. Even if you don't achieve a point of deep relaxation, even if your mind is still preoccupied with your project, just that few minutes of doing nothing makes all the difference. Next, once you've decided to get back to work, take the job and break it into bits. Make a list, with the top three priorities marked, and see what you can do at the moment. Breaking the big task into smaller tasks makes the subconscious less flighty, and helps to re-engage your interest. The biggest thing, above all, is to convince yourself that your project isn't that big of a deal. Not to say that it's worthless - that's going too far in the opposite direction. But if you act like this is your big break, you'll freeze. The best thing to say is, "This is practice. My next project will be my Big Break." Then say this for every project. You'll immediately find that your muscles loosen up, and you have a lot more fun. Don't get cynical, or say that no one will care about what you do, but do remember that it's not that big of a deal.
That's my experience - I hope it helps someone out there. Eventually I want to write a book, a sort of "Rick's Down-And-Dirty Approach to Comics". No frills, just maximum efficiency on the technical side. If I'd known half the things I know now about putting together a comic, I might have gotten started several years earlier. Oh well. I'll make up for lost time.
Rick Out.
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