Kind of branching off of what I said a few days ago, I dropped out of about half the things that were racking my mind & body for the last few months now. Some of them I'm glad to get off my back, & some of them were really hard to let go. Some of these people are friends of mine, & I never want to let any of them down, but I think it's better now that I'm in a much more healthy state of body & mind, & can finally breath a little again. Now that my to-do list has been shrunken down to a much more manageable size, I'm thinking hell of a lot more clearly & can now focus on the things that are really important to me.
*Also, I'd like to thank all the people who have been thinking about my well-being & have been cheering me up. You guys are awesome friends, & now that I'm not as tapped, I have a bit more free time to chill with you guys.
During the past few months, I never really had time for myself or my own interests. There would be a break here & there, but they were small, few & far inbetween. One of the things that I've put off for a good long time was a book I was working on. I may have briefly mentioned it here before, but I never really went into great detail on it. I've been working on it on & off for about the last 2 years. At this point, I've got about 50 pages roughed out, which I would like to go back & tweak a little when I get some more free time. I pretty much have the complete story all in my head & ready to go, but there's a few small chunks strewn throughout that need some story revision. I've actually spoken to a few comic folk & a to a few publishers who seem very interested, but I decided to wait a little while longer before I jump the gun.
Although this thing means a lot to me, I've put it off because getting my SVA stuff done means just as much to me (& that it's far more important right now anyway). At this point, it's not the most imperative thing on my plate. It's not like it's a carton of milk; it's not going to expire or go away any time soon. It can wait. I've even thought about scraping the book entirely & just using my panels as a rough storyboard & turning it into a film. I think of the story being more cinematic anyway. Still, it's something that I'd REALLY like to finish someday, even if it takes me 20 years to do it.
A few weeks ago, while taking break from some other work, I opened up Photoshop & just started sketching out a little picture of the characters from my story. Compared to some of the other stuff I tried doing in Photoshop, this was actually very relaxing to me. My friend Mike showed me where I could get some really nice custom brushes & since then it's been a lot easier & more fun to draw in the program.
Lately, I like to draw with an inverted adjustment layer on top. It helps me see the lines much clearer, & it's a hell of a lot less taxing on my eyes.
Here's a rough outline of the story in case you're interested: Randy & Steve Owen (known as Steve-O) make a bet against a wealthy aristocratic swan (Reginald Codbottom III) to see who can find & retrieve a legendary gem, known as the 'Phoenix-Eye Ruby', from the deep jungles of Central America. Randy & Steve-O, along with the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in their community, race against Codbottom to find the gem first. They encounter shipwrecks, pygmies, & enemies who try to thwart them. Hilarity, drama & character development ensue, etc. etc. etc.
I know, it sounds a lot like Carl Barks (& it probably is a lot like his work), but I think I'm getting a bit deeper than he did in his Scrooge stories, at least as far as character & emotion goes.
Like I said, it's still in the rough stages, & I know this will take a good long time to complete, but I don't care. It's one of the few things that really make me excited about drawing again.
2 comments:
The story sounds pretty good, I really need to start reading some Barks comics for my own story ideas. They seem to be a hell of a lot more creative than what I have cooked up. Anyway, It's good to hear from you again, man. Always remember to do these things one at a time and don't rush yourself. Good luck, man.
I'm really glad to hear you've been taking things easier, pal, I really meant what I said the other night and it's good that you're making what seem to be positive changes. I don't think you can truly make people around you happy if you're not happy yourself, and looking out for number one once in a while is perfectly acceptable.
I'm excited to hear the book is coming along too -- keep us all posted for sure.
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