Yeah, so after a burst of activity last October I kinda dropped off the map again. I was hoping to make a major announcement in time for my birthday next week, but I may need a bit longer to think before I do.
Anyway, here's the low-down of what's been going on (not in chronological order, for dramatic effect):
First of all, I've finally come to terms with my mental health. For about 15 years I thought I was just autistic, but it's more than that. I know what I have now, and I'm no longer in denial about it. I'll leave it at that.
I suffered a major back injury recently and am still recovering. I've had multiple ruptured discs in past years due to my work experience, and, alas, that has made my recent recovery a bit slow. I've spent no time on my drawing board for a while as a result, and even my time at the computer has been limited. I'm hoping I'll be back to normal by next month, and I fully intend to get drawing again.
In fact, I just bought a whole bunch of new art supplies, including some 11x17" Bristol board, blue pencils, a proper light box, and more. I've spent most of my life making comic strips, but now I want to try my hand at comic book pages. (BTW, I'm super pissed that I had to order everything online. Staples and all the local craft stores had NONE of the stuff I wanted. WTF?)
After Kinktober I was all fired up to start a minicomic project, a Sonic fan comic featuring Whisper. I might finish off the thumbnails and post it someday, but the comic itself is canceled. I think I fell victim to the Sunken Cost Fallacy, trying to force myself to finish it, even though I was unhappy with it. Well, the more I read it over, the less I liked it, so it was time to just scrap it and move on. Besides, I recently came across an artist named TheHypedBuddy (Tumblr), who did something similar already. My story was actually more in-depth than his, but... it was still too similar for my liking, and his version is drawn MUCH better than mine ever could be. 8)
The fact is, I was always a bit uneasy trying to re-tell an existing story, especially when it's really hard to work with characters created by other people. I like exploring personalities, but not if it may result in accidentally going off-canon. I love doing parodies, but if something is meant to be taken seriously, I want to respect canon as much as possible.
Instead, I started writing a new short story about Tangle suffering a head injury on a mission and being rescued and healed by my new original character, Giraud. Basically, Giraud is a psychic hermit who cannot live around other people, and quickly gets annoyed by Tangle's extroverted, chatty demeanor. She responds by telling him that her best friend, Whisper, is severely introverted, and she understands how Giraud feels living in isolation. I thought the story was amusing and had potential, but wasn't terribly interesting or really going anywhere. I then got the idea that while healing Tangle with his mind powers, Giraud inadvertently gives Tangle psychic abilities, too. That made the story way more interesting, but changing a canon character isn't something I wanted to explore. So, I created a new character, Talia, to replace Tangle.
Well, damn. Once I was freed of the shackles of working with official characters, I've been writing page after page, and I'm having a blast. I mean, working on something new has really become FUN again. The truth is, while I love the official characters, trying to write around the messy and inconsistent Sonic lore has been very troublesome. Once I started working with my own original characters and was free to do anything I wanted, I've been on a roll and having a great time. I've been writing tons of material over the last couple of months, and I really like where this is going. Unlike the regular Sonic comics, this is NOT an action story, but has a lot of character development, which is the kind of stuff I really love.
The only major snag is that this story is actually quite depressing. It's a story about mental illness, so... what do you expect? Who is the target audience? Certainly not my existing fans, and probably not even the typically melodramatic Sonic community. I'll have to think of ways to lighten up the mood a bit. Also, I need to deal with my new OC, Wallah the gecko. She has narcissistic personality disorder, but you're supposed to feel bad for her. It's not easy to write a character like that. I need to do more research (and stop analyzing Trump and Musk so much).
So, yeah, I've now come up with a very, VERY stupid idea. Rather than a minicomic, how about a full-blown graphic novel?
Now, I haven't commit to this, since of course I don't draw very much. However, the first chapter of my story is complete, and I really like what I have. This is way better than the Whisper minicomic. I really want to do this. In the past, people have criticized my comics for being far too wordy, and honestly, I get the impression that a comic book is more my style... as long as I can handle the workload.
Once my back is better, I think I'm going to start work on this and gauge how fast I can get pages done.
I've been thinking a lot about how to get around my limitations as an artist, and I've made a few conclusions:
1) Shortcuts. This may not sound like a good thing, but I've accepted my limitations. I'm not a good artist and never will be, and my aphantasia makes planning layout borderline impossible. So... stop worrying about it and just get it done. Be sloppy. To hell with fancy layout. I'd rather release lousy art at a consistent pace rather than not produce anything at all. So, I think I'll set a hard limit at no more than 2 days per comic page (average). I plan to be a bit messier with my inks and colors than the typical cel-shaded stuff I normally do. Paint more. Don't optimize for filesize. Reuse backgrounds if it helps. Whatever it takes to get stuff done.
2) Given that I'm notoriously unreliable at finishing storylines, the best course of action is to write the first chapter to stand on its own, so if I do get overwhelmed, there won't be a cliffhanger. Depending on how this goes, I'll craft subsequent chapters appropriately.
3) Nobody reads written stories, so if I released what I have as a document, it would get no views and be a total waste of time. What I'll likely end up doing is drawing an excerpt or summary of each chapter as a minicomic, and when the comic pages are finished, the written chapter will be released. The comics will generate visibility, and anyone intrigued by the story can then read the "full" version for more depth. This cuts down on needless dialog and should help to keep drawn pages flowing at a good pace.
4) "Show, don't tell." Rather than have tons of dialog and "talking heads", it makes sense to take advantage of the comic media by having flashbacks and showing the scenes rather than describing them. Comic strips don't really let you do that, since you lack page real estate. It may seem obvious to others, but I'm not used to comic book media, and I'm trying to learn the ropes (and tropes) as quickly as I can.
5) Do I really want to get into donations or sponsorships? I don't need the money, but the businessman in me says I really shouldn't keep working for free. I dunno. I may consider fundraising of some sort, but no matter what, everything I produce will eventually be posted publicly... just as I always have done with my art.
6) Creative Commons. Frankly, I don't think my art is valuable, and I'm not protective of it. I'm seriously considering licensing the comic and my characters under the creative commons, so people are free to repost my stuff wherever they like, and even modify or build upon it. I'm not on social media, so it'd be nice if others could post my stuff there for me. For the record, unless specifically stated otherwise, you can consider all my art to be redistributable*. I don't really care, as long as other people don't claim my art as their own work (which is why I always sign all my art, as every artist should).
*PS - I started putting some of my stuff on E621. I've decided to retire the alias "BurntMeatloaf". If I want an account on a site where "Waccoon" is already taken, I'll just use a variant of the name. Technically, my character's proper name is "Wac Wilson", while I use "Waccoon" as my artist alias. Take that as you will. I have no issue with people posting things under my real name, though "Waccoon" is certainly more recognizable.
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Hmm... as usual, I'm just rambling and trying to give myself a kick in the ass to get something done. As always, I make no promises. However, as I approach age 50 and look upon my past artwork -- often in disappointment -- it really gnaws at me. I should do more. I should worry less about the quality of my art. I should worry less about practicing and never getting any better. Just have more fun. My time is limited, and I should share more of my ideas.
After all, pacing back and forth in my room talking to myself for hours on end... doesn't really accomplish anything. You'd be surprised how much of my life I've wasted doing that, and I always thought it was normal for artists to do that. All part of the creative process, right?
Glad you've figured out, or at least come to terms with whatever it is you've got going on between those raccears of yours. As they say, "knowing is half the battle!". As someone that has to deal with Autism (and all the wonderful extras it can come with), I can relate.
I look forward to see what comes of your comic project, I'm excited to read it :3
Re: "Fundraising". Commissions are always an option, a patreon/substar/kofi/whatever for the comic project, heck even a tip jar. More ambitious? Furry Indie game projects exploring mental health in quirky ways seem to do gangbusters, haha.
Glad you've figured out, or at least come to terms with whatever it is you've got going on between t
Oh no... I'll never do commissions. I like drawing fan art on occasion, but commissions are just way too stressful.
If I were to do a game, I'd make it to be played blind using audio and controller vibration cues. I like alternative games that push those kinds of boundaries.
Oh no... I'll never do commissions. I like drawing fan art on occasion, but commissions are just wa
Yeah, I know a few people that feel that way about commissions. I have to say a "Haptics Only" game sounds like an incredibly fascinating concept! I wonder how you'd get around all the different types of haptic motor in various controllers (or if you'd just target a single type of controller and go from there)
Yeah, I know a few people that feel that way about commissions. I have to say a "Haptics Only" game
I'm so sorry to hear about your back injury. While I might not be where you are in years, I can totally relate to a rough work experience and age pushing recovery times. It's definitely a downside of getting older, for sure.
It is good to hear that you've discovered and found where you are in regards to mental illness. That's a tough road and the signs along the way are hard to read, so I'm very glad you found one that you could and, from the sounds of it, it put you on the right path in managing.
After reading about the project, it seems as if the new one is a bit "closer to the heart" than the last one, so you might find this one a bit easier in places to get swept away into it and continue. I've always found that the more personal a project is, the more likely I am to actually finish it. I hope it's the same for you.
Frankly, I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit as far as the quality of your work. I have, and always have, enjoyed your work immensely and found it to be fun, both in design and execution.
All in all, I look forward to seeing what you do and where you go, just like I have all these years. 😁
I'm so sorry to hear about your back injury. While I might not be where you are in years, I can tot
The issue with my art is the amount of time required. Back in high school, I realized a career in art just wasn't going to work out, since it took me hours to do what other people could do in minutes. I can draw if I put in enough time, but it's often not justifiable to invest 10+ hours of work into a comic strip. These days, taking all my shortcuts into consideration, I can bang out a simple strip in about 4 hours, which is... competitive.
It's possible to do art when you have aphantasia, and I'm proud of many of my works, but it's REALLY hard and takes forever. It's one thing if anatomy isn't turning out as nicely as you'd like, but it's something else when you can't even place a few circles and squares on a page and have them all fit within the margins. I need to do thumbnails for everything. People who don't have this condition simply cannot relate. Without my model sheets handy, I literally cannot remember what my own characters look like. I have to describe their features to myself in my head, as if I'm reading a book.
But, hey, you just find ways to deal with this stuff. I suffer through the art so I can tell the jokes. 8)
The issue with my art is the amount of time required. Back in high school, I realized a career in a
You're right, I really can't imagine what it would be like to try and create with that condition. But it's a testament to your skills, both with a pen in your hand and your ability to work around issues you're facing in creation, that you're able to produce amazing works like you do.
Frankly, I wouldn't down yourself on the time it takes you to do your work, I've heard of a great many comic artists that work those hours and FAR longer on the strips we all enjoy in the newspaper. I'd think even without your work methods, you're still competitive. With them, I'd say you're kicking some ass.
You're right, I really can't imagine what it would be like to try and create with that condition. Bu
