The First Mile

As the sun rises, you check off your first two items in preparation for your big race: 1. Appropriate gear: running shoes and a light-weight tank top and short shorts 2. Stretches. Then, you start to mentally prepare for the race ahead. In the 5K race (3.1 miles) which is a typical cross-country course, you begin to think about your tactics for competing in the race. With your art job or assignment you begin to think about the stages it will take to complete your project. What are the tactics of runners that will help you win/finish your art project successfully?

Frame Of Mind.
There are always good ways to run your race and bad ways to run it. You want to consider your options before you put your foot on the start line. I was always a slow runner. I am naturally contemplative. I like to think a lot. I was never the fast one, but I always finished the race running. I won a couple of ribbons in competitions, but mostly I just ran. That was because I could focus on the finish line.



Run In Stretches.
What I recommend is what I learned from those cross country days--consider the race as a whole. You need to keep your legs moving and your mind on the race. You need to consider each mile completed as a separate achievement. Gradually increase your speed as you go. Do not become stagnant in your competition. Eventually push yourself to your top speed at the end.

The Long-Distance Commitment.
What I do not recommend is darting off the start line at 100 yard dash speed. I know runners from my cross country years in high school who completely missed the point of running a race. They completely overlooked the fact that foot races are a long-distance commitment. When the gun goes off they would sprint off the line for the first mile. Often these guys were more fit than me. They were often taller and thinner. In my opinion, better equipped than myself to run these long distances. These "jack rabbits" as we called them may have put a good scare on the competition, initially, but then they burned out quick. What good is that in a long distance race?

Conclusion.
Consider your art project as a long-distance race. Some may in fact be very short term in the scope of your life, but art is a discipline like any other sport. I am recommending that you look at your project in stages or in stretches. Think through and prioritize your process in a plan (a later post). You want to keep your project moving. Consider the pace that you need to keep to be strong in every stretch of the race. There will be times that you can relax your pace, but there will also be times to surge ahead. The best tact that I have learned is to pick short goals and to seek to surpass them quickly. You are in a race, so you can't slow down. Keep this in mind as you figure out how to win your prize for finishing your art project.

Stuck In Time

There is so much that needs to be done. Lord help me to build new disciplines into my life. Help me win the battles against the sins in my life...

This was my journal entry from Friday. This is a hard prayer to pray. Often I look to earthly systems to solve my time management problems. Often times they fail to address the problem accurately. Being candid about this is hard. Even harder on the internet where everyone can see it.

You Are Not Alone.
I know I am not alone in trying to find time for everything. Its just not possible. I have many dreams and goals. Many you won't hear about for a long time. It's just not time. But really I want my friends, family, co-workers, and fellow artists all over the world to take solace in this: Priorities are hard to figure out. Because we just don't work, eat, drink, and die there is no straight path on this route.






Consider These Ways To Manage Your Time.
This list is what I have figured out so far. Hopefully these lessons will help you evaluate your situation.

1. Journal daily if possible as a record of accomplishments and failures.
2. Don't put off today what needs to be done today.
3. Ask for help as often as possible.
4. Don't overburden yourself with creative goals that are well beyond your reach at this time. Write them down, draw them, and come back if God allows.
5. You won't always know your limits, but you can tell at the end of the day if you overdid it or not. Try not to go back on that road if possible.
6. Stick to your plan. Refuse to let others distract you if you have a goal in mind. Take criticism of your plan with a grain of salt.
7. Try time management tools, but don't sell out to just one. They all have their benefits and setbacks.
8. Pray and ask God for help.

Conclusion.
You are a unique individual. Let your life form organically. No one can really understand all that you are trying to accomplish. Keep getting back on the time management horse as often as you fall off. In the end you will find time working to your benefit instead of against you.

Inquire Within, Part 1: God And Imagination

This is when it is hard to see God. When it seems as if you can't see beyond your troubles. In spite of the blessings you are in the midst of, it is difficult to see the end.

The dessert is like that. You go for miles in the stark landscape. You hope for an oasis, but because its so difficult to tell what direction you're actually going at times you lose hope quickly.

This is when we need our imaginations. This is when it is important to bow low. This is when we need to submit to our Heavenly Father. He is the author of all creation. And what we need to get through adversity are our dreams, visions, and imagination. All of these hardships are fuel for our imaginations.

Click this to see the painting: Passage

These are the times that the unseen things benefit us. I often paint with a limited palette. When I put down paint and attempt to show detail and shape and value, I am challenged to do it without all of the possibilities afforded me by a full range of colors. But this practice of depending on the unknown has allowed me to create some amazing paintings with unique feels and atmospheres.

When we come to a point where revelations of God's goodness intersect our day to day life we experience Exempla Vitae moments. This is the Art of Living Story. The times when we are able to learn through doing or learn through remembering. From this lesson learned a remarkable thing happens: We have a new story to tell. Some tell their story through words, some through music or dance, some through performance or building, yet others do so by imagery. I am one of those who uses imagery, but more specifically cartooning.

As a cartoonist I am constantly expanding my visual and written vocabulary. This blog is an expression of that. My thoughts and experiments are often expressed with sequential art or imagery, but they do have broader applications.  I believe you will be able to experience creativity in a new way by taking advantage of the challenges. My challenges stem from the good I have experienced in my relationship with Jesus, and you should seek Him to take full advantage of all the good that you experience.

What is it you are having a difficult time with? What are your current limitations? What do you have at your disposal? Challenge- Try a project with fewer options. Take away what you are comfortable with and create with what remains.

Special Vanishing Point

Stiff lines, bare angles, and semi-technical math are my new friends. I have desperately wanted to achieve the technical perfection of the most skilled comic artists and draftsmen. A little bit of perspective will always do wonders for your piece. So I sat down for hours on end and studied the manuals I had on hand to figure how to best solve my creative problems. 

So, earlier this year that I had to get more serious about perspective drawing, if I was going to continue to be serious about creating comics. It has been a blessing. It has allowed me to see my art in a new way.

Alas, perspective drawing is not for the faint of heart. I am truly in awe of architects, technical illustrators, and engineers. To be accomplished in rendering for three dimensional production is a skill that takes time and patience. Translating from line to form or form to line is a broader way of thinking.

For the illustrator, cartoonist, or painter it is truly secondary. Some times perspective gets in the way of the image. Hours spent hashing out measurements are usually better spent on color or caricature or just creatively inventing.

In this preliminary drawing I first discovered the benefits of a special vanishing point and it did wonders for the finished drawing. I am not yet ready to share the finished page, but you can see here in my Sketches page that if a drawing requires proportional sides the task can be tedious. 

V Is For Verone: Part 2

Instead of giving up he strived one more time to make eye contact with someone, anyone. There huddled in the inner ring was the prettiest little girl he had ever seen. She looked up and in the darkness her eyes sparkled. A spot of passion reflected from the meager fire. Her eyes read him from toe to head.

“There is a place for you by the fire.” She murmured, and then she opened up a her blanket to reveal a vest.

Then the circle broke for him to come through. As the boy reached the far end where a path formed, he went to sit next to her.

“Who are you?” She asked.

“I-I am Verone, a Romani like you.”

“Well then, this vest was meant for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You see the 'V' stitched into the two portions in the front of the vest and the 'V's' making the Romani wheel on the back.”

“Yes.”

“I stitched this for my father last summer.”

“Why are you giving it to me? Where is he?”

“He died tragically a year ago, about this time.”Verone was dumbfounded. She smiled gingerly and gently handed it to him.

“His name was Viktor. And I am finished with my mourning just today at breakfast. I was told that I must find another man to fill his vest.”

“I am not a man. This vest is for a big man. Maybe better suited for a bear...I don't know.”

She giggled and then responded,“Do not worry Verone, you will one day grow into this.”

The fire died by early morning and the chill returned. Verone saw that the clan had already moved on and he was the only one left in the cave. The extra large vest was still around him. He was huddled into it. Today, the young thief had to reach his clan. He hastily jumped up with the vest still around him. He looked about the cave for anyone or any sign of the little girl, then Verone climbed back up through the crevice. He ran down the pass.

What would his future be, he thought? Then, he passed a small camp site. The hikers had their bag on mounted on a tree. Verone walked slowly up to the bag and grabbed some food out of it. The boy ate some of the bread and fruit and cold meat as he hurried to tell his family about his wonderful blessing.

Arapad character

This is the completed, inked, and colored version of my main character, Teleki's best friend, Arapad. More to come.