Broken Branches

“Inspiration”

I think I’m gonna focus a little harder on making really great stuff rather than looking at all this great stuff. Don’t get me wrong- it really is great. So much incredible artwork and inspiration getting shared. The thing is, I don’t need inspiration. I got that coming out my pores. What I need is a better work ethic, more time spent working, and to share that work more frequently with a community of people who can provide meaningful feedback.

I will be posting more in progress work at flickr, thinking aloud on twitter, and hopefully giving my website a fancy little makeover soon too. Keep in touch at ryryryan at gmail dot com.

And think about it, do you really need more inspiration, or do you need more time to do something with the inspiration you’ve already got?

The Burden of Work

I have come to a crossroads.

For a long time, I have done everything I could to make producing art/comics as easy as possible on me. It is hard work, no matter what your Accountant Aunt or your Lawyer In-Law thinks. So, it seems reasonable to try to take shortcuts, to minimize the amount of work it takes to make something of value. It seems reasonable, but it isn’t.

Look at it like this: If you are cheap and miserly when you create something, the results will suffer. Maybe you are so talented that no one can tell the difference, but I’m not so lucky. I want to make work that lasts. I want to make work that people will fall in love with. And to do that, I have to bear the burden of my work.

It isn’t fair to give someone a rough draft and call it polished. It’s not fair to give someone a sketch and call it a drawing. It’s not fair for me to ask you to forgive my mistakes, and to sing my praises, if I haven’t even tried my hardest. And so, I won’t.

I will work slower, and I will work harder, and I will work more. I will throw away bad drawings. I will draw more sketches, and write more outlines and not try to trick people into thinking I am good. I will practice, and toil and I will be good.

Some Things I Know, 8/3/2011

1. I love to draw. The process of imagining a three-dimensional environment and reproducing it on a two-dimensional surface makes me feel powerful and alive. During much of my daily life, I feel like a drawing machine who has been asked to cook, or take x-rays, or drive a car. When I am drawing, there is no coaxing or jury-rigging required. There is no friction. Even when the results are lacking, upon completion of a drawing I feel an immense weight lifted, a clarity of mind, that I seldom feel otherwise.

2. I love my family. Everything I just wrote up there about drawing? I would give all that up for my family without a second thought. They make that worth doing. 

3. See next post.

A sketchbook comic about John Travolta and Nicolas Cage.