All Work and No Play Makes Dan a Dull Boy

As a boy, with a dream of becoming an internationally published writer and artist I would get caught up in my daydreams, draw into the wee morning hours, talk craft with my creative friends and even skip some school to finish my next masterpiece.

My, how time changes things…

I look at those “comic masterpieces” with my 40+ years and they ain’t all that; I have partially completed scripts, penciled concept art, partially inked pages and no completed signature work to represent all the dreams.

What happened? Why don’t I get more done? How come my comic book opus consists of a bunch of unfinished designs, plots and characters?

At some point in the process of pursuing your dreams you need to remember it is more about the journey than the destination, otherwise the ART Piece becomes artWORK. Especially, when it isn't your full-time gig.

I am sure this happens to all kinds of people – doctors, priests, professional athletes and artists – their passion fuels them to become the best they can be and to make every effort to make a living doing what they love.

The problem, at least for me, was that I ended up realizing that to do what I wanted I needed to use the tools that “real” artists use, follow the technical processes that “real” artists rely on to develop professional results. Especially, because the best work I was ever going to produce without those things would be below average.

As a kid, I could write, pencil, ink and letter a couple of dozen pages in a single weekend. It was fun – but it was crap. Now, the process that I have developed for myself slowly saps away my passion as I work and re-work my stuff until it is done – and in the end it never seems to get completely finished.

I begin by writing a multi-issue story plot, read and revise the plot, write the first draft of the script with dialog, read and revise a second draft, design the layout for the pages, design the characters, rough out images, seek out references, layout perspectives, determine lighting and spot the blacks, pencil pages, letter the pages, ink the pages and so on… and we’re not even getting into the process of getting it ready for print or the web.

So, I fit this stuff in because I love it (supposedly), but it beats me down when it takes weeks (months? years?) to see any finished pages, to see any results for all this stuff which turns out to be hard work.

So why do it at all then?

Because as human beings we all have our passions, we all have our stories to tell and when I get to the end of this journey, I want to have chronicled a couple of chapters that can live on after I am gone.

Now that I got that off my chest, I guess I better get to work.

The 2 secrets to creating anything

During my time working in the comic book industry I had many people, particularly students, approach me discussing their desire to be published.

I was fortunate enough to be published as a writer, an artist, and a production artist more than 75 times for 11 publishers. I learned a lot of lessons during that time, many of them the hard way and most of them painful.

It became difficult to talk about it to those youthful creators with desire and passion in their hearts. They were no more interested in the politics, the games, and the betrayal than I was when I was in their position. When it comes to bringing life to your imagination, whether for comics, books, movies, music or anything; it is all-consuming and you are willing to do most anything to make it happen.

So what does it take to be a successful creator?

With experience and hindsight, I have learned to answer that question with two references:

Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead and Tim Burton’s Ed Wood

These two films (and more accurately, the book, in the case of The Fountainhead) represent the duality required to be a successful and fulfilled creator regardless of your craft.

The Fountainhead shows the importance of being committed to the integrity of your design without compromise – to realize that people will want to put their fingerprints on your work and try to use it to speak with their voice – even if the whole world disagrees, if you believe in the creation that you have built with your ideas, reason and efforts you need to hold fast to your ideals.

Ed Wood has a different message – that as a creator, regardless of the talent, the budget or the obstacles you must have an unbridled love and passion for the work AND the process to create – you must be true to who you are and serious about getting the work done even if the content of the work isn’t as serious.

The right mix of these two philosophies makes for a creator who will be true to their work, themselves, enjoy the journey and get the work done.

Or perhaps be a schizophrenic. You decide.

Check out links from both films below.