…Perhaps I should start trying to find a target.
Alrighty, I’ve been thinking a lot about my career (now that I’m unemployed, I have plenty of time to do so) and I believe I’ve got a reasonable idea of where I’d like to start heading toward.
For much of my life, I’ve enjoyed reading comics, both on the web and in print, as well as making my own off and on. Starting in high school (and moreso into college) I read less and less mainly due to the time constraints of jobs and school work, but in the last several months (and moreso since graduation and unemployment) I’ve really gotten back into comics, a passion re-discovered thanks in large part to a few graphic novels (most notably Watchmen and V For Vendetta) which I doubt my parents would have approved of buying for me in my earlier age of fandom.
While I’ve kept up with my sprite comic for far longer than most who start similar projects, I’ve long felt that the format has been a creative constraint that I’ve had to work within because I’ve not had the time to create full page hand-drawn artwork of the caliber I’d be willing to publish. Occasional character sketches have kept my pens from drying out (though my drawing skills have definitely been getting rusty), but I now know that I need to make it my goal to professionally tell the stories in my head through words and pictures.
From now on, I am listing my job title as “artist” or “author” of my own comic books. That is now my primary profession. I am still on the hunt for a more practical second job to pay for those little annoyances like rent and food, but wherever I get employed, it will be a job only, and not a career.
Expect to see in the future from me many more anatomical sketches, figure studies, and environmental detail drawings as I work on improving my skills and later, some impressive full-page sequential art.
For now, it’s back to the papers for me. Sketch pad for more drawing practice, and newspaper for job listings…