I just got back from my favorite comic book show, the
SmallPress Expo(SPX). It's an amazing show
featuring some of the best and most innovative work that is being done in
comics today. I always leave there
feeling energize and ready to create. I
wish I could take a two week sabbatical from my day job and just work on
comics. Given that The day job has been incredibly
busy and I only have three more vacation days left, all of which are spoken
for, I don't see that happening.
This is the struggle that I find myself in these days. I'm having trouble balancing my day job with
my creative pursuits. Throw in keeping
my home in order, continue to get my body back into shape, being a good
boyfriend, trying to maintain my friendships and looking for lettering work
while networking. All of this leaves me
feeling rather frazzled and even more susceptible to depression. Even though I finished up 75% of the editing
changes need for my next self-publishing project, I went to bed feeling a
general melancholy. I have no idea
where this sadness came from, but it's been with me all day. In fact I ended up skipping the gym and
sitting in the bathtub, near tears before going to work this morning. The depression is strong right now, but
hopefully I’ll get to the gym tomorrow and 30 minuets on bike along with some
lifting will help fight it back some.
How do other creative types deal with this sort of
struggle? If you have both a day job
and creative life, please leave a comment how you do or don't maintain the
balance.
Back to SPX. MY girlfriend and I had a wonderful time. We meet a ton of great creators and got to
see some old friends. I even picked up
a few awesome sketches:
One of my SPX favorites
Monica Gallagher did both a Frank and a Sadie Doyle from the Thrilling Adventure Hour. They came out fantastic. *clink*
Dean Trippe drew me an amazing Batman for the last page of my Arkham Asylum sketch book. I had always thought that the last page should be Batman, but never knew who I was going ask to draw it. I just gave the book to Dean, told him the theme and said draw your favorite Batman villain. When I came back he gave me the book and explained what he had done. It was perfect.
On the comic creation front, I’m still working a few
lettering gigs, one of which is about to launch and the others are just getting going. I’ll tell you more once the work
is out in the world. Till then I’m
under NDA.
My own work is coming along good. I have finished all of the writing for my next project and I’m
starting the artist search now. I have
a few artists that I would like to work with and I’m waiting to hear back
from. If not them then I’ll have to
start putting out some ads.
I also have plans to do some cooking this weekend for my
lady. I should have some pics and the
recipe up this coming Monday.
That’s it for now, until next time, keep making things.
T.
