There is coffee

Well, here we are.

What a ride.

When I started this project I had a some goals in mind, here’s how I think I did:

• Produce a comic every day: B-

I almost always got one out on time. For a while, I had a buffer. This got me through the Summer 2022 Wilkes Comic Con. I didn’t have a buffer for with Winter 2023 Wilkes Comic Con. When I had to put my nose to the grind stone, I had to stop for a while. There were no comics from late January through February.  Hiatuses like this can kill a comic.  But I came back on March 1 and am still producing.  Like wise, I started pushing a second publication every day.

• KISS: B+

Again, the goal here was to draw on post-it notes. Keep it simple, using materials I have at the office so I can doodle while I’m working.  I did this a lot in the beginning. I still do this at conventions. However, for the most part, I have shifted over to Procreate and Gimp. I like the quality of my work here, but it is a lot more complex.

• Improve  my writing: B+

This is a generous B+. This isn’t because my writing has improved that much, but I think my method has. I have known that the key to a good strip is good writing. That’s why I have always kept a morgue of the best gags over the years. I have recognized that my writing needs a lot of punching up, so I have been listening to several podcasts to learn from comic strip artists and comedians.

I try to write and brainstorm everyday. The goal is to come up with 10 ideas and maybe flesh out 2 or 3. If I’m lucky, 1 of those will be usable.

• Improve my drawing ability: C+

I wasn’t expecting miracles, and I certainly didn’t get them. But I would say I ave improved. There is more consistency in my work and I have a little more pride in showing it.The next step with my drawing is to start warming up the same way that I have been practicing with my writing.  daily prompts that aren’t necessarily associated with the strip or maybe focusing on elements of the strip each day (e.g. background, hands, feet, shadows, etc.)

Either way, my art has improved and I like enough of it that I am trying to sell some of it on Red Bubble. Which leads me to…

• Potentially merchandise my artwork: B

There have been some fits and starts here. I have equipment to do a lot of this in house. I have the press to make shirts and mugs. I have an excellent printer for stickers and prints. I’ve had a button maker for a while now too.

The problem is time. Where is my time best allocated? I’ll write a post about my time management system in Think Sideways soon, but after analyzing the situation I realized that I had to delegate this. My site of choice was Red Bubble. It’s going to work for now. I don’t have to pay any up front fees and they produce a wide variety of items. The downside is the costs are high so any margin I put on my items makes my final pricing very high.

If I was still in school, I wouldn’t be proud of those grades. I am however willing to say they are a place to keep building from. So what are my goals?

Now it’s time to start sketching out the next project. It needs a rewrite/punch up but I think I’ll start posting some of the preliminary work here as I get it ready to go.  If everything goes to time table, the new strip will be running 10/1 and Bears Drawn Badly will reduce in frequency (but not go away!)