Well it didn't really happen the way I thought at all, but I'm ok with that. Something about the time period was good for me mentally. I had a good hard look at myself and all the excuses I had been making not to draw recently. I had been telling myself that with full time work and kids I should not be so hard on myself for not drawing, which to a certain extent is true. But then two truths occurred to me. Firstly, other artists I know work full time, have kids and still draw, and secondly, how much time do I spend on the web surfing twitter, Reddit and various another sites and distractions. If I just spent half that amount of time drawing then I could probably get quite a bit done. Another subsequent thought is that I don't have to be drawing and writing a graphic novel each week, the number one important thing is that I actually did work and use my time effectively Consistency it turns our it the key to feeling creative for me.
That being said here are some things I got accomplished this past month,
1-Continued writing some comics that I had started a few months ago
2-Came up with the concept for my annual end of year/Christmas/new years card and have actually drawn it and almost finished adding the digital colours
3-Actually did get around to pencilling and inking some of the above mentioned strips I wrote, which I should be previewing soon
4-Finished the final proof on my comic 'Rose Parade', now just have to do the hard slog of fixing all the typos, left out words, etc
5-Developed a method to keep track of my drawing equipment; This sounds like a small feat, but the kids are constantly appropriating and sometimes breaking my equipment. The solution is basically just a bag with my sketchbooks, rulers, and a Ziploc bag with my pens in it
6-Discussed a future collaborative project with Jen Breach, which I feel really excited about
7-Finally ordered one of my Redbubble shirts (Ok this is not creative, but still affirmed drawing for me)
8-Got around to trying Pinterest, and after initial scepticism and social media fatigue I can say I know what people are on about. Pinterest is the future of the web in a big way (If not Pinterest then Pinterest like websites, with Pinterest functionality)
In conclusion here are some things I learnt from the experience,
1-I need to stop making excuses and just shut up and do the damn work already
2-Consistency is key in creative work, if you stop working, you start to doubt yourself and then it's all over
3-Consistency also gives you that nice artistic buzz, the reason you stick with it even though you're pretty sure most people either don't care of think you suck
4-Failing is not such a bad thing if you get a good result in the end