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I haven’t posted any art over the past few weeks as I’ve dedicated all of my being to writing the outline for Sticker Quest. I have really good days and I have really depressingly awful days where I just want to give up and pretend I never tried in the first place. Luckily for all of us, I can’t give up. Quitting Sticker Quest would only cause me to hate myself and who’d want to live with that?

The nice part about this obsession is that it’s really helped me cope with my culture shock and other things that have gone off in my life. I’m learning so much about myself and my limits (which I don’t think I’ve properly challenged yet).

I’m going to share some things that I’ve learned. They could be entirely wrong but here it is:

1. I’ve spent more time rewriting than writing. The way I pictured Sticker Quest a month ago is not how Sticker Quest is now. Characters and sequences have changed completely – but that’s okay because they’re better now.
2. Write down every bad idea so then only good ones are left.
3. Tell your outline to a critical, jerk friend, he’ll find every plot hole and make you hate yourself as you try to fix them. (You’re the best, Josh!)
4. Coincidences suck.
5. If you want to be awesome, you have to make sacrifices. That sucks too, but only temporarily.
6. Surround yourself with other creative people. Get rid of anyone who makes you sad or anxious. You don’t have time to feel anything but pure burning ambition!
7. Hipsters go and work at hipster cafes for a reason – free but slow wifi crashes Tumblr, so you get a lot done. (Also, tea-based beverages make me happy)

If I fail, I will blame Tumblr. If anything brings Sticker Quest crashing down, it will be porn and cat pictures.

Other accomplishments thus far:

• One of the side characters has been designed. (Wanna peak?)
• Many articles on story-telling and character creation have been devoured and bookmarked.
• Doodles to accompany certain scenes to help me visualize them.
• A job interview and a house-viewing. #lifeaccomplishment
• Many naps taken and much chocolate consumed.

IN OTHER NEWS!

I will be partaking in 24 hr Comic Book Day at Happy Harbor Comics in Edmonton. I will post more information that about that soon.

I had a dream about a lion named Ashley. Sometimes he’d flip out and bite people.

I’m baaaa-aaaack.

Get up!

I’ve moved on from a crippling Skyrim addiction to an equally crippling Mass Effect 2 addiction. Needless to say, between them, I’ve been fairly unproductive (unless you count stopping the goddamned Collectors and getting into Garrus’ extra-terrestrial pants, productive!). However, last night, I put away the video games to create…

…more video game-related art!

I’ve had a craving to revisit my favourite green-tunic’d hero – so I vented these feelers with some pleasing results! New shading techniques inspired by my artist-mentor Adrian.

This series, particularly Zelda: A Link to the Past and Zelda: Ocarina of Time, conjures happy memories of gaming with my father into the wee hours of the morning (or at least, past my bedtime). Lately, I’ve had a hankering to tackle them once more. So when my monthly salary came in, I popped onto Amazon and purchased Z:OoT 3DS. It’s about time too! So far the only 3DS game I own is Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns.

Speaking of dapper and green, I bought my first dress on the Internet from Modcloth. I found out about it through my comic book lady-hero, Kate Beaton. I’m pretty sure if I ran into her wearing the same dress, it’d be a nifty conversation piece. We’d probably bond over our mutual style and become besties. JUST LOOK AT THOSE BUTTONS! I’m stressing that it might not be the proper size, but Modcloth offers exchanges and returns even to Japan.

Speaking of Japan, I’m officially here until the Summer. I’m excited to enjoy another Japanese spring.

…but I won’t let that stop me! I must admit, I’ve been falling behind on my dino-a-day but as long as I’m releasing dinosaurs consistently, I’ll consider it a success. Otherwise, my imagination is still alive and the only thing that’s been holding me back is all the plentiful game releases, a healthy reading addiction, and not having enough hours in the day. As long as I’m busy, I have no time to miss things the things I thought I had! Just saying that sentence reminds me what a ridiculous duck I’ve been!

It’s almost 4:00 am but I just had to draw a Totoro. Anything Ghibli-related is a good thing – I think tomorrow while I work, I will have a mini-Ghibli marathon. Definite participants are: My Neighbour Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, and maybe I’ll throw one in that I haven’t seen as often, like, Nausicaa or Laputa. Either way, I have them all on my handy-dandy hard drive!

I just want to cuddle and watch Ghibli movies.

This Halloween, I need something cheap and easy and cute. I already owned a dark cotton dress, so I made a red bow out of 100-yen felt and a cheap broom.

Voila!

Kiki from Kiki’s Delivery Service.

“What nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish someone had told this to me . . . is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

– Ira Glass (source)

This is exactly what I needed to read right now. I constantly feel like my art doesn’t live up to my own expectations. I constantly compare and measure against more skilled artists and feel like I’m making a horrible mistake with my life. Reading this soothes my anxieties and keeps me determined.

(Thanks Samwise!)

While the lifeforce was being drained from my body, I thought up this comic.

Little known fact: I can’t handle blood. The sight of it makes me queasy and getting it taken out of my body leaves me positively useless. I have never donated blood and I’m not proud of this. The one time I tried, I turned white, fainty, and started to perspire just from looking at the rows of people generously giving their blood-stuff away for free cookies… they didn’t make follow through with it and I still got a free cookie.

It’s been a long time since I’ve actually drawn a comic strip and though I can’t promise anything regular, I promise you that it’s not dead… just dormant.