Do Routine's Work for You?

Before diving into this week's newsletter I wanted to give a huge shoutout to all the new subscribers here. If you are new here, chances are you signed up recently at the Greater Austin Comic Con, so allow me to welcome you to the newsletter and say thanks for signing up! I hope you stay awhile. My newsletter is weekly and is pretty fluid from week to week concerning content. They can be in-depth or short bursts, and I post new comics whenever I can-but that also means some weeks there won't be any because y'know, life. Newsletter subscribers are always privy to the latest comics, news, updates, and more; it's part comics, part blog, part whatever. Happy to have you!

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Recently I've been struggling with a little thing called consistency, although I'm pretty good about producing what the kids these days call "content" I'm not so much concerned about posting things online, but more about being more consistent concerning keeping a schedule, delivering art on time for me-for my own personal standard.

On a recent podcast (oh and apologies to my patrons, you guys have already read some of this, but I thought it was too good to horde), someone used the example of going to the gym on a regular basis as a stand in for an art practice. They said (about the gym), just showing up to a gym, 5 days a week, and working out for an hour...just moving your body in different ways for an hour...will no doubt change your body in a year's time. All you have to do is build into your day a routine where you show up at the gym and spend an hour there. That's it. Just showing up, moving around for an hour, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year and boom, you're lighter, or leaner, or stronger, or just feel better. It really is a simple concept, though probably a bit more challenging to put into practice no doubt, but I still like the simplicity of it. Just build in a routine. Stick to the routine. In a year you'll obviously look or feel different.

Now, translate that concept into art. Show up 5 days a week, 52 weeks out of the year, and in a year's time you'll have a portfolio, or a comic, or a painting, or a few jars and vases lying around, or an entire quilt, or whatever your practice is. The real point is, you'll have created a habit. A routine. And you'll definitely have something to show for it.

I've always been adverse to keeping a routine, but I'm not sure why because those times in my life when I've been able to develop one, it really worked for me. I always managed to fall off the wagon though. Part of my problem is once I'm off the wagon, I don't ever make an effort to run and hop back on. I'm always more or less accepting of this being 'the way things go.' But, again, I'm looking to get back on the wagon again to try and establish some sort of creative practice. In doing so, I like having this simple concept in mind. Just showing up, for an hour or so, 5 days a week, and chipping away at something.

Kickstarter

Alright you guys! This. Week. The Kickstarter for The After Death Book Two goes live! This Thursday morning (exact time TBD). If you haven't visited the pre-launch page, you can now and get a reminder once it does go live. The early days of the campaign are important-not only to generate excitement for people to get invested, and share the project-but it also helps it get on Kickstarter's radar which will jumpstart their algorithm in sharing the project and reach more readers. Next week I'll include some graphics if you'd like to share the project on your socials and with your circles as well and help me hit that funding goal! No pressure, for sure, but I'll need all the help I can get so it would be much appreciated.

What's Making Me Happy This Week

• The success of the Greater Austin Comic Con was a complete highlight from this past week. Everyone's reception of The After Death, my artwork, as well as my other comics was great. Did you know, I sold out (again) of The After Death Book One. I'm trying to crunch numbers to see if it's crucial to do another print run before the Kickstarter, or after. It's a matter of looking at what up and coming shows I have and if I need to up my inventory by then. Regardless, Austin Comic Con was great! I'll definitely be adding this show to the list of ones to return to.

• A lot of trailers for new movies came out this week thanks to San Diego Comic Con going on. But the one that I might be most excited about is the new Bob Dylan bio-pic with Timothy Chalamet playing a very young Dylan. It's reported Chalamet actually sings and learned how to play guitar for the role. I'm not really a fan of bio-pics in general, but I'm such a huge Dylan fan I might have to ignore my pretentious urge to snub my nose at this and give in to the fanboy within and completely geek out.

• A couple of comics I'm really excited about this week. First up is Rescue Party. It's a collection of comics create during the early days of Covid lockdown. I feel like I've been talking about, thinking about these comics since that time, so apologies if I'm getting repetitive. These comics were made in a response to being isolated and dealing with what we all were collectively feeling during those weird early days of the pandemic. They are each, unique, unusual, hopeful and telling. This book collects 140 of the hundreds of comics received during the art call made during the spring of 2020. It's both a beautiful collection of a global shared experience and a time capsule from a time not so long ago. These served as a bright spot during lockdown and I'm so excited to finally have it in book form.

• Another debut happened this week: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 hit shelves marking a new chapter, a new creative team and a new direction for the mean green. This first issue was a great start and I'm very much looking forward to what else is coming our way when it comes to my favorite turtle teens (thought they're not really teens anymore).

• Lastly Rhea and I walked into to Joann's Craft Store to find that they have Halloween décor already on the shelves and, at least when we went, it's at 40% off! We bought 4 new spooky things for the house and can't wait to go back!

Whew, another whopper of a newsletter. Are these getting longer? I've been in a writing mood lately so maybe it's coming through a bit more. In any case, thanks for being here! Thanks for reading! Thanks for subscribing-to both new and old fans and I'll see you guys back here in a week.

~b

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