Riding the Pendulum
So, I have officially embarked (or re-embarked) on my webcomic journey. I posted the prelude ep to WEBTOON, a couple of weeks ago, and plan on updating it this week! Though I am already a little behind (larger update/brother’s birthday), I am really excited about it. Even so, I have already been dealing with this thing--- the same thing that has been an issue for me since college, and I have decided to dub it: The Pendulum.
We all know it, really, this isn’t special to me by any means. The Pendulum is your brain. It is the ebb and flow, from love to hate, excitement to disappointment. You come up with a really fun idea-- the high. You are drawing and it is not matching that picture in your mind--the low. This is natural, and happens often as it is part of the process of making art. However, after art school, this developed into creative debilitation. The early stages of this had actually been recognized by one of my drawing instructors. He said something like, “I notice these tiny marks here, you are hesitating. Try to make a full line before lifting your hand”. It took me a while to realize the cause; learning how to analyze art had begun to cripple my ability to make any. It was stopping my hand. After graduation, the hesitation in my hand became a hesitation to draw at all.
So, the Pendulum stayed in one place, on the side that had all of the doubt, the fear of being seen, and the fear of being judged as terrible. There lies the danger as a creative; you can not allow yourself to get stuck in the doubt of your ability or originality. I realize now that you have to develop trust that with time, skill will build on itself and even if things don’t come out as you plan, they will still be remarkable. I am still learning this: posting my art online and having people look at it and give me feedback has helped a lot. I think that this might be the key. To get that pendulum to start swinging, you must SHOW YOUR WORK.
