Well, it's another new year and I hope it will be a great one, for
all our readers. This month, I've had little enough time to sleep, much less
draw and so I thought I'd do something different. I was tempted to take a
month off, but I decided to write something anyway.
I don't do New Year's resolutions, it just seems like an excercise
in futility, to me. And why should we all set ourselves up for failure?
Aren't there enough bumps in the road, enough emotional potholes? I say,
it's time for a ban on the pressure to make resolutions, at this time of
year. If you must make resolutions, make them when the time feels right,
don't follow the herd.
Looking back over the year just past, I'm amazed that I made it
through. I was laid off from a job I hated, in June, just a few weeks before
I was due to leave for the San Diego Comic-Con and you can imagine what that
did to my vacation plans. Thanks to my friends here at the Collector Times
and my parents, I was able to make the trip. One more thing on the list of
things I hope I can some day repay.
When I was laid off, it occured to me that the business I was in
didn't have much of a future, here. Anyone who can speak English relatively
clearly could do that job, regardless of their geographic location, and the
jobs will ebb and flow as the cost of employment varies from region to
region, or even nation to nation. This didn't bother me, I am fairly
conversant in the economics of the situation and so I decided, one might
even say, resolved, to find a job that suited my own particualr lifestyle
and personality. A job that would accomodate my recreational and avocational
activities, so that I can continue to enjoy the movies, TV, and (of course)
comics, that I love. The job doesn't need to be very demanding because,
believe me, I get plenty of intellectual stimulation outside of work. I also
like to work alone, with minimal supervision.
Generally, I'm a confident and optimistic person, even though in
some ways, I can be an obstinate curmudgeon, but after six month of hunting
for a job, I was beginning to get discouraged. I thought I'd have to take
just any job that came along, to tide me over. I was even getting a bit
depressed. If it wasn't for my art sales, I would have been flat broke and
really desperate, but I have some new friends (I think of them as friends,
anyway) whose ideas and requests have kept me going. I don't make a lot of
money off my art, I may just break even, some months, but I do enjoy the
work. Unfortunately, there's just not enough for me to live on, so some kind
of "day job" is necessary.
There I was, nearing the end of my unemployment benefits and I get a
call about a job. Not just any job, but one I had first applied for in July!
It's almost enough to make a guy start believing in luck, or fate, or
something.
So, now I've got a job, and a new place to live (part of the job is
living on site), I don't work late and I don't have people hovering around
me all the time. On slow days, I can even sit here in my little office and
do some drawing and writing!
It's been a rocky year, for me and a lot of other people. I hope
that 2003 will be a smoother ride for all of us. Right now, settling into
the new job and with a move just finished, I feel pretty good and I'm
thankful for my family and friends, who supported me during all the rough
times. And, for those people who are still waiting on artwork from me, I'll
be back at the drawing board in a couple of days and I am ready to get back
to work!
And, finally, I can't let a column go by without SOME art, can I????
Here's an assortment of artwork I've done on commission in the last
year.
A traditional pair sketch...Firestar and Justice from the Avengers.
One of my favorite pieces, because it's starring your favorite bald-headed artist!!!
Not a commission, but a request by the principle author of the
Conclave of Super-villains ongoing series on rec.arts.comics.creative, for
more about them: I recommend
everyone who enjoys super-hero comics to read these stories.
Part of a series of X-Men related commissions.
And, lastly, an "amalgam", a popular subject for sketches, in this
case, She-Hulk merged with Silver Sable.
Next month we'll be back to the usual topics. I just wanted to thank
everyone who's helped me this year and wish everyone a Happy New Year!!!
