In the tradition of moving more than once a year, I've moved:
My URL:
http://www.myspace.com/happy_lucky_suki
My Blog URL:
http://blog.myspace.com/happy_lucky_suki
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Growing Up Crazy.
Remember when you were a child or teenager, and you thought that all adults were out of their minds? I mean, there's the smoochie aunt or the drunk uncle or the mallrat mom and the golf-mad dad. The science fiction fan cousin who walked around with a propellor beanie? How about that wacky vegan who has to bring her own food everywhere, and make everyone feel bad about eating turkey on Thanksgiving?
Did you think they were all nuts? They were.
I am pretty sure now, that when one grows up, part of it is becoming completely crazy. I have refused to do it so far--I'm 34 now--but I don't think I'll be able to hold off for much longer. For a little while I thought I was going to be able to choose what kind of crazy I was--shall I be a voracious and compulsive shopper like my mom or a workaholic like my dad? Shall I be one of those crazy creative types--who is completely unstable and disagreeable, except for the fact that they write or paint sometimes.
The other day I was reading a great book called The Midnight Disease, which is about hypergraphia, and what it means to writer's block. (I've had writer's block for quite some time. I was never very prolific in the first place--not with what I consider "real writing" anyway. Real writing is novels, screenplays, short stories, articles, etc., anything that one would show an editor, anything one could sell.) Hypergraphia is a "mental illness" where one compulsively writes. Dostoevsky had it, and so did a number of other famous and prolific writers from around the world. And poets. It can be caused by epilepsy in the temporal lobe, or by manic-depression. The book was written by a woman who was in a mental institution, and surrounded by writers. She decided that one needs to be a little crazy to write. Duh.
I really don't think I have any choice in the kind of crazy I shall be. I shall be one of those cranky artists, I believe. The stereotypes are true--oversexed and drunk and lazy and agitated. Yeah, it sounds interesting and all, but it's not that fun. I really don't want my nuttiness to hurt other people, like mom's and dad's hurt me. But I don't think I really have much choice in the matter.
What kind of crazy will you be when you grow up? Comments welcome.
Did you think they were all nuts? They were.
I am pretty sure now, that when one grows up, part of it is becoming completely crazy. I have refused to do it so far--I'm 34 now--but I don't think I'll be able to hold off for much longer. For a little while I thought I was going to be able to choose what kind of crazy I was--shall I be a voracious and compulsive shopper like my mom or a workaholic like my dad? Shall I be one of those crazy creative types--who is completely unstable and disagreeable, except for the fact that they write or paint sometimes.
The other day I was reading a great book called The Midnight Disease, which is about hypergraphia, and what it means to writer's block. (I've had writer's block for quite some time. I was never very prolific in the first place--not with what I consider "real writing" anyway. Real writing is novels, screenplays, short stories, articles, etc., anything that one would show an editor, anything one could sell.) Hypergraphia is a "mental illness" where one compulsively writes. Dostoevsky had it, and so did a number of other famous and prolific writers from around the world. And poets. It can be caused by epilepsy in the temporal lobe, or by manic-depression. The book was written by a woman who was in a mental institution, and surrounded by writers. She decided that one needs to be a little crazy to write. Duh.
I really don't think I have any choice in the kind of crazy I shall be. I shall be one of those cranky artists, I believe. The stereotypes are true--oversexed and drunk and lazy and agitated. Yeah, it sounds interesting and all, but it's not that fun. I really don't want my nuttiness to hurt other people, like mom's and dad's hurt me. But I don't think I really have much choice in the matter.
What kind of crazy will you be when you grow up? Comments welcome.
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Reproducibility
My dad, an engineer, always got on my case about reproducibility and consistency in my art and writing when I was a kid. He would basically tell me that if I couldn't make work of the same quality and style over and over again that I was not a real artist and writer, my stuff would never be salable--I would never be paid for my work.
That is probably not a fair standard for a child or teen, who is exploring different media, learning how it all works, and making mistakes.
Having been in editorial, I have to say it is true in the adult world of writing and illustration. You basically have to be able to churn out the same good stuff in the same style over and over again--give them what they bought or thought they bought when they saw your samples.
I remember one day at Marvel we got in some pages from an artist, and the editor flipped out. He was pink with rage--which was very difficult as he was a dark Italian man--and on the phone immediately. "I paid you to draw like you!" he yelled, "and not practice being Steve Ditko ON MY TIME!" I looked at the art--it did look like Ditko had done it, and not like the rest of the book.
The same is true for editorial, of course. Readers come back to see the same thing all the time, and at the same intervals. I probably lost many readers when I was unable to write a daily blog anymore. And I probably lost even more when I switched from consistently writing about sex and love to other things. But what can I do? My work has always been a reflection of my feelings and my exploration of the world. I wonder how Charles Burns or Matt Groenig thinks about his work that makes him able to consistently churn out the same stuff?
That is probably not a fair standard for a child or teen, who is exploring different media, learning how it all works, and making mistakes.
Having been in editorial, I have to say it is true in the adult world of writing and illustration. You basically have to be able to churn out the same good stuff in the same style over and over again--give them what they bought or thought they bought when they saw your samples.
I remember one day at Marvel we got in some pages from an artist, and the editor flipped out. He was pink with rage--which was very difficult as he was a dark Italian man--and on the phone immediately. "I paid you to draw like you!" he yelled, "and not practice being Steve Ditko ON MY TIME!" I looked at the art--it did look like Ditko had done it, and not like the rest of the book.
The same is true for editorial, of course. Readers come back to see the same thing all the time, and at the same intervals. I probably lost many readers when I was unable to write a daily blog anymore. And I probably lost even more when I switched from consistently writing about sex and love to other things. But what can I do? My work has always been a reflection of my feelings and my exploration of the world. I wonder how Charles Burns or Matt Groenig thinks about his work that makes him able to consistently churn out the same stuff?
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