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Soooo! One full year of "Jolson & Jones". Now... what?
10 years ago
General
It's after midnight here... but since my mind feels criminally untired (Makes sense after all! Got a looong shift ahead tomorrow, and there's nothing just as wonderful as going to work after very little sleep), I can just as well spend my time writing a journal entry. :P That 4 week old streaming notice on my profile was beginning to annoy me anyway.
Well, anyway! While looking through my gallery earlier the day I noticed that it's now a full year since I started drawing my comic "Jolson & Jones", or at least the Mark II version of it. Of course, you wouldn't know it from the number of pages. The plan was to have a page for each week... and obviously I failed to deliver. So in rough numbers I'm actually 2 months behind, and the page I finished today should have been uploaded in mid-April. ;) I'm not really sure what the reason for this is and why exactly I slowed down so much, but it sure is quite frustrating. Especially when I look at these pages and think "But there's nothing particularly complicated about them? What took you so long?!".
I have to say though that I'm beginning to feel that I'm putting more into the comic than I get out of it. It does feel good to finally create all these pages that sat inside my brain for far too many years now, and there's a certain satisfaction to see them actually finished. The trouble is though... I hardly get to do anything else. Ideas for other things are piling up like nobody's business, half sketched out pages for other comics do too - and that's actually even more frustrating than churning out pages of my "main work" at an increasingly slow rate. And then there's the feedback, which is rather tepid to say the least. ^^ Of course, I'm not doing the comic to collect faves and comments! But when you do a long-term project that doesn't really stir much interest in anyone, you inevitably begin to question things a little - no matter if you want to let your mind wander into that direction or not. :D But then again I also know that this comic probably just isn't the kind of thing that warrants a comment or even two per page. It isn't very digestable or even accessible. ;) The pages aren't standalone gags with a punchline at the end, they are all narratives that flow into each other (sometimes more, sometimes less successful). And that isn't exactly the type of thing that invites a comment. X)
BUT WELL! I'm not a quitter and I'm not giving up on it for a while yet. I've got a lot of ideas for the comic and there are still two storylines I really want to do after the current one is finished. There's a storyline involving the Illuminati up ahead, and then another one in which they make acquantance with a wolf suiter. ;3 And after that... I'm not all that sure if I want to continue. At least for the time being. Because, really, I do have the craving in my fingers to do something completely else for a change. So... well... I have to see what happens when I hit page 60something and whether I put the comic into hiatus or not. At least by then I will have introduced all the main cast and all the themes. And by then it'll be more clear what kind of comic "Jolson & Jones" actually is. At least more than it was by, say, page 14, 25 or something. ;)
So... well... Yeah.
Anyone want some tea?
At least I'm finally tired enough to effortlessly hit the hay. Good night! :D
Well, anyway! While looking through my gallery earlier the day I noticed that it's now a full year since I started drawing my comic "Jolson & Jones", or at least the Mark II version of it. Of course, you wouldn't know it from the number of pages. The plan was to have a page for each week... and obviously I failed to deliver. So in rough numbers I'm actually 2 months behind, and the page I finished today should have been uploaded in mid-April. ;) I'm not really sure what the reason for this is and why exactly I slowed down so much, but it sure is quite frustrating. Especially when I look at these pages and think "But there's nothing particularly complicated about them? What took you so long?!".
I have to say though that I'm beginning to feel that I'm putting more into the comic than I get out of it. It does feel good to finally create all these pages that sat inside my brain for far too many years now, and there's a certain satisfaction to see them actually finished. The trouble is though... I hardly get to do anything else. Ideas for other things are piling up like nobody's business, half sketched out pages for other comics do too - and that's actually even more frustrating than churning out pages of my "main work" at an increasingly slow rate. And then there's the feedback, which is rather tepid to say the least. ^^ Of course, I'm not doing the comic to collect faves and comments! But when you do a long-term project that doesn't really stir much interest in anyone, you inevitably begin to question things a little - no matter if you want to let your mind wander into that direction or not. :D But then again I also know that this comic probably just isn't the kind of thing that warrants a comment or even two per page. It isn't very digestable or even accessible. ;) The pages aren't standalone gags with a punchline at the end, they are all narratives that flow into each other (sometimes more, sometimes less successful). And that isn't exactly the type of thing that invites a comment. X)
BUT WELL! I'm not a quitter and I'm not giving up on it for a while yet. I've got a lot of ideas for the comic and there are still two storylines I really want to do after the current one is finished. There's a storyline involving the Illuminati up ahead, and then another one in which they make acquantance with a wolf suiter. ;3 And after that... I'm not all that sure if I want to continue. At least for the time being. Because, really, I do have the craving in my fingers to do something completely else for a change. So... well... I have to see what happens when I hit page 60something and whether I put the comic into hiatus or not. At least by then I will have introduced all the main cast and all the themes. And by then it'll be more clear what kind of comic "Jolson & Jones" actually is. At least more than it was by, say, page 14, 25 or something. ;)
So... well... Yeah.
Anyone want some tea?
At least I'm finally tired enough to effortlessly hit the hay. Good night! :D
That aside, good work! Looking forward to seeing more!
And thanks! :) Either way you won't be having trouble seeing more from me. The question just is what exactly you would be seeing more of. *g*
From what I can gather it seems to be a bit of metaphysical absurdist humor, so far.
All of your comics are full page comics with lots of individual panels. One of your pages amounts to two or three syndicated comic strip. I suppose this is more of a graphic novel/comic book setup than a simple strip comic, so it takes longer to draw.
I really feel you on the silent audience, though. You have probably noticed my constant bemoaning of a lack of audience/comments/feedback for my work, so I really feel with you there.
A whole year of progress/work is really admirable, though. And if you finish it off, that's one less regret to haunt you. ^_^
I am terrible at pep talks. I think you're great.
And you're right with what you're writing between the lines. This is a comic you have to get INTO, more or less. I have no idea what others think who seem to click their way into it when they see the thumbnail on their update pages, but you always see the comic being in the middle of something which makes you instantly think "Oh, some other time maybe. When I find the time for it!". I know this from myself when I see someone else's comic that has been running for a while. It's quite intimidating. :D However, occasionally I see the the number of individual page views going up for one day or two on the comic's site, with a sharp peak. Which means that someone must have read the whole thing - and apparently liked it, or else he or she or it or flip would have stopped after a few pages. Which is something positive, I believe. :)
And no worries, I wasn't out to collect pep talks anyway! :D (Even though yours is highly appreciated! :) ) This comic is a thing I have to see through the end no matter what... and I had to vent and muse a little on that to get some thoughts out of my system.
You sit there doing work wondering if it's really reaching anyone.
blah blah blah.
Vent all you want/need, you're a dragon - if you don't vent, you'll explode.