Journal

July 15, 2020

I think it was after Chapter 2 when I was contacted by someone (who is awesome) offering to act as editor on THE SOLAR GRID, an offer I had to decline only because I knew my process would bring nothing but terrible agony to this poor person. I have nothing in the way of a script (loose plot at best), my thumbs are practically unreadable by anyone other than myself, I work on my pages until literally minutes before upload... Agony, I tell you, agony!

And that was around Chapter 2, which still resembled what you'd expect out of most comix (well, to a degree). But now (Chapter 5) I'm coming up with things that look like this:

None of the text featured in the above preview includes any of the actual captions or dialogue that will finally make it into the page by the way. It's just a bunch of text I came up with in the process of creating the art. The inevitable dialogue and captions? They come later, and I have none of it scripted anywhere. It's all in my head. It only comes out during the lettering phase. I have no idea how an editor might even begin to navigate a project like this. I sure as hell know nothing like this can ever come out of the corporate assembly-line system of making comix.

Also in regards to the above pictured panel, I'm looking forward to what kind of space western vibes N Slash A will come up with for the Soundscape. Every now and again, I'll give tracks 1 and 2 a listen for just the right push to carry on with this project. I can't get over how deliciously textured those tracks have turned out.

In other news, today I bid farewell to this piece from February:

It shall be missed.

Inbox at 31. Neck could use a replacement. Awaiting newborn's arrival any day now. Local newspaper's obituary section was 43 pages yesterday.

#Journal #Work #Comix #TheSolarGrid

July 13, 2020

Of course I was bound to include an art gallery scene sooner or later.

Inbox at 23. Current background listening: The Disruptors Podcast with Andrew Maynard.

#TheSolarGrid #Comix #Work #Journal

July 13, 2020

Still coloring away, days are looking largely identical. It's just a matter of chipping away at the thing until it's finished. Coffee and ill-advised snacks provide my daily fuel. Back in March, I was pretty good about sticking to a Keto diet and exercising everyday, but I fell off the wagon halfway through quarantine. Will try to get back into it.

It's hard to remember to step away from your desk and stretch when you're feeling exceptionally anxious about being so behind schedule with still so many pages to get done.

In other news, a short interview went up on Rice University's Youtube channel about my Moody installation.

And on July 22, SpaceEU is bringing me in conversation with cosmonaut Muhammed Ahmed Fares and astrophysicist Ghina Halabi, all virtual of course. Deets forthcoming.

#journal

July 6, 2020

Tell me this hasn't been “The Mood” for the past four some months at least?

I gotta admit, feeling pretty good about how these pages are turning out, not so good about my pace though. But I did manage to put the newsletter out last night, and a new review went up on ganzeer.reviews, so that's nice.

Inbox at 25. Will blow through those as quick as I can over coffee before breakfast, shower and some tidying up before a video interview thing. Unlikely that I'll get around to working on my pages before 3pm.

Onward.

#Journal #Comix #TheSolarGrid

July 4, 2020

Sheltering in place for four months means upping my food presentation skills.

Happy Saturday.

#Journal

July 3, 2020

This may just be a “cartoonist”-specific thing, but I could never truly relate to the whole “Thank God It's Fucking Friday” thing. It usually just means that the week is already over before I could finish all the things I wanted to finish.

Inking a page's worth of material today before including it into a a page I'm finishing colors on. Inbox at 15. Still haven't decided about tomorrow's newsletter. I hate skipping weeks, but I also disdain the notion of filler issues.

#Journal

July 2, 2020

Insomnia hit yesterday instead of the weekend, so I found myself up till 3:30 AM. Not working exactly. Given that I typically start my day at around 7:00-8:00AM, I can seldom function past the 2:00AM threshold, but my mind is still abuzz and much thinking tends to occur.

Woke today at 7:00AM and have been a zombie since, despite the 4 cups of coffee I've downed. Still getting some penciling done, but it is a slow drifting affair. Not full pages or anything, just bits and pieces of additional material that need to make their way into the chapter. It may only be a mere 20 pages, but it's a dense bastard, with some pages including 3-pages worth of material in them.

I suppose that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, unless you see the sneak peek I posted a couple days ago.

#Journal #Work #Comix #TheSolarGrid

July 1, 2020

Good morning. Off to pencil and ink 3-5 pages worth of additional material for a chapter I thought I'd have finished by yesterday already.

Energizing music and podcast recommendations very much welcome.

#journal #work #comix #TheSolarGrid

July 1, 2020

I think it's fair to objectively state that THE SOLAR GRID is experimental comix. Not because it's what I set out to do as much as formal experimentation is one of the things I just really get a kick out of. But even still, I'm also accustomed to doing just the right thing for the task at hand (or so I think), so all the storytelling choices I make—however unconventional they may seem—are devised specifically in service of the story, and not just because they'll “look cool”. It just so happens that the story I came up demands a lot of creative solutions. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Although the limits of pictorial storytelling are amply pushed throughout chapters 1 to 4, I think chapter 5 (teased above) is shaping up to be my most experimental comix to date.

I think I mentioned how little I enjoy the process of digital-coloring, but today has been a joy. Likely aided by my glass of La Fin Du Monde and the beats of LCD Soundsystem (Losing My Edge is very much speaking to my soul these days.)

#Journal #Work #Comix #TheSolarGrid