Within a day of receiving a most enviable introduction for THE SOLAR GRID, a potential agent—who's had the manuscript sitting on her desktop for several months now—finally wrote back to tell me she wasn't sure she could agent it because the book isn't mainstream enough. She is of course absolutely right, and I as a matter of fact take her assessment as a compliment. My “idols” have, after all, never been mainstream. Although many have managed to become largely mainstream despite their material being anything but. There's Crumb, Alan Moore, Philip K. Dick, Hunter S. Thompson, and Burroughs to name but a few. Even Vonnegut started out as a fringe writer.
This puts me in the less-than-ideal position of having to agent the work myself, as I'd like the book to exist out in the wild for readers to discover beyond my limited reach.
I was chatting with members of a grant-giving body a few days ago about another potential book project. One of them said, “So you're writing, drawing, and designing it?” To which I nodded. “Wow, one-man show,” she said.
Not gonna lie, I'm a little tired of this whole one-man show business. The thought of working on the material while other better-positioned folks take care of getting it out there strikes me as very appealing, but it does seem to be insistently elusive for one reason or another.
Today I order chicken and make some soup in an attempt to rid my body of whatever new plague has infected me.
Today's soundtrack is a combination of cafe chatter (played via my phone) and Persian jazz (played via my laptop).
#journal #work #tsg
6 pages to color and 33 to letter.
Lettering moves pretty quickly, but digital coloring is slow and loathsome. So many hours sat in front of a computer screen which makes me feel like a zombie at the end of each day. Can't wait to be done with this part already.
Started reading Kazuo Ishiguro's NEVER LET ME GO sometime ago, which started interestingly enough but I largely lost interest by the last third of the book and now find myself winding most evening's down with a film instead. This however is also likely due to the above-mentioned zombie status induced by long hours at the computer desk.
Today's screening: LOST HIGHWAY
#journal #work #comix #TSG
Inking is done.
Tones, touch-ups, and colors where they apply remain before moving onto lettering.
Lords help me.
#TSG #work #comix
9 pages worth of inks to go.
#TSG #Comix #Work
Come next week, I shall be entering full hermit mode for a good month in an effort to finally bring THE SOLAR GRID to a close; only inks, letters, and some colors remain on the final chapter. Without a kitchen though, proper hermit mode can be difficult to pull off; it kind of necessitates a great deal of meal prep. I've got my microwave, kettle, minifridge, and grill outside, so I think I can make it work.
#journal #work #tsg
Bout of insomnia gave me enough of a window to pencil through the remaining pages of the final chapter of THE SOLAR GRID the other night. Despite having thumbnailed the entire thing prior, when it came to work on the actual artboards it became evident that a couple extra pages were necessary to allow a particular sequence to breathe. That happens sometimes. Especially vital when closing a story. You don't want things to feel too rushed. Or drag on forever either, it's gotta be just right.
#work #TSG
First day in Cairo without human contact since arriving (around 50ish days now). Also first day without contending with house fixups. Just me, my music, and drawing table.
Penciled in half a page of TSG so far today and figured out that I have around 30ish [uninterrupted] days' worth of work to bring TSG to a close once and for all. The “uninterrupted” bit is the tricky part, for days like today are evidently extremely hard to come by, at least until all work on the house is complete.
#journal #work #tsg
The epic that is THE SOLAR GRID—the project I've been working on for the better part of the past 9 years—is now 91% complete.
Entering into hyperfocus mode to push through the remaining 9%.
I'm hardly ever on social media, but this reel about Chinese filmmaker Gao Xiaosong's time in an Israeli Kibbutz is too funny.
#work #comix #tsg #radar
THE SOLAR GRID #1 is completely sold out. Issues #2-8 are still in stock. I'm sure the time will come when I look upon these single-chapter editions as the strange time capsules that they are.
Started THE PLAGUE by Albert Camus. This being my third Camus, it's now very evident that Camus' writing appeals to me. Adequately sparse, just the right words in exactly the right places in a way that evokes more than what is being said. Something I don't find entirely true of most contemporary authors who lean towards the extra telegrammatic. The buildup of eerie over the first 30 pages in THE PLAGUE is really perfectly paced.
#journal #comix #tsg #reads
