Page 21

This page took about three hours to draw....so I can now average the time it'll take me to finish this whole thing. Ages!

Page 20

Pages 18 and 19

I once visited the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum in Orlando Florida and saw a life size roadster someone had built out of match sticks. I remember thinking, "Odd hobby." This graphic novel project makes me think somebody will say of it, "Odd." What propelled the maker of that matchstick car? Fame? Riches? Distraction from a boring life? Visions of glory?

What propels me? I'm making art out of profound philosophical questions. If on lookers say, "odd," so be it.

Page 17

This page marks the end of day two in the classroom. I've divided Ecclesiastes into discreet sections defined by paragraphs of text, each representing one day. I shudder to think there are 48 days to go. My motive for drawing this graphic novel is to deal honestly with despair and existential dread in the Hebrew scripture. My motive for blogging about this experience is to study the ebb and flow of enthusiasm for this project. I'm notorious for not finishing projects. Reflecting on the creative process will, I hope, give insight into ADD, boredom, faith, optimism, grief, subjectivity, and delusion. Investing hours and hours (years!) in a project that may never gain popularity is a huge gamble. Two things egg me on: the pleasurable distraction it affords while my wife's health deteriorates; the buzz I get when I think this project may be of interest to readers other than myself. Fantasy plays a crucial role in creativity as does the approach/avoidance syndrome when facing trauma. It's art therapy.

Page 16

This page (like all full pages) is comprised of two half pages. It took me 3 hours to finish. I whittled 15 minutes off of my time. Poor Karenoia's earring isn't colored in, there's a patch of white next to Tan Fran's head, and the shading looks like it was applied by vandals. Yet I press on.

Page 15

I boot up my computer at 8:20 and printed the page of text to pencil.

Pencil layout and characters: 25 min.
Inking pencil drawings with pen: 30 min.
Scan and touch up lines digitally: 65 min.
Inking, shading, applying gradients digitally: 75 min.

Grand total: 3.25 hours.

This statistic is troubling on several counts.

1. My facility with digital software can be improved only minimally. I've now got the basics down and have reached my speed limit.
2. Any increase in speed will surely result in decrease in quality. Note the white ear on guy with white beard in panel four. To correct that would've been too time consuming so I left it. Somehow, once I apply gradients I can't go back and touch up things. The picture gets locked. I haven't the energy to research how to correct it.
3. At the rate of three hours per page I'm looking (at least) at 750 hours ahead of me. Daunting? Yes. Can I sustain enthusiasm, energy, and focus for that many hours? Seems nigh impossible today (I'm fighting a headache and cold).

Furthermore, Dr. Q appears twice in every page (jabbering the text of Ecclesiastes). This means I'll be drawing him 500 times. Waves of self doubt wash over me at this point. I'm a big fan of mocking bad movies (MST3K comes to mind). But now I regret ever laughing at substandard movies because 16 months ago I embarked on a journey of creating my own substandard work of art. I can hear the hoard of jeering mockers crashing the gates even now.

Me thinks it's time for a break.

Page 14

I did it. I drew three pages (six half pages) in one day. Granted, it was a long day and the quality is nothing to brag about. But this gives some indication of how long it'll be before this graphic novel is finished. If I can do three pages tomorrow (Sunday) I predict I'll finish this draft (# 9) by Christmas. That doesn't necessarily mean the book will be done. I still need to tweak draft 9--coordinate colors, shading, backgrounds, props, and any other gaffs which draft 9 currently contains--and turn it into draft 10, the finished product. Let's hope all these talking heads don't bore readers to death. I find them interesting, but that guarantees nothing. Like the alien son told his dad, "They're better than a chemistry set!" Mix 'n match and watch the sparks fly.