15 + 27 points
Stripping by Waldo Cheerio
January 15th, 2009 12:00 AM
Normally I try to task with a goal in mind. A driving notion of shplank that pushes me to do new things. This works well for me usually, but for months now I've had a lot of irons in the fire and still nothing holds an edge. So I decided to try something different.
I saw this task, and felt like it would be an interesting opportunity to just explore some of my thoughts on webcomics, and interval media in general. I ran a webcomic some years ago, with the friend of a very talented artist, and struggled with coding and comedy and deadlines until the entire thing collapsed in a heap of unrealized potential. We had talked about starting up again, as schedules permitted, but the ultimate frustration of our desires never really was something we were able to move past.
Since then I have read almost every webcomic I could find. Hundreds of authors. Tens of thousands of strips. Syndicated comics never really held my attention like those of loving amateurs. A subtle undercurrent of helplessness seems to slip into the style of dedicated artists who never turned a profit on their years of penmanship. I liked that. It speaks to me. A macabre and yet hopeful style. I saw this one comic:
Just seeing that little guy go back to the drawing board, and seeing how plainly this other artist felt the way that I did but that it was still worth pursuing, it made me want to try to share my thoughts through caricature again. For now I am just doing it with the work of others (beginning with that artist, Brian Patrick); something like therapy to ease myself back into the medium. We'll see how it goes.
As for Senator BU's comment, for now the only public I'm reaching out to with this are you all in SF0, where the darkness isn't quite so vast. I have some plans for more daring intervals, but it all depends whether I can keep up the drive for regularity. That is the real key after all. "Is it worth doing again?"
For now, just expect a comic used to explain a task every 12 hours. Precisely. Check the archives:
How to be Helpful, like Gobo.
First, look at the big picture.
Try to understand what you see.
Then suddenly leap into action.
I saw this task, and felt like it would be an interesting opportunity to just explore some of my thoughts on webcomics, and interval media in general. I ran a webcomic some years ago, with the friend of a very talented artist, and struggled with coding and comedy and deadlines until the entire thing collapsed in a heap of unrealized potential. We had talked about starting up again, as schedules permitted, but the ultimate frustration of our desires never really was something we were able to move past.
Since then I have read almost every webcomic I could find. Hundreds of authors. Tens of thousands of strips. Syndicated comics never really held my attention like those of loving amateurs. A subtle undercurrent of helplessness seems to slip into the style of dedicated artists who never turned a profit on their years of penmanship. I liked that. It speaks to me. A macabre and yet hopeful style. I saw this one comic:
Just seeing that little guy go back to the drawing board, and seeing how plainly this other artist felt the way that I did but that it was still worth pursuing, it made me want to try to share my thoughts through caricature again. For now I am just doing it with the work of others (beginning with that artist, Brian Patrick); something like therapy to ease myself back into the medium. We'll see how it goes.
As for Senator BU's comment, for now the only public I'm reaching out to with this are you all in SF0, where the darkness isn't quite so vast. I have some plans for more daring intervals, but it all depends whether I can keep up the drive for regularity. That is the real key after all. "Is it worth doing again?"
For now, just expect a comic used to explain a task every 12 hours. Precisely. Check the archives:
How to be Helpful, like Gobo.
First, look at the big picture.
Try to understand what you see.
Then suddenly leap into action.
Start to change the status quo by making the unconventional a part of your everyday life.
Explain your position to others.
Adapt your platform to incorporate the needs of your constituency (JJason Guest Strip!).
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posted by Waldo Cheerio on January 15th, 2009 5:06 PM
For the sake of those not privy to our exchange, I will say that the regularity of intervals will be continued for a good long while, and that several different "interval" measurements will figure into the completion. While the old Toynbee completions met with varying success, I have always been attracted to this use of SF0 timestamps and update notifications.
I ran a webcomic a few years ago, and I am just in love with the appeal of putting thoughts out there, day after day, without the fanfare of a big gallery debut. To distinguish myself from the mere Toynbee uncertainty, I'll add to the writeup a little more of my inspiration, if not the explanation.
So by public, you've decided here (or, yes I realize here) is your public place? Fair enough. Are there more coming? Have you thought about going more widely public than the town square of SFZero?