Flying Time
The march of March
Whenever March ends, it feels like it’s going to be next year tomorrow.
There is this PANIC that sets in— Have I written and drawn the art needs to be made? Have I sent out all the emails to prospective clients? HOLY SH*T DID I FORGET TO PAY MY TAXES (to be fair, that last one is actually valid. Though being overseas means my deadline is in June).
I’ve been trying to simplify my life by focusing on “JUST FINISH” as my theme for this year but I didn’t apply that last month with this substack (goal of just one post with accompanying comics a month). Got too in my head with how much I wanted to expresss. But do or do not, there is no try, here is my mea culpa.
This other thing happened last week.
So when you remember my marriage anniversary just know that you need to file your taxes (jk). I banged it out in an hour (haha) when I decided that I still needed to make a “March post” even in April because “Just Finish”.
But a few things I’ve learned through dropping the ball:
However much you think you need to do, simplify. Then simplify again, and then again.
This means you need to get really scrappy. Scrappy is FUN.
Going really simple gives rise to playfulness which is a life source to any creative work. Yeah yeah, “done is better than perfect”, “don’t let perfect become the enemy of good” but I think the gap in abilities and taste does shorten some because you can actually take steps forward and then edit as you go along.
Taking all those tiny steps on your thousand mile journey if you will.
I started a daily visual diary last year and have been keeping up with it (inspired by Adam Ming). It’s like 10-20 minutes a day and the practice has been so helpful in training myself to simplify. It’s not only increased my drawing skills, but it’s helped me reveal a story & characters that actually feels WRITEABLE, and get closer to a style that speaks to it. Oh and it helped me unlock the secret that analog is waaaaay better for my art making process.
Who knew that not hitting ctrl + Z for every stroke you didn’t like would make art more enjoyable.
My talented, classically trained friend, Bronson Call, also had a similar project where he did a portrait everyday for 100 days. He’s in a totally different stratosphere with his amazing balance of realistic-yet-abstracted painterly style, and strong command of light & color.
I asked him how he manages to keep momentum up and he said something to the effect of “If a portrait doesn’t turn out how I wanted, I know I can do another one tomorrow”.
What a freeing mindset.
Bonus anniversary note: Drew this in 2020 during Inktober, where I was using the event to figure out the world I wanted to create for a story I was writing. The drawings went by so quickly because I gave myself free rein to futz around with it. Lots of plotpoints came to the surface too.
But I did end up shelving it because political intrigue was a bit much for me and all of it (then) seemed too technically difficult to visualize. BUT on a playful day I isekai-ed my husband and I in the story’s AU because that’s how I genuinely felt about our marriage. Grateful that this still holds up.
(and grateful that my skills are much better now, what in the AI is going on with that mile-long arm).
So inspiring to read your post, Chloe! I loved looking at the illustrations, and it made me think about the different ways people express their creativity.
For me personally, it's languages. You wrote about simplifying and not waiting for everything to be perfect. I tend to want everything to be perfect when learning a language: grammar, pronunciation, and sophisticated vocabulary. However, expressing yourself creatively is a great way to ground yourself; it shows you that by wanting everything to be perfect, you destroy your chances to improve. You have to be scrappy to move forward.