Something I've started over on the Oztaku forums. After the high from the comikraze 24 hour comic challenge last weekend, I've been listening to comiking podcasts like SEQALAB and going over old podcasts from Webcomics Weekly. One particular SEQALAB podcast brought up the professional production schedule differences between French and American comics. French work on poster size works, and usually paint one page a week. American comikers do a rate of one page a day. The French comiker does this for about 46 weeks which is then put into a BD, then knocks off for a month of holiday and starts all over again for the next year (publishers have the right idea for creatives there).
This got me thinking, that working on a page a week is really doable. It's easy. No matter what is going on in your life. I am working more frequently on pages for the List, than that schedule.
Then it reminded me of something from a Webcomics podcast brought up. If you think of doing a 40 page book, your natural reaction is that it is impossible before you start. Sure. If you think about doing a page a week, suddenly that's not impossible. The point is, if you keep doing one page a week of comic, before you know it you have a GN.
That's the idea behind A Comic a Week. While the Australian comic scene is very creative, and there are some real good comics being produced, there's a whole lot of wasted potential. Good artists that could otherwise do a comic (look at the 24 hour comic challenge), just don't even start. Something I've learnt while doing GNs is that if you just concentrate on just the next page, you suddenly have a lot of pages under your belt. After a while I was counting by the GNs I've produced and not pages.
From now on, every Monday, I will post a new page of comic. I also have multiple projects, so I'll also alternate between them depending on immediate priority. This will most likely be concurrent to work on the List as well as commission work, but I think I can always find the time to do one page a week.
It's this focus I want to introduce people to. It's not a natural thing to adapt to, but I assure you, once you start, it will never feel like grinding. It feels like grinding when you look at the end, but if you look at just the next page, it feels like a stroll. Suddenly your at the end.
Henry
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