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Epiphany of Sequential Art
Yesterday I had a bit of an epiphany. I had to ask myself why was I writing a eZine and weblog and not drawing a web comic?
I attended a very expensive art school ( I am still paying student loans on it ) and have a degree in illustration and design. I work as a technical illustrator creating multimedia instructional courses. I grew up dreaming of making graphics and animation for video games and I think I have the artistic and creative capabilities to produce one hell of a web comic. I love Scott McCloud's books and I know how to run an online media site.
So I have to ask myself why the hell am I spending hours writing articles for a web magazine instead of drawing a web comic?
I thought about it, and what I am currently doing is making me I feel like I am treading water artistically. I love my job and I love creating my own website but I don't feel like I am progressing my skills as a visual artist. I don't really see myself writing for a living but I do want to continue working as a visual artist and designer. It really bugs me that I can't remember when I sat down and drew for the hell of it.
So here is what I have decided to do. I am going to spend the month of June to drawing like hell and creating a web comic. I am thinking about publishing three strips a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday much like Penny-Arcade. I am going to keep up Mental Ground Zero as a personal blog and I will still occasionally review a game or movie but I want the bulk of the creative content that I make to be a web comic. I am going to call the comic 8-Bit Joystick and it will still be targeted at the same audience that is currently reading this site.
I am still up in the air on what artistic style and tools that I am planning on. I want to have a visual style that is not a blatant ripping of any other web comic artist. So I am tempted to have a more classic American comic book look than a newspaper comic strip. I mean there are more comic-book looking comics strips in history but I would rather have my comic look like Mike Allred's Madman than Cathy or Garfield. I know that the first twenty comics or so will suck but once I get past that, the better it will be for all of us.
My initial idea is to have fictional characters that are based on me and my life but then again it might be cool to have a mostly fictional character group. There are plenty of sites on my portal page that I have been inspired from but I respect their work. I don't want to make Penny-Arcade or Real-Life, and PVP rip off No. 127. Yes Kymberly will be in with her cats but I don't want to make it Garfield either.
I want to design and sell t-shirts and I might run Google text and banner ads. But that might off set the new bandwidth cost should it takeoff.
I am pretty far from fleshing out my ideas and I have a sketch book that I need to fill with ideas and practice. I would like to have a weeks worth of comics in reserve just in case. I plan on officially launching the comic on the 4th of July.
So to sum things up I am going to shift gears and develop a web comic. So how do you like them apples?
Jake at May 28, 2004 
Stuff
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Comments
Wow! This is really exciting! I'm looking forward to it... :)
Posted by: JQN at May 28, 2004 2:06 PM
This is great. I can't wait to see what you do.
Good Luck!
Posted by: Scott at May 28, 2004 2:29 PM
Cool beans.
I want a cameo every once in a while. :p
Posted by: Matt at May 28, 2004 4:31 PM
I cannot wait! My favorite site is getting a web-comic! Now I know THIS is my favorite site! JAKE YOU ROCK!
Posted by: Mike at May 28, 2004 7:08 PM
More power to ya, Jake! Can't wait to see the grand premier... =)
Posted by: Anticrash at May 28, 2004 10:02 PM
Them apples sound good! I love webcomics. Speaking of which, check this guy out http://www.boltcity.com. You may have seen his work before, maybe not... either way, this guy is my favorite.
Posted by: dE at May 29, 2004 2:21 AM
What would kiwi look like in comic form?
Posted by: pete at May 29, 2004 11:16 AM
Probably like a hobbit in a little three wheeled moped.
Posted by: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com at May 29, 2004 11:54 AM
You know, its great when you can pause, cut all the crap and evaluate where you currently stand with respect to you own goals and aspirations as well as what others expect of you. I am really glad you were able to do that Jake, and I cant wait to read that comic. Rock on!
Posted by: Alex at May 29, 2004 7:58 PM
"Bless me little hobbit feet"
ph33r the moped.
Posted by: Matt at May 30, 2004 12:41 AM
