My two major sources of employment are:
In fact, I almost didn't bother with a web comic this week because I'm booked teaching three classes of about sixty kids a day every day this working week.
I've also just come off of a weekend doing live portraits both afternoons at another couple of libraries, so really, the last thing I felt like doing when I collapsed onto the couch in my trackies this afternoon was MORE DRAWING.
The reason I'm posting this token effort tonight is that I'd feel like a hypocrite if I didn't practice what I've been preaching all day about putting in the effort if you want to get anywhere with a project.
I've been quietly proud of my comic-posting-consistency, not because it really matters to anyone else, or because I'm making any kind of income from it (I'm definitely not), but just because it makes me happy.
So I made myself create another silly little comic, and it's a silly little comic that wouldn't exist if I hadn't made the choice to draw it today. I know it probably looks a bit rough around the edges, but it can't be any worse than my head at this point... I have bags under my bags that I've been concealing with a hefty layer of makeup in the morning, but by Friday I suspect I may be beyond help and will be walking around with a face like one of those Salvador Dali clocks... *oozes surreally*
Anyway, I figured this was a good topic for a comic; the strange sensation of hitting top speed after many months of idling away in the metaphorical garage. The thing about working from home on one-person projects all of the time is that you tend to lose some of your people skills. Heading out to the shops can get mighty embarrassing when you start speaking to the cashier in your smoochy "cat-mama-baby-talk" - accepted native language in our home full of fur-kids.
And preparing for a week like the one I'm currently working can be extremely terrifying. I barely slept or ate the week before, and I was prepping with an intensity more suited for imminent zombie apocalypse than teaching a bunch of well behaved school children to use speech bubbles and speed lines.
It's just a bit tricky switching from hermit to performer mode without missing a beat. And maybe I did skip a few, but I'm finding my rhythm now. I'm hitting my stride and remembering - like I always do, how much I love teaching kids new things.
I get such a buzz from showing students my little tips and tricks, and hearing them talk to each other excitedly when they master a technique they've never tried before. I love looking around at their work and seeing their creativity, and how much they want to share it.
Most of all, it makes my heart do an Ironman-Nutri-Grain-commercial-scream-of-victory when kids come up to me after the class without any teacher prompting just to tell me how much they really liked it, and that they're going to keep working on their projects afterwards! I tell you, it's a balm to my very soul!
You see, there's a reason I keep accepting - nay, seeking, these jobs, even though I know the lead-up stress will just about end me every time. And it's not just to pay for more cat food, I promise. Here's hoping for many more happy young artists to grace my sessions for the rest of this week, and beyond. Sensei Tsunami will be ready and waiting.