Steel Noodles Number 2

.. time is ticking. Three weeks left before I finish. It’s going to be crazy but fun….

Here’s a chapter page from STEEL NOODLES Number 2. Plugging away….

..nowhere to run in Visaia.  Just finished a couple of pages on STEEL NOODLES Number 2.  I’ve got two more sequences to do then It’s on to the inside covers, then the front cover.  After that it’s doing fixes, checking color and finishing off pre-press.  Still lots to do….

… lots to do still.  The book will now come out at COMIC-CON 2012.  Stay tuned.

Another finished panel on STEEL NOODLES Number 2.  Lots of running in the wasteland these days.. Must be lots of chasing I guess.  Including me with the deadlines.  They are looming large in the horizon….

What’s both fun and frustrating about making comics is sometimes it feels like you’re soaring in the air or wrestling a 300 pound alligator.  There is wisdom in both.  It’s a process of finding and losing and you hope you find more than you lose.

Progress on STEEL NOODLES Number 2 from last night.  It was a good night of drawing…..  The book is getting sketchier and hence, NICER.

Working on STEEL NOODLES has been the best learning experience I’ve ever known.  As much as I ponder about how long it’s taking, I am also glad that it is.  This is the very reason I self-publish;  Freedom.   So when it starts to feel like work, I stop for a while.  It’s not supposed to be a burden.  The key is to HAVE FUN with it.

Since 2007 I’ve experienced many ebbs and flows creatively when it comes to this project.  What I’ve learned is how to produce conducive systems where I stay in a creative zone for extended periods of time.  Let’s be honest, you can only concentrate that hard for so long.  (plus in my case, I have a day job which I love equally as much) In almost five years of working on Noodles I’ve boiled down the formula for staying engaged and faithful:

1.  Have fun. It’s not work

2. Make art, not comics

3. Stick to your guns

4. Buy more cigars

5. Have fun. It’s not work

There’s kind of a loose number 6 which could be:  Video Games is both your friend and enemy.

A panel from the work in progress STEEL NOODLES Number 2…  Lots more to do but it’s feeling pretty darn good. Who could be stirring up trouble in the Visaian wasteland?…