2025 is a Magic Spell
I'm ready to take on a new year!
Hey there, cool kid.
I'm back from taking the holidays off. We had a lovely, relaxing Christmas, but unfortunately I got sick the next day and needed to spend the next few days sleeping it off. Thankfully, I was only under for a couple days rather than a full week like the last time I was ill…
I also started a new job this first full week of the year. I’m trying to go into it as open and receptive as possible with no expectations, so that I can get started on a positive note and be more chill about things. I’d had to get all up in my hackles and get all stressed out again. That’s what made the last job so stressful at times. It’s putting my ol’ UX magic to work but in-house instead of in an agency setting. And it’s contract work, which comes with it’s own pluses and minuses. But for now, I’m just feeling grateful that something finally came along in this difficult market.
The Turn of the Calendar can be Magic
While cruising Substack around the new year, there were a few posts I saw about how the changing of the year is not a magic reset button and changes nothing. I disagree with this sentiment. Maybe it's the spiteful optimist within me, but I feel like the New Year, lackluster holiday that it is, can be a much needed magic spell to help us all feel like we have a new chance to make changes. Though I do agree with the cheat hack that you should start you new years goals before the actual new year, so that by Jan 1st you've already started developing a new habit instead of the pressure of starting from square one.
With the 2024 that I've had (after an also kind of rough 2023), I am more than happy to give New Year’s a bit of magic sparkle. Because I could use a bit of magic, a bit of a reset button, so that I can feel up for the new fight. Standing at the start of a brand new shiny year, it feels a little bit empowering. I can make this year whatever I want it to be.
I think in a world with lots of reasons to be feeling beat down, we need to give ourselves more ways to build ourselves up.
Full Speed Ahead on Black Ball!
Something I’m trying new this year is instead of one big theme for the year or trying to plan out everything, I’m instead going to work on a project by project basis. The year is so long and, as I learned all too well last year, anything can happen at any time. So instead of trying to plan everything and then being disappointed when it doesn’t happen, I’m just going to say “this is the next project I’m working on.” And it takes as long as it takes.
And my next project I’m going to focus on is Black Ball Issue 5! Really, I would like to finish Black Ball in 2025 so that I don’t have two long ongoing series stressing me out, but also I’ve been really excited about the potential of the story again, and am looking forward to bringing it to its conclusion.
I already have a nice pile of 28 pages storyboarded, and started digitally roughing, penciling, and lettering in CSP. That’s another new thing I’m trying — lettering first so that I can nicely fit in all the dialog and make sure the art isn’t cramped. The next goal is to get a good printer so that I can print my digitally inked art to color by hand. I did this with “Much Ado About Chester”, the five page short at the end of Black Ball Issue 4 and it worked out really well, especially since I used some of the 3D model tools in CSP to help with some of the more difficult posing. It’s really helpful to be able to use these tools to improve the quality of my work.
SmArt School will be wrapping up for me next week as well, so I’ll have that off my plate to run full speed ahead with comics! I’m really looking forward to it.
Check out this Kickstarter!
Revenge is a dish best served twice by Russell Nohelty
It’s two books in one awesome Kickstarter from the amazing Russell Nohelty, both around the theme of revenge and the bad guys getting what’s coming to them.
Skritch’s Revenge: They pissed off the wrong cybernetic, talking, magic, murder kitty. Now, betrayal runs deep, but revenge runs deeper.
Vengeance: Bound by a blood oath to the ruthless mob boss, Lucius spent his life executing orders without question. But his next mission threatens to unravel his strict moral code. Haunted by the specter of his past and the woman who once softened his heart, he must decide whether to fulfill his contract or risk everything for a chance at redemption.
Parting Note
Let’s hit this year running and make the magic happen!
Till the next time,
Melissa J
Lettering first was a game-changer for me. It allows one to be thoughtful about allowing those words to float to the top of the panel (where they should be) and then you're left with the actual real estate to draw (rather than being surprised when words occupy a big chunk of any given panel). Glad to hear you're moving in this direction! Here's to healthy habits in the new year! Awesome update, MJ!
I also came here to say lettering first is the way to go. I've been doing that since the dawn of my comic making days otherwise, I'd end up with word balloons taking up an entire panel and blocking the art XD Knowing exactly how much space the lettering is going to take up helps me edit myself so much better.
Also congrats on the new job! I'm one of those "a new year isn't a reset button" people but I do like using the new year as a measure of progress, if that makes sense.