Other than the pushing, squashing and having to endure what was possibly the longest support band performance ever (1 hour! A big deal when the whole gig is 3 hours...) Dragonforce gave value for money, and I had the time of my life! I think halfway through Angra support performance most of the audience began to get a little impatient waiting for the main feature though, except for the enthusiatic Brazilian fans.
(No I have no pictures. I didn't dare to bring my camera, and my ticket stub was lost in all the jumping around).
Anyways, I'm not usually a party animal to be going out to Metal concerts (and on a Monday night too), and my idea of a nice time is a free night to spend drawing comics/a good book, drinking tea and nice music, but once in a while something different is always a good thing. You see, the last few weeks I've been feeling sick and tired of webcomics.
Yes, you read that right. Sick and tired of webcomics. Because I have been doing too much of it, and things related to it.
Let me see... The Jaded, The Longest Sojourn, How Not To Run a Comic, The Essence of... , Webcomic Finds, Keenspace Gear, Keenspace Help Center.
In short, far too many things in my life are currently associated with webcomics. And maybe they've earned me praise from many quarters I value and people I respect, but sometimes there is too much of something that you reach a point where you need to stop and take a breather. And do something different, because the alternative is sitting there staring at a blank canvas and feeling absolutely empty. No ideas, No will to draw the ideas you've recorded for cases of no ideas, and worst of all: No joy from creating comics. Nothing.
To those of you who may have webcomics, I implore you: if you do a webcomic, make sure it's not the only thing you do in your life.
I may do a lot of things webcomics related, but I'm also taking care to do a lot of other things that are not webcomics related because I know a human is not a machine, and too much repetition will kill the love of something very very quickly. You won't be a better webcomic artist by shutting yourself up in your room with your pencils and paper and inks, drawing comics all day and never experiencing human contact or that mystery we call Life.
Interact with people MORE. It depresses me that webcomickers have the stereotype of being sad losers with no social skills, no purpose in life other than their comics and can't get boyfriends/girlfriends. It may be true in some cases (the number of webcomickers I've never met who chat me up on AIM and get blocked after one 'conversation'. Bah, Idiots! Just because I'm female doesn't mean you have to be so sad as to hit on a complete stranger over the internet at first chat!).
Back to the topic... One thing DO I notice is that a lot of the more successful webcomickers are also the ones who don't fit the bloody stereotype.
And it makes sense. Art, writing, and any amalgamation of the two is in the end, still all about Life. What chance has a person who has never experienced Life and human interaction of writing and drawing anything that usually involves human interaction and achieing anything that rings true? (Well, perhaps this is an exception... and a damn depressing one too).
Otherwise, not much, unless you count regurgitating bits and pieces from the comics/books/TV shows they've read and reread/watched a bajillion times over... the results of which is that drivel which consists of cliches, the formuliac aim-for-audience-pleasers, the copycat clones and the death of originality and anything remotely interesting.
For the record, besides having an irrational fear of dinosaurs, I'm also demophobic. I'm
And now I'm back home, tired but happy, and oddly enough... rejuvenated. I've danced and jumped and listened to deafening music (Extreme Power Metal!) and sang myself hoarse along to it (though in my case, I think 'yelling out-of-tune to' would be a better term to describe my singing voice). And now it's all over, I feel like I got something out of my system that needed to be aired.
And I feel like drawing comics again.
I guess what this whole Hotspot is trying to say in the nicest way possible is:
No, seriously.
Do your comic. Love your comic. Have fun with your comic.
But do not make it the only thing in your life. There's work and family and friends and juggling fire and so many more things to do. There are more important things than the next story arc or punchline in your script, how you're going to draw your next panel, how many readers you have and what the webcomics community have to say about you. And once in a while, do something that scares you. Something you would normally never do. (And I don't mean Infinite Canvas or Sprite Comics, smartass!)
There is more to Life than putting a comic on the Internet.
It sounds silly and patronising coming from me, I know. But please, please, please... Never forget this.
ps: Adis, Eric, Chuck, Adam and Alan. These are poor words, but all the same... Thank you. I appreciate it. I just don't know what to say in return.
ps again: Obviously, if you already have a happy normal fulfilled life you may disregard this Hotspot.
