Webcomic #2 "Weird Science 2: I Think I'm A Clone Now"

I had never seen Weird Science until last week. 

Now, any person can list tons of movies they have never seen.  It isn't difficult to not see movies.  Even the most experienced critic after a life's work has still not seen even close to all the movies out there.  So this isn't very remarkable, except that I have seen so much of the rest of John Hughes admittedly small filmography as a director and writer; Especially his 80's stuff.

I was born in 1980, so I grew up watching 80's movies.  When I really got into watching a lot of movies around 13 or 14, many of them were from the 80's, simply because I had heard of them, or was familiar with the actors.  I think that my first John Hughes experience was Uncle Buck followed by Home Alone which he didn't direct.  Then I stumbled across the Vacation movies, which he wrote, and loved those.  The first movie of his that really made an impact on me was Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and this wasn't until like 1994.  So I was a little behind maybe, but I liked his stuff and soon had seen most of his works.  Certainly not all, but a good chunk.

Somehow through all of this though, I missed Weird Science.  I even watched some of the TV series of the same name that came out in the mid 90's.

So, fast forward to present day.  I was listening to a podcast and they were talking about quotable movies and this movie got mentioned.  So, I figured it was probably in my best interest to watch it.

I didn't love it.

Not that seeing John Hughes name is necessarily a guarantee of a great movie, but I usually find them enjoyable.  Plus this was a movie I have heard great things about.  A podcast said it had many quotable lines which is usually a positive thing.  I think if I had seen it back when I was 14 it would have been a different story. 

Nostalgia can certainly affect how a movie ages, and I definitely think that seeing this at age 14 when the movie was only 10 years old and seeing this at 35 with the movie being 30 years old makes a huge difference.

Now don't get me wrong, I had fun watching it, and laughed and smiled in many places, I just don't know if I will ever feel the need to revisit it.

Webcomic #1 "Your focus determines your reality"

Let me start by saying that everyone I know has been very supportive of my new venture.  I am an artist though and therefor have some insecurities.  Okay, maybe a lot of insecurities.  The lady in the chair more represents a voice in my head that questions my decisions, than any real person.

That said, this is a fair representation of the number of thoughts in my head at any given second.  I would say it is a weakness of mine that I have trouble focusing.  I always have plenty of ideas, but one thought leads to another and another and so on, until half of the thoughts in my head are diametrically opposing the other half.

And then what do I do?  Usually, I pace back and forth working myself into such a frenzy that my head feels as if electricity is arcing from it, searching the air for more ideas to cram in.

This has historically been a proven way to not get anything done.  There are great minds out there bursting with ideas we may never get to see or hear about.

 Have you ever read "Infinite Jest," by David Foster Wallace?  It is a great read, but incredibly challenging.  It is 1000 pages but also has 100 pages of end notes.  As you read, the little numbers that send you to each end note start popping up, sometimes mid thought in the middle of a sentence.  So you are constantly flipping from where you are in the book, to the notes at the end that range anywhere from two words to two pages of description. 

At this point you need two bookmarks.  It is also told chronologically out of order.  At some point a timeline is introduced though so you know when everything takes place relative to the other events.  Now there is a third bookmark.

When asked why it is structured so he said he personally writes "what feels right," and whatever narrative structure comes from that he accepts. But, it is a sort of nightmare being the author of a novel "where you alone see the structure."

The point is, it is based on his mind which seems to be constantly pulling in many different directions at once.  Like a medieval quartering of your mind.

I am not the genius he was, but I empathize with, if not fully understand, the way his mind works.  Ah the perils of being creative.

Funny enough though, if I set a schedule for myself and have a reasonable goal, I always do exactly what I'm supposed to when I am supposed to.  It works wonders, I just have to remember that in order to thrive I must give myself the structure I need.

Also, instead of endlessly trying to figure out what the best idea is, that way madness lies, I need to seize onto an idea and just go with it.  What's the worst that could happen?

The importance of drawing

What are peoples idea of an artist?  If you went and asked people, what do you think an artist does or get more specific and ask about graphic design, you would probably be inundated with answers that all boil down to, "They draw stuff."  Right.  That is probably what normal artists enjoy and do.  It really helps to build your fundamentals to understand bigger problems.  It is an invaluable skill to have as a designer so that you can sketch out ideas quickly. 

Well, no one ever said I was normal.  I mean, I'm mostly normal, but I always have to get to things the hard way.  I went to art school, and you know what, I had to draw stuff all the time.  I learned technique, and was taught the importance of all things drawing.  I fought it the whole time though.  I always wanted to be using the computer to assist me and people kept saying, it will be easier on the computer if you understand the basics, the fundamentals of art. 

Of course they are right, but it took me some time to come around.  So my work these days is reliant on being able to sketch out ideas.  So I really need to practice and I am setting up a schedule for myself to do just that.  Drawing is not a talent that just some people have and everyone else is out of luck.  You see those people that make amazing stuff?  They have worked their butt off and practice all the time.  Oh sure, it comes more naturally to some people than others, but the bottom line is if you practice, practice, practice you will get better, better, better. 

So I hereby solemnly swear that I will start practicing more so that in the future everything I do will be better.  Sounds like a good plan, better get to it.