When you fail…

Man… You put in all that effort, you get your work together, stand in front of that editor, feel your heart thump as they flip through your art, and they look up… and say no. You had a shot, and it missed. You failed.

But, that is ok.

Look, we all hate that feeling that comes when we give something our all, work as hard as we can, and put our work out there to be judged to see if we are finally ready to work that dream goal, only to fall short and fail. It hurts. Your heart breaks. You may hate yourself. You may hate your work. You may even ask if you are really even an artist.

But to be honest, it’s going to happen. A lot. Not just to you, but to every single artist. Not just those of us TRYING to get in, but even those in, they struggle to stay in and get bigger and better levels. And they fail along the way.

Here’s the thing. Failure happens. That doesn’t define us. What we DO AFTER failure does. Our natural feelings could be to curl up, withdraw, feel awful. We may throw the art out. We may even stop creating for a few days, weeks, months, even years. Some even walk away all together. This is the ONLY way to really fail. If you stand back up and try again, no matter how may times we are knocked down, every time we stand back up, we are undefeated.

If you need to feel sad, hurt, etc, then feel it. Give yourself a day and feel it. Then sit down, take any insight they gave, and set to work. Have a group of friends you can show your art to who know art, who can help guide you, and try again. And again. And again. Until it hits.

One thing I always worried, if I show an editor something that they way no to, they will always remember that and it will always count against me. But the truth is, most everyone they are working with, all failed a few times until they got there. And they will not remember that you didn’t make it, they will remember you if they see you trying again and again. They see that you are determined to make it. THAT is what they will remember.

So if you took a punch to the jaw, rub the jaw, stand back up, square your shoulders, and put your hands back up and get back in the fight. As long as you keep getting up, the match goes on!

Now go make art!

Dwayne

No social media is an island.

Today I saw Alanna Smith say on her Twitter:

Yo, aspiring artists: watch how you present yourselves on social media. I just unfollowed a very talented young guy on tumblr because (1/2)

— Alanna Smith (@AlannaWrites) January 16, 2016

(2/2) he seemed dangerously immature and threw tantrums when criticized. He’ll never know how close he was to Marvel Work.

— Alanna Smith (@AlannaWrites) January 16, 2016

And lemme tell you, I follow A LOT of promising artists on social media who probably haven’t even noticed.

— Alanna Smith (@AlannaWrites) January 16, 2016

This is something all of us dreaming of making it into the dream job MUST remember, your social media is out there. And in a lot of ways that is a first pass interview a potential employer will have of you. So please think about how you are presenting yourself online. If they are thinking about hiring you, you will be a representative of their company/brand, and how you conduct yourself reflects back on them. Not only that, but on a personal level, they are trying to decide if they want to send the next few weeks, months, or years, working with you.

So ask yourself, who are you showing yourself as online? Are you always complaining, arguing, insulting, being rude? A potential employer will see this and assume that is how you would be working with them. And no matter how strong your art MAY be, if you seem to be a burden to work with, they will have a hard time wanting to work with you. But, if you are polite, respectable, kind, supportive, and open, they would be much more willing to risk contacting you.

Beyond that, use your social media to show YOU. What do you love? Are you a foodie? Are you an animation fan? A wrestling fan? Do you love to read? A traveler? Training in MMA? Share that as well as your art. If someone who also loves wrestling, may see that you do as well and they may reach out, just to express that you have something in common. Be yourself on there!

So be aware that things you say, and HAVE said, online exists for a LONG time, so really think about what you are saying, how you say it, and who you are showing yourself to be. You really never know who is looking at you and how close you COULD be to the dream goal and one hateful rant could push you backwards, or even out of the ring. So really think!

Now go create!

Dwayne

 

Small wins

They say when you look into the abyss, the abyss looks back.

It can feel that way when you look at your goals. There are so many parts that need to be put into place, so many steps to cover, so many things that has to come together to make it come true, it can be overwhelming and seem so big and daunting that it feels like you can never actually reach it.

What can you do when things feel like that, when you feel so overwhelmed?

Look for small wins.

Don’t focus only on the end goal. Pick one small thing you can do, now. Do it. And celebrate that win to drive you to one more thing. Celebrate that. Move to the next. When you have these little wins, you can see movements, you can take joy in the small thing you have done, it is finished, and behind you. That is a source of joy!

How do you put that into practice?

Say you have a cartoon idea you want to develop. That is a LOT to do. But, break it into stages.

1: Write a log line. A short one or two sentence description of what the cartoon is about. That is doable.

2: Sketch out 5 lose sketches of the lead character. That is doable.

3: Sketch out 5 lose sketches of the main villain character. That is doable.

4: Sketch out 3-5 sketches of some key scenes you know you want in the cartoon. That is doable.

5: Do a clean drawing (and coloring if you wish) of the main character and villain. That is doable.

In 5 moves you have a pitch line of the cartoon, developmental sketches of the main characters and a few key scenes, and presentable art of the lead characters.

Is that everything? Not even close. But in 5 moves you have something you can put out there, show people what you are working on, and be proud of the fact you HAVE work to show! And people begin to get excited for what you are doing, helping drive you forward!

So don’t lose the trees in the forest. Take those small steps and celebrate them! And after some time, you find you are way further along than you ever thought you could be.

Now go create!

Dwayne