Sunday, July 23, 2006
Unfinished Tales
I’m relieved to have Riffin’ to Oblivion (in The Ink) finally complete and out there - finishing a project is a big relief!
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I’m blocking out a great stack of unfinished projects that have become overly problematical – things that, the more work I put in, the more difficult they seem to become.
Yesterday, L. asked me to show her a box of detailed models I made years ago, which we set up and photographed for a children’s picture book I was attempting to illustrate. I spent months on the paintings, which are near completion, but a couple of things have happened that have driven me away from this project for nearly five years now. The worst is that I stupidly used cheap paint, with no lightfastness ratings, due to lack of money. It’s a really nice piece of work, based on a beautiful story that J. wrote when she was little. At one level, I love this story, feel proud of the work and want to finish it (which would need a few dedicated, uninterrupted weeks), but at another level the shortcomings and short life of the artwork make me feel sick whenever I think about it.
Then there’s that album of 10-12 songs that Darren and I had carefully planned out about ten years ago. The songs I wrote for it have really intricate arrangements and some of my better lyrical efforts, but again, I’m avoiding even just the piano, as I know I could distract myself away from drawing for no useful purpose, and there’s no point spilling out more songs to add to the masses already languishing.
Comics-wise, I have these projects frustrating me:
a historical serial, all plotted out, with the first episode drawn and several more scripted.
a 10 page wordless story that I pencilled for Generation some years ago (right before getting whooping cough and giving up).
an anthro series that I want to continue, but am having logistical problems with.
Children of the Moon - the elf/dragon sage with 42 pages done, but in need of another 14 page episode and 4 supplementary pages to complete it - this one begs for completion and colouring!
a well-researched piece on "Love & Sedition" for Tango - I have all the pieces but can’t seem to put them together.
Joytown, a newspaper strip that had a few episodes appear in Operation Funnybone – there are nearly 100 of these scripted, and a bunch already drawn.
A few hundred pages of Maelstrom from many years ago that could possibly be graphic novelised (on Lulu or something). The writing now strikes me as weak, but it was written a long time ago, when I was young. This has the least chance of being completed, I think, as I don’t plan on making it my life’s work.
In addition, I have a box-full of research on an Australian children’s author/illustrator who I want to write an article on, but I still feel a few important pieces of this puzzle are missing.
I'm not complaining, just musing on creative frustration. Part of why I blog is to keep track of the work I'm putting out. One thing I do know is that writing is the hardest part of anything, but also well worth a lot of work to get right.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I’m blocking out a great stack of unfinished projects that have become overly problematical – things that, the more work I put in, the more difficult they seem to become.
Yesterday, L. asked me to show her a box of detailed models I made years ago, which we set up and photographed for a children’s picture book I was attempting to illustrate. I spent months on the paintings, which are near completion, but a couple of things have happened that have driven me away from this project for nearly five years now. The worst is that I stupidly used cheap paint, with no lightfastness ratings, due to lack of money. It’s a really nice piece of work, based on a beautiful story that J. wrote when she was little. At one level, I love this story, feel proud of the work and want to finish it (which would need a few dedicated, uninterrupted weeks), but at another level the shortcomings and short life of the artwork make me feel sick whenever I think about it.
Then there’s that album of 10-12 songs that Darren and I had carefully planned out about ten years ago. The songs I wrote for it have really intricate arrangements and some of my better lyrical efforts, but again, I’m avoiding even just the piano, as I know I could distract myself away from drawing for no useful purpose, and there’s no point spilling out more songs to add to the masses already languishing.
Comics-wise, I have these projects frustrating me:
In addition, I have a box-full of research on an Australian children’s author/illustrator who I want to write an article on, but I still feel a few important pieces of this puzzle are missing.
I'm not complaining, just musing on creative frustration. Part of why I blog is to keep track of the work I'm putting out. One thing I do know is that writing is the hardest part of anything, but also well worth a lot of work to get right.
Comments:
I feel your pain, to coin a cliche.
Together, we appear to have about a hundred years of work to do.
kitchen hand
Together, we appear to have about a hundred years of work to do.
kitchen hand
"I'm not complaining, just musing on creative frustration. Part of why I blog is to keep track of the work I'm putting out. One thing I do know is that writing is the hardest part of anything, but also well worth a lot of work to get right."
Amen to that, Brother Ian.
I'm thinking about doing a couple of my novellas through lulu.com myself, just to get them out there. Want to talk about cover art? :)
Ian (the other one)
Amen to that, Brother Ian.
I'm thinking about doing a couple of my novellas through lulu.com myself, just to get them out there. Want to talk about cover art? :)
Ian (the other one)
Together, we appear to have about a hundred years of work to do.
KH, yes, exactly! I think it'd be good to get some of the big projects done, rather than always concentrating on small ones, but it's also a much bigger commitment to nothing if it doesn't work out.
Want to talk about cover art?
Ian, yes, if you think I'd be right for it! I can work in a wide range of styles. I think covers need to bear a close and accurate relationship to the work, but often more symbolic than representational.
KH, yes, exactly! I think it'd be good to get some of the big projects done, rather than always concentrating on small ones, but it's also a much bigger commitment to nothing if it doesn't work out.
Want to talk about cover art?
Ian, yes, if you think I'd be right for it! I can work in a wide range of styles. I think covers need to bear a close and accurate relationship to the work, but often more symbolic than representational.
Yeah, I can relate. I start things or plan things, only to get sidetracked. Then I'm left with so much I want to accomplish, all of which is only partially done. Good luck with your list. Though daunting, it also sounds interesting!
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