That's Me Trying

I was surfing my usual sites when I came across an interview with the creator/writer/artist of Robotika, Alex Shiekman. It was a very informative piece that contained one particular passage that I thought was very much relating to my current state of mind. From the interview with Alex:

Silver Bullet Comics: About how long does/did it take you to pencil an issue of "Robotika"?

Alex Shiekman: The first issue of "Robotika" took almost 6 months. I wrote and re-wrote, I drew and re-drew..... I was learning how to write and I was learning how to design panel-to-panel pages. In the end I just had to stop double guessing and get the issue done, my thought being that I will make the next issue better. Sometimes it's easy to fall into a trap of not willing to finish something because it is not your absolute best, and only the best will ever do. My approach now is: "I do the best that I can given my resources today, and I will try to do better tomorrow". That is probably the biggest difference between me as an artist today, and my approach to work 10 years ago.

I do the best that I can given my resources today, and I will try to do better tomorrow.

And that is where I'm trying to get to, in my own headspace. I tend to try for "perfection" in my work. I'm an all or nothing kind of guy, and if it's not my best work then I feel I've got to do it again. And again. And again, until it is right. It can grind my artistic progress, not to mention my projects, to a screeching halt.

I think it's becoming time to put aside the notion of making my comic art "perfect". It will never be "perfect" anyways, so why hang that albatross around my neck if I don't have to? I'm not saying I'm going to take the first thing that hits the paper. No, that wouldn't do anyone any good. But, I think it is time I let those aspirations of "perfection" go and focus on getting my best work out that time will allow.

At least I'll try to......

Last post's title was a song title from:
Running on Empty by Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne was one of those singer/songwriters of the late 60's/early 70's that had that laid back folk/rock feel going on. So he fit right in when he wrote a few songs for the Eagles' first album.