Chewing Pencils

I’ve been watching the Tour de France on telly the last few nights. Being a bit of a hack cyclist myself, I’m in awe of the strength and endurance of these guys who push their bodies and bikes through some beautiful, yet punishing, terrain in France.

To get good enough to win the race, you have to be a freak. But to simply finish the race takes years of discipline and determination. You have to get up early, train hard, eat right and rest well for day after day, year after year.

Fortunately, drawing cartoons isn’t as strenuous! But to stay at the top of your game, you need to display the same sort of discipline. I don’t know why, but as a part time freelancer, the work for me seems to come in waves. Sometimes I have more than enough to keep me going whilst other times the drawing board is bare.

These ‘bare’ times can very easily turn into long stretches of non-drawing. We fill the time with other things and don’t pick up a pencil until the next job arrives.

This can be a disaster for both your drawing and computer skills. You’ll loose you’re touch and forget how to do some things on your computer. You’re next job will then take you that little bit longer to complete as you have to remind yourself how certain things are done.

So, this quick tip is really simple. When there’s no paid work to keep you drawing, work on a drawing project just for yourself. One of those long term things that doesn’t have a deadline, but that you can use to refine your style, explore different functions in your software and have some fun.

You’ll be a better cartoonist because of it. trust me!