Self Empowerment!!!

I have to say that I'm feeling pretty good about myself today.  No, I don't say that all that often, but then again, I'm not easily satisfied with myself.

I guess you could call it a little thing, but it's a step forward for me, and because of it, I'm pretty proud.

I'm teaching myself how to letter.  Finally.  And I'm having a good time doing it.

A little backstory.  I decided to teach myself how to letter months ago.  About a month or so before we moved.  Maybe a little more.  So, it's been on my back burner for a decent amount of time.  I went out and bought a couple of books on it: the ComiCraft book and the DC Guide.  The DC guide is on both coloring and lettering.  Since I have trouble putting together blue jeans and a black shirt, I'll stay away from trying to color.  Well, I'll stay away from trying to color for myself.  I'll learn some of it as an editor, but that's about it.

I also went and got the Adobe CS3, as well as a Dummies book on it.  Ready to rock, right?

Wrong.

My plan is to do a lot of this work while at my job.  Because I work at night, I have a LOT of free time to do stuff.  I get a ton of writing done, and I've read more books in the past year and a half than I have in years.  It's a great job, and now that I'm off of probation, I don't have to ask permission to bring out my laptop or read or anything like that.  I know the rules, I do my job, and my extra-curricular stuff is my reward.  Nice.

Anyway, I didn't have enough RAM on the laptop in order to run the stinkin' program!  I was frustrated with that, yes.  One of my co-workers helped me to look up some RAM, and I eventually bought it.  Sure, it was six months or so later, but I got it.  (And it was cheaper than what I was originally going to pay for it, too.)  So, THANK YOU, Harry D.  You hired me as an editor for your script, and that allowed me to buy the RAM, and a few other things.

There's a funny story to go along with this.  Lenora and I also joined Columbia House through her My Points.  We ordered The Flash: the complete series for myself, and CSI season three for her.  This was before I ordered the RAM.  We did it all online, and we were waiting for Columbia House to send us back an e-mail saying we were in.  Days went by with nothing.  

I ordered the RAM, and figured out when it was supposed to arrive.  I was checking the mail like a madman, wanting the RAM to get here.  So I'm on my weekend, had already taken a nap, and went to the door to check the mail.  Lo and behold, there's a box!  I'm happy as hell, and bring the box inside, tearing into it.

Only to find the dvd sets we ordered!

I howled!!!!

Nope.  Wasn't happy at all.

The RAM came the day after.

So, I installed it, and the laptop thanked me for it.  It now runs CS3 with no problem.  

I broke out my books and dove in, face first.  And I was stymied and frustrated.  First, it was trying to find the damned elliptical tool in order to make the actual word balloons.  After I found that, it was trying to make the words appear in the damned balloons!  I didn't realize (until right this moment, actually) that I had the layers backward.  Letters have to lay on top of the balloons.  Yeah.  Nice.

I started out just placing words anywhere on some art I had laying around the computer.  Once I got a little bit of the knack for doing it, I lettered up one of the pages of the project I'm waiting to hear back on.  I have the three pages of artwork from the script I wrote, but none of the lettered pages yet.  After I lettered the first page, I knew that I found a worthy challenge.

The purpose of me learning to letter is trifold.  First and foremost, it'll make me self-sufficient enough so that I can do it myself.  I'll hire someone for logo's, but that's about it.  Since I really only plan to letter my own stuff, it saves me money on hiring a letterer.  Secondly, it'll help me become a better writer.  I won't flood the page with words anymore.  It takes being conscious of space requirements to a whole different level.  Lastly, it will help me be a better editor.  I can watch for spacing and placement and the like, and know how to correct them or speak from a place of knowledge when I ask for changes.  It's a win-win-win situation all the way around.

After I lettered up that page, I downloaded all of the free fonts from Blambot, and put them in Illustrator before lettering up the second page.  After I lettered up the second page, I went back to the book for some minor tweaks about how to do some things, and the third page turned out better than the previous two.

I'm not yet ready for the neighborhood chores, but I'm getting there.

And yes, lettering those pages was a delightful challenge.  Forming the words into a diamond shape, placing the balloons around them, finding out the best way to put them so that the eye is led across the page in the correct manner, figuring that out around the artwork...challenging.  But one I'm up for.

With that under my belt, I'll more than likely letter my webcomics myself.  That's the goal, and there's nothing like jumping right on in.  I'll be working on the pages I have starting tomorrow, and make a decision then.  

That's what I have going on in the self-empowerment movement when it comes to lettering.  There is more, though.

I'm frustrated with some of my writing friends.  We were supposed to launch a webcomic site last month, but we're now well into February, and there are only three of the five of us who are ready.  The idea is to do a page a week of our own stories.  I have 12 pages ready to rock.  Twelve pages, and a logo.  So I'm good to go for three months.  The goal was to have about 6 pages each ready to go, and then we can move forward with the site.  We've already got the hosted space.  We just need to get on the stick.  

I'm afraid of it falling apart around me.  That would depress me.  I'd move forward, but I wouldn't be extremely happy about it.

I do have an idea, though.  I just have to talk to one of the other guys to see where they're at before moving forward with it.  I may just do it, anyway.  I just need another paid editing gig, and I can go look for an artist for another story.  If I can get another paid gig or two, I'll search for the appropriate artists and move forward from there.  

As it stands right now, I can put up the pages of the first issue of Bullet Time for content.  That would give me either eleven or twenty-two weeks of content, depending on how often I updated it.  My goal is to have five or six days worth of content.  I gotta keep you all coming back for more!  I have an artist who wants to work with me on a story, which gives me another forty-four or twenty-two weeks, depending on if I update once or twice a week.  So if I start with Bullet Time as just content, and then add Group and My Life, and did all of them once a week, that's three days a week of content for no less than 22 weeks.  I call that very nice.

And if I get one more artist, that gives me four days of content.  

Well, I do have Annie O.N.E. on deck.  I have five penciled and inked pages for that.  (AND I just realized how the inks can go to both the letterer and colorist at the same time!  Lettering rocks!!!!)  That project is slated to go to traditional publishers first, but if they don't bite, I'll take it to the web.  That would give me five days of content for twenty-two weeks, and more than enough time to search for another artist to replace Bullet Time on the rotation. 

A LOT of things on the plate.  Writing, lettering, editing, the columns, and then I'm also burning to do a podcast like the old radio shows of yore.  I have an actor that's interested.  I just need to write it, and get some sound effects to produce it with.  If I'm able to produce those well and sell them, I'll have a GREAT many things to sell next year.  Books and an audio cd.  

If I don't dream big and being totally dependent on me, who else will?

Non-comic stuff?  Well, I got a new tattoo on Saturday.  After it's all healed up, I'll put up a pic of it.  It was a birthday present from Lenora.  She loves me!

I'll also be getting an iPhone in a few weeks.  That's one of my own gifts to myself.  Sara Cappoli, the artist of Group, is my other present to myself.  That woman has skills!  

Besides that, I'm waiting patiently for Prince to drop the first album of the year.  He said he'd be dropping three, and I'm waiting for it.  (And I just decided which story I'm going to search for an artist on.  Three issues, sixty-six weeks!)  

And that's it.  I'm hungry, but Lenora should be home soon.  Gonna have some bratwurst, and she's bringing buns home.  Some bratwurst, cheese, and mustard.  Good times, folks.  Good times.

And I'm out!  Go listen to some Huey Lewis and the News.  You'll be glad you did.

-Steven