Good Monday to you all! I have to officially confess that I have gotten very little accomplished with reMIND since the birth of my second child three weeks ago. This is not because I don’t have time to work on it. Nope, I’m actually home for a few months (hopefully) and my plans were to crank out spreads but plans took an unexpected twist.
About a week ago I got super stressed out about this blog and my comic and life and work and money and kids. I didn’t feel like I could keep up with the demands of having a blog that updates weekly with detailed how-to articles and finish my graphic novel at the same time. On top of that, my work is more stressful because I’m in-between movies at Dreamworks and it’s tiring to jump from project to project waiting for the next long term assignment to start. Then we had our second child and it all hit me like a ton of lead bricks. I was overwhelmed and unsure how to continue at present course. It was unsustainable I thought. I need to let go of something. But what?
After some deep thought, complaining to my wife, throwing a temper (with my children) and then praying about it all, I had an idea! I need to do a podcast!
What?
You heard me right. A podcast will solve all my problems.
But how you ask?
Honestly, at the moment, I didn’t know but it was a minute of super inspiration that lead me to finally set up a Skype call with Daniel Lieske that I had been planning for several months now. My initial thought was to have a random podcast every now and then and it would be easier than spending late nights and all my lunch breaks typing up a long winded article and proofreading it 12 times only to find 2nd grade spelling errors after it was published.
As Daniel and I talked, I told him, without consulting myself on the matter first, that I’m thinking of discontinuing my articles on reMINDblog. Then a few minutes later I remembered that I bought the domain name MakingComics.com a few years ago and had been sitting on it waiting for the right opportunity to present itself. Then it all kinda clicked. I need to move all my articles to MakingComics.com, try to find contributing authors to submit content and focus on a Making Comics Podcast every now and then! Suddenly everything fell into place. I called some friends and made some emails and within a few days I had booked over 12 amazing professional comic guests for the podcast, got it approved by iTunes, started a functional website with more than a dozen content contributors, an editor and researcher. I set up a Twitter account last night for @Making_Comics and it got over 100 followers within half a day. What!
So, you must now think I’m crazy and I’ve only added things to my plate to stress out about. Well, maybe. But the difference is this. I’m excited again. Excited about having reMINDblog.com focus on reMIND only. I’m excited about having an official home for my How-to articles and anything new that I choose to write. I’m excited because I don’t have the pressure of creating the content all by myself anymore either. Plus, there are tons of talented people out there writing great resources for comic artists but the problem is you don’t know where to look to find it. It’s usually on a hidden blog post or tucked away where search engines can’t find it because the artist doesn’t know a lick about SEO. With MakingComics.com, anyone who has a great article about making comics can get it out there for new eyes to finally see and hopefully they will get a spike in traffic back on their personal site since each article will link back to its creator.
Needless to say, I love making a good website that people will respond to. And honestly, I think I was more stressed out at the fact that my website was becoming cluttered and unfocused. I was letting too much stuff through the gate, trying to be all things to all people. That doesn’t work with a website. It needs a clear purpose and reMINDblog.com is now focused on reMIND while MakingComics.com is focus on making comics.
So with all that said, if you are a webcomic or graphic novelist (preferably someone who makes a living from it or is making BIG waves with your work) then I’d love to hear from you about being a guest on the podcast. I want to talk to people who are raising the bar and trying new ideas and techniques. Someone who is punching people in the face and taking names. Remember, this new podcast is about Making Comics, not wishing you could make comics.
In fact, today is the first official article AND it’s by contributing author, Mathieu Moyen who wrote Hand Lettering a Digital Comic. Check it out and give him some love for being my first guinea pig. Help me spread the word so that we can have new content appear EVERY DAY! If all goes as planned, I’ll release the first official podcast where Daniel Lieske (The Wormworld Saga) and I talk about Making Comics! Oh yeah, you won’t believe who the next few guests are.
Hey, this is really the best move possible. You summed it up when you said that it’s too difficult to be all things to all people. Plus, crowd sourcing the articles will only give multiple outlooks on the different facets of each stage of production. I can’t wait to see ten different articles by ten different people on How To Ink A Page! But I’m doubly excited to get my own articles out there, bravo on the moment of insight, man.
It’s so nice to see how dedicated you are to helping people! You could be very happy with producing a great graphic novel. But, you go the extra mile and create resources for the rest of us. It’s amazing and greatly appreciated!
I hope this really does help you finish reMIND more quickly (or less slowly, perhaps?), somehow, but it’s a great idea anyway. Thumbs up!
Haha! Yeah, I suppose it’s all about how I organize my free time really. I can never really seem to focus on just one thing at a time to keep me entertained as I go. As long as I stay excited about creating stuff then things will keep moving forward at a good pace, with reMIND as everything else.
it’s gonna be great! I let a buddy of mine borrow my copy of reMIND and he is a hardcore dc/marvel/image/darkhorse (and in that order) comic book fan. He loved it! He’s buying a copy. It would be awesome to see that gap bridged between mainstream and online comics. I think this is the wave of the future anyway. It’s up to us to guard its purity. I’m glad someone is leading the way.
prayer always helps. good look.
Hey Jason I’ve got a website for you to check out if you haven’t already. It’s an online sci fi interactive comic.
http://www.nawlz.com
Trust me it’ll blow you away. The iPad app has just launched also.
The creator is named Stu Campbell, definitely get hold of him for a podcast he’s on some next level shizz.
What dreamworks movies are you working on? Sequels, right? Kung Fu Panda 3, HTTYD 2.
Well, here’s a pitch.
Samurai pandas. As in the pandas fled to Japan. An now kung fu and the art of the samurai will come together to defeat an evil they cannot conquer alone.
Berk clashes with another clan. Someone who will ruthlessly exploit the dragons. After all, there is that mind-control thing over them. If this clan chieftain (I’m picturing a bearded fellow with mice skulls swinging from his knotted beard) somehow harnesses this power once again, all that they’ve fought for could be unraveled, even Toothless could turn on them. Seems logical. Movie one, they make peace in the village. But now its time to explore the world beyond the rock-strewn shores of Berk.
Haha! Good luck with the pitch!
To answer your question, I worked on Kung Fu Panda 1 & 2 as well as a number of other movie projects in development there.
hey jason!, this is Annie (the one who sent you that e-mail about my “senior project”) I AM SUUUPER SUPER HAPPY YOUR MAKEING THIS!
its gonna help me out so much with my senior project! i can’t wait. i was also thinking about getting a skype interveiw with comic artists of all experiences so i can put it togther as a vedio and present it. but i feel this is gonna help me so much!
hmp!, look @ god work >v>…
I’d like to recommend you get Doug Tennapel and Ethan Nicolle as guests on your podcasts.
Doug has done around 10 graphic novels and a recent webcomic, Ratfist. He’s the creator of Earthworm Jim.
Ethan and his younger brother are the creators of Axe Cop. And Ethan’s new project Bearmageddon is shaping up to be a hit.
BTW: these guys didn’t ask me to post this. I just like them.
Actually I already talked to both of them and they are already booked to be on the show. We just need to set up the time for them to come over and record it. They will be on the same episode at the same time so it should be a fun one!
Before I read this blog post, I was all “OH CRAP. WHERE ARE THE TUTORIALS?!”. Since then, I have checked out Making Comics. I have found the tutorials.
And it’s SWEEEEET.
Completely off topic, but… Do you have a deviantART profile? Just askin’. I just made one myself.
Resounding Kudos Jason! You say your excited…!!! So thankful that your doing this. I will share a link with all my buddies and buddesses over at the illopond.com and Papaerwingspodcast.com you are on a subject that all of us are simultaneously discussing and man this is timely! Looking forward to reading ReMind and digging in to all you’ve shared here. And Daniel, Wormworld blew me away!