Jack Kirby once said “I’m paid to draw, not to erase”. That explains not only why Kirby was the best, but also why he was the fastest, drawing multiple books a month without breaking a sweat. He didn‘t concern himself with second-guessing. Hell, there wasn’t a single procrastinating bone in his body!

Erasing and re-drawing is only “ok” if it is meant to fix a honest-to-God mistake. Erasing an extra-finger = fine. Re-doing the whole arm because you think you can do it a little better this time = bullshit. Starting over is not an option.

The reason for such a “radical” stance is simple: most people can’t tell what reasonable from what’s just plain stupid. They’ll rationalize anything and everything. If you try to find an excuse, your brain will find it. Every time. But a dumb choice is a dumb choice, regardless of your reasoning.

I’ve talked before about listening to your body. Every time you do something – anything, you get a “this is good” or a “this is bad” notice from your body. If you listen to it, you’ll always know what’s up. The thing is, most people are so dulled that they don’t even hear it anymore. And the ones that do hear it? Mostly choose to ignore it.

It’s like a horror movie. They know Crystal Lake is cursed, but they go for it anyway.

Seriously, if you’re not careful, procrastination will eat your soul. You’ll re-draw panels to make them marginally better. You’ll scrape whole pages. You’ll skip drawing for a whole day for no reason. You’ll go out to buy a new pen when the one you have is still working. You’ll have 10 half-done pieces sitting there on your drawer!

Don’t fall for the bullshit in your head! Just do it! Do it day after day for the same time, at the same hour. Good, bad… plow through it, and get it done. Don’t stop half-way, don’t start over from scratch. Finish it and move on…

To the next drawing.

Many people start drawing (or singing or dancing – whatever), and at the first mistake, they just drop it and go do something else “more enjoyable”.


I have a name for that. It’s called “being a pussy”.

The thing is, most people don’t even know what they want. They’ll bump into someone, chat a bit, and when the other person goes “so, you wanna go out or something?” they’ll respond “dunno… do you?” It’s pretty sad. But even if you’re a pussy, do not despair! There’s an easy way to know if you really want something.

Start doing whatever you “think” you want to do. If it’s drawing, take the first step to the drawing table. If you feel fear (or “Resistance”, as Steven Pressfield would say), then you want it.

So do it.

Our lives are so diluted in caffeine, sugar and complex carbs, that you’re no longer able to hear what your body says. Want proof? Feel your blood pumping through your veins. Now.

You most likely can’t.

Well, then lift a finger and look at it. Spend a minute or two at this. You’ll feel the blood joyfully doing multi-track drifting in your veins, “Night of Fire” blasting in its stereo.

…

And that the hell does this mumbo-jumbo crap’s got to do with drawing (singing or dancing – whatever)?

Listening helps you to hear what your body says, which allows you to know and do everything you want to do. It cuts through second-guessing and procrastination like the Kusanagi Treasure cuts through butter. It works like this:

1) The second your body says “go draw, bitch”, you do it. Before the lazyness or the hesitation kick in (it takes 3 seconds for the brain to have a “change of heart”.

That’s it. It’s a one step process. HOLY SHIT that’s hard!

“But Beto, i drink a buncha coffee, eat a lot of sugar and all that crap, my mind is as clear a roadside toilet“, i can hear you say. So, your option while you detox would be:

1b) Set up an specific time to draw, and do it. Put up an alarm if you want.

After 8 to 21 days (varies from person to person) doing the same thing at the same time, your body will start doing it by itself. You don’t go “aw, man, I need to brush my teeth”, do you?

You just do it.

…

About now, some of you are thinking – “what about Providence?” Well, figure it out yourself.

I have a fetishistic thing going on with my pencilling, using drapery and cloth:

[link]

The image above was what i drew then, and i’m posting it here to illustrate the point. I draw cloth like that every time i possibly can, even when drawing frames for my videogame.

[ My pencils look so cute, don't they? Some people ask me why i don't skip inking. The thing is, unless you're Adi Granov, your colored work won't look any good without ink. ]

For years i followed a comment by Erik Larsen about trying to draw 6 straight hours, like a real job.

I love Erik, but that never worked for me.

Reading and thinking a lot about that, i realized that i could use my artistic ADD and inconsistency to help me:

I now keep a DVD running on the background while i draw (action movies, anime, commentary tracks, art DVDs and so on). I've never actually watched it while i drew, but even if i did, i guess it wouldn't be that bad, since it would probably get me pumped up.

I now take constant breaks - some to relax and read a book, some to get myself pumped again (looking at Hellboy, Dragon or anime). The important thing is

a) going back to the drawing table until i've added up some decent material and

b) make sure that i don't read a sob-story before i draw a comedic page or something like that...

I've always struggled to be consistent. But... i'm not. I'm a very calm and consistent person "in real life" (i'm a zen buddhist), but when i draw, i'm completelly nuts.

Those things may make me unprofessional (and make harder to "get on the groove"), but it's what i do to hang on and make the process enjoyable instead of a struggle (ten years of self-doubt up to here). I may not get a job drawing a monthly comic, but i know i now can draw my own one-shots or minis (even if i have to self-publish to get it out).

It's a great feeling.

I do realize many (maybe even all) things can be fixed by simple repetition, change of beliefs and habit (i've lost 77 pounds and changed my world view by changing my habits and beliefs), but then there are things that don't necessarily need to conform...

Just some food for thought, because i know a lot of people struggle everyday with this.

I'm getting pumped about my art again.

Used to be really undecided about what i "should do", which style to use, what coloring should be like... Now i know what i want to do - Do my own thing and HAVE FUN!

No more worrying about what people will think, no more re-drawing and re-thinking everything.

I'm moving forward with my comic, animated series, site, cosplay photoshoots, stand at an anime convention... There's no stopping me now!