In the interest of filling space and engaging in an exercise in writing, we’ll be talking some about our Creative Process in this space. Reading about other creator’s work process, struggles, and modes of gaining inspiration has always been interesting to me, and inspiring in the matter that it reminds me that no way is the best way. And my way is just fine. Creativity only expresses itself to others in the destination, the finished product. But the journey, the process, that’s where we creative types are truly ourselves, discovering vast spans and novel horizons.

Currently I’m juggling my private life with a wife and 7 month old son, 2 dogs, and a crazy extended family, along with my full-time job as a graphic designer and art director at a printing house, and with my passion’s pursuit of comic book creation. Time, obviously, is my biggest enemy. Up dating our website, posting blogs and message board posts, checking in on social networking sites, all eat up a huge chunk of time I’d like to be devoting to actual writing and drawing – hitting the old rubber against the big, bad road. But they are necessary… necessary evils… evil necessities.

Up on my plate now is a dual attack approach. A flanking maneuver. I’m penciling out the remaining 8 pages of VENT, our sci-fi murder mystery story, to finish up the first issue of a planned 5 issue mini series. While drawing is by no means EASY, it does allow my brain to go into a sort of gnostic-neutral state where all concerns fade to the background. It’s the direct opposite of my approach on writing.

Writing is a fully engaging process. It takes over my brain’s inner monologue almost entirely at times. Ideas and scenes work themselves out in my subconscious. Lines of dialogue spring fully formed into life. Although the actual act of typing or writing notes also exists in an “altered” mental state. It’s not a closed-off, zen-state like drawing. More of a limited-aleph view of the landscape. Aleph being a point at which all other points can be seen, my writing state, limited-aleph then is a web of connectedness of all the themes, ideas, reference, and characters I’ve established in the preliminary preparation stage. The inter-connectedness of the assemblage begins to dictate itself, and themes and mythological context ascribe themselves of their own free will.

Drawing then, is a meditation. Writing more of a channeling. An out of body experience.

But I’m getting ahead of myself it seems.
The next post I will back up, and talk about the Preparation Process that proceeds the actually creation impetus.

M