Drawing

~DISCLAIMER~

~Grammar is my weak point. All of my A to Z challenge post will need editing. I am aware of this. I will try my best to clean them up, and learn from each, but don’t expect anything close to perfection. I’m putting out too many of these this month to ask people to spend time editing. Thanks for understanding. ~

This is a topic near and dear to my heart. I started drawing when I was a wee lad in first grade. It start off as simple stick figure drawings. Those evolved into living breathing stick figure battles with square tanks and triangle planes. Before long I was drawing the stuff I saw in comic books. I can’t say that I was great, not ever, but I was good. I had raw talent. Unfortunately talent alone is not enough. I didn’t want to put in the work to turn talent into skill. I still doodled every now and then, up until I was in my mid twenties. I found myself stationed at a reserve unit in the northern suburbs of Chicago. The Art institute has two campuses in the Chicago area. I was in the right place, with an employer that had a decent tuition assistance program. I enrolled for a BA in Multimedia and Animation. Then 9/11 happened.

My studies were interrupted because Saddam Hussein had “weapons of mass destruction.” Over a four year period, I deployed twice, and managed to get two years of higher education. Then my time was up. I was done with being an active duty Marine. I was honorably discharged and tried going back to school. Turns out the G.I. Bill by its self was not enough to cover my tuition. The security job I had didn’t pay enough to make up for the difference. I had to drop out.

So that brings us to the present. I still found myself drawing when the mood struck me. But more important I figured out that telling stories was more important to me than drawing. So I write. But now, I find myself in a position where I can use my mediocre skills to produce a webcomic. Turns out that the artwork for a webcomic doesn’t have to be all that great. I’ve seen some that look horrible. I’ve also seen some that look spectacular. Even seen a few that went from being mediocre to fabulous. So I have started the character designs and brainstorming. I’ve even included a pic I just finished today.

I haven’t done anything with Photoshop for a long time. I was surprised by what I was able to produce. I have a lot of practice ahead of me to get anywhere near good with photoshop, but I am well on my way.

A to Z post 4, D.

Thanks again for stopping by.