Been seein a lotta animations of wizards casting silly spells on each other. I feel like there's a bigger story or joke going on that I'm not fully aware of, but the little snippets that I've seen are pretty funny on their own. That was part of the inspiration for this. This might end up being my Halloween picture for this year unless I can come up with something else before the end of October. Can't decide if I want to put the time into coloring this one. I'll ink it, fa sho, cause some of my sketches don't read quite right. Need to differentiate those lines! Minimize tangents! Define shapes! Color is... secondary in my mind.

I do want to go on, now, about how proud of myself I am about this silly little comic. I'm not going to when I post it when I decide it's done.
I drew this whole stinkin thing in, like, 2 hours! That's huge for me! I think all the drawing I've been doing this summer has helped immensely! The sheer number of hours I've spent drawing has been paying off!
I know that even just 6 months ago-
1) I would've been too intimidated to even do a one-page comic. (now I'm thinking of doing a follow-up to this one. Haven't decided yet. Don't hold me to it)
2) It would've taken me a week to do the same amount of work- not because it takes that long, but because I would've spent a whole day on each frame trying to perfect it instead of allowing myself to clean it up later.
3) The simple act of drawing makes you better at drawing. You do a thing for long enough, you kinda get the hang of it. I don't consider myself to be that great at it, but I think I'm competent, at least.
4) Admittedly, just having the time to draw is a huge factor! In the past, yeah, I've had time when I -could- draw, but it was always after getting home from my day job and I was tired and just wanted to sit and vege. I still do. I'm very lucky that I have a day job that pays enough, now, and also allows me time to draw when I can. Make no mistake, when I'm at work, it comes first. No matter what. But, when I have time, I grab my tablet and doodle. Most of those doodles probably won't ever see the light of day, but that's the key!

To get off my list, I took college art classes for, combined, 4 years. I can't say how many times I was told to 'keep a sketchbook' and I tried. For years, I kept a pad of paper and I never did anything with it because I thought I was supposed to be struck with inspiration upon seeing a landscape or something. Now I know that it's not about that. You keep some kind of medium with you so that when an idea strikes you, you can jot it down and expand on it later! The sketch book is not for making fleshed out works. It's for making notes- quick ideas that you can come back to later.

No one really explained that to me. I spent 4-ish years of college and 20-ish years of my life thinking that sketch books were something to be shown off- to be marveled at how far you've come. Some people are what you might call 'naturals,' and their sketchbooks are full of masterpieces- there is something to be said for that, but for the rest of us mortals, I recommend taking notes and drawing any time you are able to. And if you're too tired to sketch, maybe scribble some notes for yourself. Ideas, dreams, anything you think is worth putting to paper!

TL:DR Practice doesn't always make perfect, but it gets you that much closer! Also, take notes/ sketch whenever you can!