Single panels have always been a challenge for me as well. Dialing in that combo of concise editing of humor and image to arrive at a perfect encapsulation takes way more time than banging out a multi-panel comic. Sam Gross was one the masters at this. But even for the thousands of successful cartoons he created, he drew god knows how many concepts before honing in on his finals.
I feel like a lot of people assume making a single-panel cartoon would be easy because it's a bite-sized image/concept, but damn, that honestly makes it extra hard because you really have to hit all your marks for it to work.
Coming up with an idea is usually the easy part-- like you said, it's the editing into something great that takes most of the time/effort.
I am literally avoiding drawing ideas at this very moment because I know I'm going to have to re-draw the same idea a hundred times and I don't wannntttt toooo, but after this comment... Imma do it!
Also thank you so much for this Sam Gross interview, I'm going to DEVOUR this!!! 🤤
And yes I struggle to be patient with myself. I’m trying to remember to create more time in my life to get better at the things I want to get better at. Doing them consistently after a while will help.
I don’t ever find or give myself the space to create in a cafe. Maybe I should start.
Working from a café always feeds my inner romantic, which makes me happy. I get to pretend I'm a lil Parisian or something, hah. I definitely recommend it. Even just sipping a drink and staring into the distance is a rare gift.
Setting aside the time to intentionally grow is weirdly hard! But like anything, even that I know is a muscle that can be trained.
My life feels fuller any and every time I allow myself this space. I hope you're able to set aside some time for yourself soon, even if just to watch the clouds pass by.
Thank you for sharing that Liana Finck video. I hadn’t seen that. It is certainly encouraging that she spends 2 hours tinkering and allowing her mind to work out what it wants to say and draw. I think those “bad drawings” are probably just experiments that aren’t ready.
I smiled when I saw that you’d already had the solution. Sometimes we create and want to come back to it to make it better. And later we give thanks for that version of ourselves who did that work that helps us now.
It's so calming to watch a seasoned professional be so patient with themselves.
I completely agree that the "bad drawings" are experimentation, like fitting together unexpected puzzle pieces and finding new and unexpected connections until suddenly a whole idea comes together.
I often forget I have piles and piles of old ideas I've never fully realized. Sometimes I push past them because I feel stuck and I get too uncomfortable-- but coming back days, weeks, months later and suddenly it feels fresh again and exciting to develop!
Single panels have always been a challenge for me as well. Dialing in that combo of concise editing of humor and image to arrive at a perfect encapsulation takes way more time than banging out a multi-panel comic. Sam Gross was one the masters at this. But even for the thousands of successful cartoons he created, he drew god knows how many concepts before honing in on his finals.
You like this interview: https://www.tcj.com/sam-gross/
Hi E.R.,
I couldn't have put this better myself!
I feel like a lot of people assume making a single-panel cartoon would be easy because it's a bite-sized image/concept, but damn, that honestly makes it extra hard because you really have to hit all your marks for it to work.
Coming up with an idea is usually the easy part-- like you said, it's the editing into something great that takes most of the time/effort.
I am literally avoiding drawing ideas at this very moment because I know I'm going to have to re-draw the same idea a hundred times and I don't wannntttt toooo, but after this comment... Imma do it!
Also thank you so much for this Sam Gross interview, I'm going to DEVOUR this!!! 🤤
And yes I struggle to be patient with myself. I’m trying to remember to create more time in my life to get better at the things I want to get better at. Doing them consistently after a while will help.
I don’t ever find or give myself the space to create in a cafe. Maybe I should start.
Hi Dekera!
Working from a café always feeds my inner romantic, which makes me happy. I get to pretend I'm a lil Parisian or something, hah. I definitely recommend it. Even just sipping a drink and staring into the distance is a rare gift.
Setting aside the time to intentionally grow is weirdly hard! But like anything, even that I know is a muscle that can be trained.
My life feels fuller any and every time I allow myself this space. I hope you're able to set aside some time for yourself soon, even if just to watch the clouds pass by.
Thank you for sharing that Liana Finck video. I hadn’t seen that. It is certainly encouraging that she spends 2 hours tinkering and allowing her mind to work out what it wants to say and draw. I think those “bad drawings” are probably just experiments that aren’t ready.
I smiled when I saw that you’d already had the solution. Sometimes we create and want to come back to it to make it better. And later we give thanks for that version of ourselves who did that work that helps us now.
Thank you for sharing!
Right?!? I love this Liana Finck video.
It's so calming to watch a seasoned professional be so patient with themselves.
I completely agree that the "bad drawings" are experimentation, like fitting together unexpected puzzle pieces and finding new and unexpected connections until suddenly a whole idea comes together.
I often forget I have piles and piles of old ideas I've never fully realized. Sometimes I push past them because I feel stuck and I get too uncomfortable-- but coming back days, weeks, months later and suddenly it feels fresh again and exciting to develop!
I'm glad you enjoyed the post, Dekera! :D