Batgirl & Flexing the Productivity Muscles

Well, last week was a personal "8" as far as productivity goes. I pushed myself hard and, while there were a few times I slacked off(mainly because I was so tired that the page looked blurry and I needed a nap, for the most part I met last weeks main goal of five pages. That may mean a lot to a seasoned pro in the comic book industry, but for someone who still works part-time 3-4 hours a day 4 days a week and who hasn't drawn a whole lot until she quit her day job three weeks ago, it means a lot. It feels like I'm starting off towards the right direction.

This week, however, is almost the exact opposite. I would rate it as a "3". Things are moving at a sloths pace as far as productivity goes. Of course the fact that I've had to take my roommate/best friend to the emergency room Tuesday, I still have to file my w2 form, I have packing that needs to be finished since my lease is up in a week and a half and I'll have to move out, and that I've also have been taking care of the business side of things this week...all of these things take time. I'm working on updating this website and improving things and I have a few different projects that are moving towards fruition--some of them are completely out of the blue, others that have been planned for almost a year now. There's a lot of exciting things I'm working on right now that I really can't talk about.

Which is why it's so frustrating when life interferes with my drawing time. But it's like working out. You push yourself hard and then that muscle needs a short rest before you build it up again.  As long as I push myself even harder next week, I can move to a heavier "weight" and last weeks "personal best" will seem a lot easier to pull off.  Right now though, I need to take care of all the other things I've been putting off all month so I can draw without that nagging feeling in the back of my head. :p

Alright, well I'm signing off. I need to get to bed so I can get up at four tomorrow and try again. 

Good Night!

Rachael

Exausted, But Happy.

Hey there internet peoples. 

I feel really bad that I don't update this blog more often, but frankly theres not that much to report. Not to mention that I've been so busy lately that I barely have time to catch a full night's sleep let alone blog. 

I've been hard at work these past two weeks on the comic book project I'm doing for "company x", Teaching art classes partime in an afterschool program, and taking Taekwondo. Theres not much room in my schedule for relaxing.  Last night I only got three hours of sleep(and an hour nap) while trying to meet a self-imposed deadline/goal. I'm up to drawing five pages a week, which might not be to hard for a seasoned pro, but for a noob freelancer who also has another job, it's a huge improvement. :) I'm drawing on average 9 hours a day(With about 12 hours a day Friday and Saturday) , which is alot more than I'm used to back when I had my old job.  Now that this weeks goal is met, I get to do it allll again starting tomarrow. Don't get me wrong--I'm busy, stressed, exaughsted and I would kill for a "day off"...but I've never been happier. I have that kind of joyful/peaceful feeling when I finish a page a day like I get when i'm at the beach, sitting on the porch when its pouring down rain, or on a roadtrip. I just have the biggest smile on my face lately and I can't get rid of it, even if I wanted to.

Also, I'm really going to put more effort keep this blog rolling. Even if I just have to upload pictures some weeks, because I haven't had time to sketch. It will still be a step in the right direction.

Ok, I'll have to cut this short. I can barely keep my eyes open and I have to be up in five hours.

laters,

Rachael

A New Chapter

Time Agent Mack:


Well, I can now say that I'm a full-time comic book artist. I quit the Comcast/Convergys Call Center this last thursday and now I'm buckling down on focusing on my various art jobs that have been getting neglected while I tried to work two jobs.

Not only was I working at the call-center this past month, but I've also taken a part time job as a teacher in an After School Art program(which is run by the same people who run the Tae Kwon Do dojo in town, so I get a nice little discount there) and was pretty much running from one job to the next and then coming home and going straight to bed. I was doing very little drawing, unless it was for a demonstration for my students.

So when you double that up that everyone in the call center was already afraid of losing their job because they've firing people for the stupidest reasons lately, I decided to just cut through the bullshit and quit. I hated it there. I really did. Plus, I still have an agreement with Company x to do a miniseries with them. It's a small published, so its not enough to support myself on alone, but I still have my teaching job

--and you know what? I work twice as hard now to make less pay but I love every damn second of it. I wake up at 5 am, sit down at my art desk at 6am and draw till 3 pm(with a break and a lunch fit in there somewhere) the go to my job at the Art Academy(Monday through Thursday), go to Tae Kwon do, get home by 8:30 and then either finish up whatever work I have for that day, clean the apartment, or hang with my friends till about ten or eleven, then hit the hay. On Fridays or Saturdays, I just draw from 6am till 7pm till its time to go to Tae Kwon Do or sketch club. It's proving to be a real challenge to actually draw a page a day, but I'm getting there. It's just going to take a week or two to get back to that point.

Once I'm done with the current project I'm working on, it will be about time for Heroes or the San Diego Comic Con, so what I'm doing is saving my Tax refund(which is apparently going to be a VERY nice little pay check) to pay for room and air fare so I can get out and look for the next job.

Right now I'm at a bit of a crossroads and I have a lot of decisions that need to be made--what with my lease being up for the apartment and deciding if I want to move back in with mom till another friend of mine can split the cost of an apartment with me, head out to Hawaii and stay with my brother for awhile, Go to College in Savannah Georgia in the fall, stay here and take the preschool teacher job thats been offered to me to start in august, move out to Encinitas and go to Watts Atelier and work as a Caricature Artist, continue to try and make it as a freelance artist, etc.....lots of choices to be made. But right now I'm to focused on finishing pencils on the comic book page thats on my drafting table to dwell on anything else for to long. Eithewr way, this is the start of a new adventure for me.

Alright, well thats more than long enough.
I'll post more later.

Halloween and 24 hour Comics

I love this time of year. Halloween isn't my favorite holiday, but it is one that I absolutely love. This year, I'm continuing the tradition that me and my friends have of "whoring up" are regular halloween costumes at midnight and heading off to the Rocky Horror Picture Show with all of the necessary supplies in tow---and watching old horror movies up until that day.  However, I do miss the old Halloween traditions--innocent costumes, trick or treating, fun pranks, etc.

I look forward to creating another October tradition this year with the 24 hour comic event. Tomorrow morning, I meet up with my pals from sketch club and set out to do 24 pages in 24 hours. I might post some of the pages here once I'm done and I'll be updating Twitter via my phone every hour(or at least I'll try to. :P) from 9:00 am Saturday(It starts at ten) until 10:00am on Sunday. I'm totally stoked. I participated in the last 24 hour comic event that Schetch club did back in May and I had a blast(Even though I only managed to finish 10 pages). So this is going to be great. :)

Anywho, the sketch I drew here is the villian for the Young Justice three page comic book sample that I'm working on for Wizard World Texas. I was really going for an 90's Image era with the look of his costume--what with the excess of armor and the pointy fingers, and so on.  

Well, thats it for today, folks.

Rachael.

Internet deprived, but not dead.

Sorry about taking so long to update, once again. This time, it wasn't my fault though. :D 

I moved into my first apartment just a month ago and, since I had been using my moms computer in order to access the internet and to update this blog, once I moved out I was completely cut off. So I eventually got my computer's power cord fixed( After waiting almost six months for our computer manufacturer to send us one on our insurance plan) and it my laptop worked great!...For the first few hours before it complete crashed and became unsalvageable.  So I've been without any internet connection till my roommate got a used computer a week or two ago and then she wasn't able to get her old scanner/printer till just a few days ago.  So yeah...I want to get a computer. Maybe a Mac...I just don't have a credit history to get one at Best Buy, otherwise I would-and thats coming from me, someone who's afraid to get anything on credit.

I really love my new apartment, though. So that's a plus ^_^ I'm going to try and get a few pictures up of it on here...once, y'know, I tidy it up a bit...:-P 

And I got my first paying art gig! More on that later...I'm not going to be making quite enough to go part time, though I still might do so since I'm starting to get tired of my "Comcastic" call center job. I can probably make up for the lost revenue by offering to do commissions up at work to the people I know are interested. I love the project I'll be working on, though. It's a really fun and original story with a lot of imagination.

Nothing is finalized with the project yet,  so I'm still walking in a bit tentatively. In the meantime, while I wait for the business side of things to be decided and to get a contract signed, I'm working on a Young Justice sample that includes the characters above (Robin, Impulse, Superboy) in preparation for Wizard World Texas. I'm trying to get a portfolio put together while simultaneously working overtime at work to make sure I can afford the trip to Dallas/Arlington.  Things are stressful and a little bit overwhelming at times, but I couldn't be happier. I feel like things in my life are falling into place and like I'm finally in alignment with my goals and aspirations. Like I finally got my drivers license! Whoo-hoo!. It only took me until..I was...almost 20...X(

So that's it for now. Sorry about the long-ass blog entry, just felt like I had a lot happen this month that I should put out there. The next one should be shorter. Promise. 

Until next time,

Rachael

Batman: Gotham Knight pages.

So here's the Batman: Gotham Knight pages I did a few weeks ago. S'Not much, but it's a start.

I finished the Twilight pages I've been working on these past two weeks today and I've been busy as ever. I've managed to draw about 35 hours this past week while working a 40 hour a week job. I remember when I thought this would be impossible. But it seems that the more busy I become, the more efficient I am.

However, now that those pages are done, I'm going to take the next two weeks off before I start the Torchwood(or Doctor Who. Haven't decided yet and I love both) sample pages. I'm moving into my first apartment next week and I haven't even started packing. Plus, I still have to drive out to my Dad's to get my furniture and my books out of storage.

This week will most likely be spent getting ready for the move, drawing up a few comic strips for a friends up and coming web comic, and getting some reading done. I've had the "Breaking Dawn" book for almost a month now and I'm only a hundred pages into it. Most of my friends have managed to read it twice now. And I also have a large stack of comics begging to be read.

I'll post the Twilight pages as soon as I can make it down to the nearest Kinkos. Until then, I'm posting a lil' youtube video so that people who don't know what Twilight is(i.e., most of my comic book peoples) can get a gist of it and see what the characters are supposed to look like. Not sure how well I did on capturing a likeness, but lemme know when I post the pages.

Lemme know what you think of the Batman pages! Please feel free to leave me a comment and tell me what I did right and where I failed miserably ;)

Until next time,
Rachael

It's Been A Long Time Coming...

Hello one and all of the two people who might still read this blog(me being one of the two, the other being my friend Ashley who threatened bodily harm to me if I don't start updating my blog on a weekly basis soon.).

Once again, sorry that it's been forever since I've updated. What can I say, other than life has been crazy and hectic as always--but also to much fun to spend to much time in front of a computer. I got a job at the "Comcastic" Convergys call center( Which seems to me to be a text book case of how NOT to run a company. ), I've been getting ready to move into my first apartment(with my Cool Beans roomie/best friend and scarey-as-hell editor, Ashley :) ), I've discovered the awesomeness that is a British TV show called DOCTOR WHO!!!, and I've been increasing my efforts to make a living as a comic book artist by about 300%--I even helped tech a workshop this past week on Comic Book layouts AND I've even had a date(well....It wasn't really a date, but still. :P). I'ts been a crazy summer. Alot in my life has changed and is pushing me in the direction to finally grow into a more independent, responsible, and confident person.

All in all, I feel like I'm moving into the next stage of my life. From the low self-esteem, irresponsible, and lazy teenager and into the low self-esteem, irresponsible, and somewhat-less-lazy young 20-something. :P j/k

I'm honestly am going to try and update this blog more often--either with sketches or submission pages from my portfolio. Lately I've decided that if I want to work in comics, that I need to get used to working two full-time jobs first--Working 40 hours a week at convergys and then working 40 hours a week studying and drawing sample comic book pages from home. So I'm not getting much sleep(except on the weekends.), but I do feel like I'm finally moving in a faster pace towards what I want to accomplish. Soon I'll be making enough from my art so that I can go part-time at Convergys and eventually I'll quit my "day job" all together and work from home or in a studio with my other artist friends. I know that at first I won't be making alot of money in comics but, even if I only make as much as I do at Convergys every month, it will still be worth five times more to me than my usualy paycheck is.

So yeah, busy as a bee. And, actually, I probably need to be getting back to work. So I'll end this little update here. I've included some more rect art in this post that I hope you enjoy. The Ood is a slave race alien that's in an episode or two of Doctor Who and David Tennant is the Guy who plays the Doctor, and then also a caricature of actor Robert Pattinson(EDWARD!!!), and last, but not least, is Time-Agent Mack--My own creation, inspired by the Doctor Who and Torchwood series.

Later peoples! B)

Rachael