Draw a 200 Page Graphic Novel in 15 Minutes

OK that is a dumb clickbaity headline. I’ll explain in a minute. I am drawing a 200 page graphic novel and it is a looong process. It can be a little overwhelming. I’m also not particularly fast with drawing. No “World’s Fastest Cartoonist” title coming my way.

I’m lucky enough to have a book contract but it’s not remotely close to supporting me financially. So drawing comes second to my “day job” responsibilities. I also have a wife and 2 year old that inexplicably want to spend time with me. Oh, and a new baby on the way. So, even less drawing time is right around the corner.

Those details are specific to me but the problem of not enough time is universal. A question that successful creators are constantly asked is where do you find the time to write, draw, post on social media, do the thing? The answer isn’t magic. They make it a priority and find the time.

I sometimes have little bits of time but don’t bother with drawing because I need to be in the right frame of mind/have enough time to get anything significant done. I also have that thing where if I do start drawing, I’ll get in the zone and not want to stop to eat or go to bed and hours will fly by. The other night though I did something different.

It was getting late and I wanted to shower. I had about a ½ hour or so before it was time for bed. Not really enough time to start drawing anything and still shower but I wasn’t going to take a 30 minute shower. Normally I’d scroll through TikTok or whatever. Instead, I set a timer on my phone for 15 minutes.

And what do you know, I got in to the zone. I did end up drawing for maybe 20 minutes to finish up the segment I was working on. But still time to shower and go to bed at a reasonable hour.

That was time I almost wrote off as not significant enough to get anything done. But there it was, a little chunk of the page now completed that hadn’t existed just a few minutes earlier. I’ll be implementing this from here on out. I’ll still have longer periods I’m able to devote to drawing but I’ll also be setting my timer and stealing those little 10 and 15 minute sessions.

Make it a priority and find the time.

Other Stuff

The Dungeons and Dragons movie was thoroughly entertaining. I haven’t played D&D since high school (a looong time ago). I don’t particularly remember how to play and the rules have changed a few times since then anyway. But I still like the idea of D&D.

I actually wen’t with my high school buddy who was also our dungeon master. He was more into D&D than I was back in the day and also read a bunch of the novels. The movie is apparently chock full of references and lore. But you don’t need to know any of that to enjoy the film. It was a lot of fun. Highly recommended.

Favorite Thing I Drew This Month

Pencils of a page from Woodland Hills. The color version is from my original pitch. I actually still like the original for the most part but it’s 2 or 3 years old now and I’ve updated the designs on some of the characters. The new version is obviously the same thing but I also wanted the characters facing the reader a little more. I could have just tweaked the original but I think the new version is stronger.

Family Stuff

It was Sophia’s birthday, we went to The Aquarium of the Pacific. And later in the month we went sledding. River has played in the snow before but this was his first time sledding. He had a blast. We’ll have to find a bigger hill next time.