From a very young age, my list of want-to-be's went something like this:
1. Author 1. Film writer/director << tied for first
2. Traditional animator (then came Pixar, dream-ruiner)
3. Comic book artist
I bailed pretty early on the animator and comic-book routes simply because, after attempting my own comics and animations, I realized how much work drawing full-time is.
But here's the thing. I don't think I ever got over the hump. Turns out you do actually speed up, as an artist - it takes some serious 'arting', but you do.
Right now I'm in the midst of pushing out more completed art than ever before. I've done another short animation lately. It was about 50 frames worth of drawings, and I was determined to finished it within four full days of work (which I think I managed). It's not smooth yet, but I finished what I'd determined to.
I've also done several big pieces of what I call 'promotional artwork'; generally to do with characters from The Meddler, my current novel, nearing publication with every passing day (it's looking like an August launch date).
Finally, I've just finished a full-page inked picture for 'In Places Between', an anthology being published by the Imaginative Fiction Writer's Association in Calgary. This is only a small piece of it, but it will soon be available to the world! Yay!
So if you've ever wanted to do art for a living, and become promptly discouraged after your first few pieces take AGES, don't despair! Just keep doing it. Keep practicing. You will speed up, and even if you don't, slow and steady is still moving forward.
Now here's a solar siren who goes by the nickname Twist, created by a writer who is not yet revealed to me and rendered by Yours Truly in pencils and ink. Will update when I have details - it's a great short story!
