From: intruder@cats.ucsc.edu (Isaac Truder)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.info
Subject: Rob Davis Comics Career Article 5 of 9
Date: 2 Sep 92 11:34:19 GMT
Followup-To: rec.arts.comics.misc
Organization: University of California; Santa Cruz



A Mr. Rob Davis, comics aritst, has written a number of articles on the
subject of breaking into the comics business and conducting your business
once you're in.  He has recently personally given me permission to
disseminate his articles to the Internet (they were previously available on
CompuServe).  These articles originally came from a publication called the
Comics Career Newsletter.  This one talks seriously about the prospect any
comics creator will face -- meeting his or her deadline.



                       BEATING THE DEADLINE BLUES
 
                              By Rob Davis
 
 
    It's got to be every freelance creator's nightmare.  The due date on
that project you contracted to do is tomorrow and there's a week's worth
of work left to do on it.  What now?  Pray that your editor or publisher
knew you were slow and left himself plenty of time for you to catch up.
 
    Since almost everyone who reads COMICS CAREER is an aspiring comics
professional not doing comics creation as a living, it may seem a little
premature to have an article about beating deadlines.  The solution,
however, to the deadline problem is one of prevention, not cure.  The
habits an aspiring professional cultivates while practicing at and
perfecting his craft will help him avoid the pitfalls of falling behind
in deadlines.
 
    It isn't bragging when I say that of the many projects I've
undertaken (and there have been some extremely tight ones), I have never
been so much as a day late on any of them.  Is it because I'm a mutant
that needs no sleep or have an inexhaustbible supply of coffee beans?
No, it's because I realized early on that I wasn't going to set the
world on fire with a "flashy style" that I didn't have but that I could
make a decent living if I dedicated myself to becoming dependable in an
acceptable style.
 
    When I first decided to pour everything I had into becoming a comics
artist I learned everything I could about the business.  I quickly
realized how important it was to meet the monthly schedule of comics
production.  Comics readers can be a fickle lot and if the book isn't in
the shop regularly they'll switch to a book that is.  In order for the
book to be on time, I had to be on time.
 
    With a full-time job to support my living and eating habits I had a
short supply of free time.  Charting my day I discovered a large portion
of "wasted" time sleeping -- about nine hours worth on average.  Having
read somewhere that Napoleon (or some such great achieving monarch) got
by on only two hours sleep each night, I decided to decrease my own
sleep.  No, I didn't reduce my sleeping time to two hours, but I did
shave 3 hours off the nine I was spending in slumberland by slowly,
gradually increasing the number of hours I spent awake.  By doing that I
increased my productive time by 21 hours a week!
 
    Now, I don't recommend that everyone attempt this.  I was single
when I did this and for the first few months was cranky as a grizzly
bear first thing in the morning.  I combined this with a schedule that
allowed me to sleep late in the morning while working on my artwork late
into the night when I would be the least distracted.
 
    This schedule aided me later when I needed to occasionally increase
my daily productive time.  I would merely woek until my usual late-nite
hour but set the morning alarm a little earlier the next day.  It was
occasioanl and rare times that I did this.  It worked well for me, but
may not be for everyone.
 
    Once I had the extra hours to work with I had to schedule myself to
sit down at the drawing board at a certain time and end the drawing
session at a specific time in order to make the best use of the new
found time.  When I started doing professional artwork on a regular
basis it made it easier to begin work each day since I had the
discipline to get right to work when the time came.
 
    I'm one of those people who sets his alarm a half hour fast in order
to be on time for appointments and work.  Once I started doing work with
a deadline it struck me that the same principle could be applied to my
new profession.  Thus, when I received my first job with a deadline I
pushed the date forward a few days on my own calendar.
 
    When I made that date with no problems I moved the date forward a
few more days on the next project, until I had pushed my deadline by
nearly a week!
 
    I didn't always hit my self-imposed deadline with total accuracy,
but I did find that it gave me a new freedom to take a day off in the
middle of a project when I felt I needed it.  This gave me a chance to
come back to the drawing board refreshed and ready to tackle the project
once again.  As well it gave me added time to overcome unforseen
obstacles in either the work or my private life, and still does.
 
    In all this I made it clear to those around me, as must be done,
that what I was doing was necessary for me to do my chosen career and do
it well.  I always attempted to have time to spend with family and
friends (not always successfully) as well as time to just relax.  If it
is really important to you most of those around you will understand and
accept what you're trying to do.
 
    To dedicate yourself to obtaining a goal such as becoming a
professional comics artist is very much akin to being obsessed.  You
myst be prepared to sacrifice and accept the fact that some of those
around you may not understand.  Those that stick with you, though, will
eventually reap the benefits with you when you do achieve it.
 
    What seems to plague some new comics professionals and adds to their
inability to meet deadlines is not knowing when to say no.  Overjoyed to
be working in the business that they've dreamed about some new
professional commit themselves to too many projects, or a deadline a
deity couldn't meet.
 
    If you've been working for several years (or at least some months)
perfecting your abilities you should have some idea of how many pages
you can complete in a day or week.  Even then the new pro must realize
that sometimes the first project (and sometimes more difficult projects
later) will cause him to choke up and his normal page production could
drop off to a drizzle rather than a stream.  Of course, this only adds
to the pressure as deadlines loom.  The answer, then, is to be sure not
to over-commit, especially on that all-important first project.
 
    Having a well-organized studio (even if it's the kitchen table) can
save a lot of time as well.  With everything in its place and easy to
find it saves time and lessens the stress of having to stop whatever
you're doing in order to find some item you desperately need.
 
    Some time back Charles Marshal wrote an article about
procrastination in CCN.  For those artists out there who haven't read
it yet, I advise that you do so.  It succinctly points out the pitfalls
of "putting it off" and how to avoid them.  Following this advice can go
a long way toward finishing that project ahead of schedule.
 
    In summary I suppose it could be said that the best cure for
deadline problems is prevention.  Plan ahead, be organized, and don't
commit to a deadline that you know deep down you can't meet.  If you
follow this simple system, you'll never meet a deadline you can't beat.
 
 
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
| This article is Copyright (c) 1992 by Rob Davis.  The author is a
| feelance artist whose work has been seen under a number of different
| company logos.  His professional comics career started with SYPHONS
| #7 from NOW Comics, as a letterer.  He also lettered RUST #'s 1 and
| 2 and penciled, lettered and inked DAI KAMIKAZE!.  At Malibu
| Graphics Rob has penciled and inked several projects.  Among those
| were SCIMIDAR and MERLIN.  For Innovation Rob penciled STRAW MEN,
| MAZE AGENCY, and QUANTUM LEAP.  At Rip-Off Press Rob penciled,
| lettered and inked THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN NEMO.  At Marvel Comics
| Rob penciled theee issues of Hanna Barbera's PIRATES OF DARK WATER.
| At DC Comics Rob has penciled STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, and
| STAR TREK (one issue each as fill-in, so far).  All this as of
| September, 1992.




--
-Hades (Brian V. Hughes) 
	    "Egads! These look like a women's fingerprints"
						   -- Durlock Holmes