inkdick: june 07 2009 a mixed promotion
I know what you are thinking: Oh, poor, poor Pranas. He’s making a little bit more money and is so f’ing sad about it boo-hoo-hoo. What an f’ing shame. Give me a break!
And you know what? You’re right. On one hand it is very dumb of me to be upset about a promotion. I mean, more money is more money, especially in this economy. On the other hand, I’ve seen too many of my friends in the arts (especially in comics) that after they graduate they get the day job to pay the bills and do their art at night or in their free time but eventually fall into “The Trap” as I like to call it. Now some of these folks can manage to do both the day job and their art just fine. Some finally get to the point where they actually make a living at doing their art and can quit the day job. But there is that portion, the one that scares me and that I can see myself easily easily slipping into, where the day job becomes their only job and they give up on the art they used to love doing. This is The Trap. I don’t want to fall into The Trap.
So yes, I am happy to be making more money, even if it’s just a tiny bit more it will make a difference for me, but I’m nervous about losing focus on the main life-goal right now: becoming a professional cartoonist. I just can’t let myself lose focus on what is really important.
July 6th, 2009 at 1:22 am
I hear ya!
I just started working at a comic book shop, and it’s great, but I hope I doesn’t make me lose steam as far as making comics goes. As soon as I start thinking things like “Meh, I’ll do it tomorrow” I give myself a swift kick in the ass and force myself to work twice as hard!
July 6th, 2009 at 1:32 am
No promotion could ever stop me from having pop-tarts for dinner
July 6th, 2009 at 1:43 am
But from the looks of it, you hate that place way too much to fall into it’s trap, even if it does pay the bills. And even if you started to fall into the trap, I think it’d be more gradual. Not just waking up one morning like “OH FUCK, IT’S THE TRAP” or something.
But then again, I don’t know, I just read the comic :T
July 6th, 2009 at 7:36 am
I think this is very insightful — It’s normal to have mixed feelings about these things because it’s not exactly what you want out of life. On the upside, it take a lot of time and energy to struggle with not enough money, so a little more dough may provide some more of those things.
I don’t think you’ll have any trouble staying focused on comics.
July 6th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
I don’t think working at a peanut shop is the kind of career you get stuck in for decades so you shouldn’t worry about The Trap yet.