There has been a big idea for a graphic novel living in my head for over a couple of years. It’s so big that I keep telling myself that I haven’t had the time to progress it. But the truth is, I’ve been afraid to.
I’m so excited by this big idea that I know if I keep it in my imagination, it can remain as good as I could possibly imagine. I know that as soon as I start drawing it, it will no longer match what I can see it my head, it probably won’t be as good. But no one benefits by my keeping it there. No one else will make this idea in my lifetime – it’s weird but it’s also, potentially, wonderful.
So, I started. And, that thing I put off for almost 2 years now has presence on the page. Is it as good as I imagined? Well, the thing about putting it on the page is that the answer to that question no longer matters because now it’s about responding to what I’ve drawn, not what I imagined I could’ve drawn.
Now that it’s on the page, I can make it better. Other people can help me make it better. And, through the act of drawing, new images and ways of thinking have emerged that I certainly didn’t imagine.
Drawing is progress and it ain’t gonna draw itself.