A dancing Santa that has been known to cause trouble here at the Central.
Christmas Eve Status Report – 122419
Merry Christmas Eve, everyone.
This is just a note to wish you well tonight. Stay safe. Clean your rooftops so Santa doesn’t slip off. Leave something out for the reindeer. Santa gets enough to eat as it is.
As for life here at the Central, I’m enjoying my Holiday break. Much needed and much appreciated. If you need to reach me, please use email but note I might not get back to you until next week.
Also, I just posted a behind-the-scenes photo tour of my new writing and art studio to Patreon. Please head on over there to check it out. Available on the behind-the-scenes tier and up.
Ps. Make sure to come back to the blog tomorrow for a special Christmas present from me to you.
As part of the semi-regular-until-the-end-of-the-year Recap Tunnel, I’ll be closing off 2019 with various things and/or reflections from/on the past year. First up is Recap Tunnel: YouTube Video Round-up Part 1 of 2.
The first round is:
Please subscribe to my YouTube channel here so you don’t miss the latest videos.
Background: A Superman intarsia clock I made in junior high. Foreground: a Lego Enterprise (a gift from my son)
Very soon the Timeline of All Things goes into a new decade so it’s fair to begin reviewing 2019.
Soon we’ll all be taking some time to think and reflect and look forward to the 2020s with excitement and a little fear.
Soon everyone on Earth will have to get used to writing 2020 when they date something.
This is a heads up that between now and when the year closes out, some blog entries will show up recapping various items from the past year in an effort to play some good old-fashioned “remember when.”
First up, and solely because I want to give people time and not do it at the last-minute, my freelance rates are changing January 1, 2020, so if you would like someone to edit your book/comic, design your book/comic cover, layout the interior, or do custom artwork, please go here to see my current rates and extensive experience. I will honor 2019’s rates if I’m booked by the end of the day on December 31 even if you’re project won’t be ready for me to work on until early in the New Year.
Second up are the Public Journals. These are the entries that are titled, “On Fill-in-the-blank.” I’m thinking of making a page here on the site linking to them all. They regularly air on social media. These have been fun to do and are a bit cathartic. Due to their short nature, they are good for voicing an opinion or concern without going on and on about it. In short, they are meant to be straight, brief, and to the point. Feel free to poke around the blog to track down the entries. You can make a game out of it. (Or just use this cheat link.)
Have a good day, people.
Remember, The Canister X Transmission goes out tomorrow. Be sure to subscribe here so you don’t miss it.
Last night I got a phone call from Long & McQuade and it turned out I won a free Yamaha FG800 acoustic guitar!
Watch the vLog below to hear the story and get a good look at this beautiful instrument.
Make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss the latest video.
Making vLogs was always part of my YouTube plan and today marks the release of the first one. More coming. Still deciding on vLogging frequency but don’t worry, I will keep you entertained in the meantime.
On a side note, the Holidays are right around the corner. Did you get something for that superhero and/or monster fan in your life? If not, please visit my Book and Comic Shop for last-minute reading purchases. Thanks.
I’ve officially entered that season where I’m gearing up for the Holidays. And I know I’m gearing up for the Holidays because I’ve hit my wall after four months of going hard trying to rebuild my career after being ill for so long. Next week is Christmas week and I’m taking the week off effective Sunday. Daily blog posts are still planned as is the newsletter. If you’re a Patreon subscriber, the behind-the-scenes tier airs next week. But that’s pretty much it for me for the Holidays. I’ll be back in full swing the week after.
Also, I have a Christmas thing planned for both Patreon and this blog (both different special Christmas things), so make sure you’re hooked up to All Things A.P. Fuchs before next week rolls around so you get everything.
In the end, this break is needed. I plan to read, sleep, watch a little TV, and eat and visit.
Ps. Today on my Patreon page was a Patron-first Announcement revealing the real title of Project Jackass. As a patron, you get project reveal news before anyone else. Subscribe today for as little as a buck to make sure you’re always in the loop. (Other things like an ongoing serial novel, bonus posts, and more should keep you busy between Patron-first Announcements.)
A couple of bookshelves showing part of the library here at the Central.
As I’m getting back into the swing of creating things, I’m also in a place where I’m digging into the masters of the mediums I pursue to see what their thoughts are/were on a particular craft and how those views align or don’t align with my own (the latter approached with an open mind so I’m not closed off in my thinking). In the case of today’s blog entry, quotes on writing were the order of the day.
I’m a firm believer in always learning even if there are stumbles along the way. I also believe every artist regardless of their craft never arrive. Practicing a craft is a lifetime pursuit and ends when you die. Perfection will never be obtained because there is always one punctuation mark to adjust or one fine line on a drawing to tweak. The goal is to do your best while making every effort to improve along the way.
Here are three quotes on writing–more specifically reading–to ponder:
“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” – Stephen King
I am in agreement here, and by reading, Mr. King is talking about actual reading, not social media or simple headlines. Reading is part of the job.
And so . . .
“Read, read, read. Read everything–trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.” – William Faulkner
This I’ve practiced since I started in this field. I believe that every piece of writing has at least one good sentence in it, or one good turn-of-phrase, or one lesson of some sort to learn. The ideal is to find all those things repeatedly in the same book, but at a minimum, every type of writing has at least one thing going for it that is worth learning from.
“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” – Ray Bradbury
I chose this one because I was often criticized for living in Fantasyland. I’ll let this one speak to you in its own way. I know how it’s spoken to me.
Last, in regards to reading, this is a note to say the latest chapter of Gigantigator Death Machine was posted to Patreon today. Please go here to start reading this exciting and terrifying serial novel and its preceding chapters for just a buck. Thanks.
Welcome to my Inktober 2019 Artwork Video Showcase!
As promised, here is the video showcasing this year’s Inktober efforts.
My Ello account has also been updated to show the three collages created from 31 drawings.
Inktober was completed on schedule, with 31 ink sketches done in 31 days at a rate of one per day. Images were shared each day on social media, with Instagram being where I uploaded them.
Please watch the video below and please subscribe to my YouTube channel so you can ensure you receive notifications of each new video the moment they are uploaded.
Project Jackass notebook plus some tools. Image distorted because project specifics have not yet been formally announced.
There is a convergence of reality and fiction occurring.
We’re in a thinking phase at the moment. Project Cobalt has taken a new turn and more coherency is happening with Project Jackass.
These are comics.
Timelines are forming both in their respective fictitious worlds and in their correlation to our world. An even further, even more bizarre formation is occurring on how these timelines correlate to their debut in our world.
Again, it’s a strange convergence of fiction and reality these days and I’m glad to be a part of it.
As well, a lot of thought is being given to the concept of information and what that really is. I’m discovering information has complete governance over every single thing we do at all times in all ways in all dimensions and in all states of being. The extrapolation of this requires an essay so I’ll give you that as a teaser for now. Needless to say, it has altered my worldview and is jarring at times.
Time to work. Have a good day.
Ps. The latest issue of The Canister X Transmission, my weekly newsletter, went out on Saturday. If you missed it, please go here to get caught up on back issues and be sure to subscribe so you get the latest edition all the way over on the other side of the week.
My new business cards–printed by Vistaprint–came in along with return address labels for stuff shipping out of Axiom-man Central among other purposes. Take a look at this unboxing video showcase to see the new cards.
Business cards are critical in the art world and I’ve been using them in one way or another since I published my first book back in 2003. I might have even had some before then. I can’t remember. Regardless, it still surprises me when I meet creators at conventions and they don’t have a card so I can follow up with them. Business cards are Publishing 101 so if you don’t have some of your own for whatever you do, better get going on that.
Be sure to subscribe to the channel by going here so you don’t miss the latest video.
