As more news comes down that another magazine is closing it’s doors I can’t help but think, “Did no one see this day coming?”. I don’t mean any one particular magazine, I’m just saying – in general – everyone had to see this day on the horizon when newspapers were (pardon the pun) folding right and left. The advent of the internet changed the world. The easy, inexpensive proliferation of its use ushered in a new way of life and with the introduction of the ipad and other pad and portable technology we are seeing a paradigm shift that will change the future of mankind.

As the reality of the recent recession set in I remember news outlets echoing the same sentiments, “as the markets level off and profits begin to rise the jobs will come back and, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.” All I could think then was, “the jobs will never come back. Those industries that were gutted when the market collapsed, they’re footnotes in history. Gone. Forever.” Of course I tend to be a bit over dramatic at times, but for the most part I am right. I’d say 95% of the jobs lost in the market will never, ever return. Look for new ones.

But how does this relate to magazines closing? It’s related in that a lot of people seem to be acting like there was never any writing on the wall, just the way millions of people acted when the housing bubble burst. The only way you could miss seeing these changes coming is if you were in a coma.

The paradigm shift from analog to digital brings with it change in EVERYTHING. Digital changed the postal service. It’s changed music distribution. Movie distribution. Television distribution. Sex. Community and, of course, print. After the pad devices hit the market it there was only a matter of time before print distribution would change. The first real changes were with newspapers (to be fair blogs started the newspaper’s downfall, pad devices just built the coffin and made the funeral arrangements). I always told friends and family that magazines would be next and it looks like I was right. Of course it doesn’t take a genius analyst to see all this coming, just someone paying attention.

So, as people are apt to do around this time of year, I decided to put some of my predictions for the next few years down for documentation and see if I’m as good as I think I am at seeing whats coming up or if I’m just pessimistic as some people have stated.

Let’s say that in the next five years:

• Newspapers will be entirely digital
• Magazines will be entirely digital
• Over half of all books read will be on a mobile or pad device
• 100% of music will be downloadable only
• Over half of all movie rental and sales will be digital downloads
• Over half of all video game rental and sales will be digital downloads or played on mobile or pad devices
• Public libraries will dwindle to just over half the number there are in 2012
• Crowdsourcing will start to take shape as a seriously considered business model in many industries

I first want to say, “Happy Holidays!” to everyone and hope that each of you had a great and safe Thanksgiving. As for the lack of comic posts for pretty much the entirety of this month I want to apologize. I don’t know how many times I can say that I am sorry about my schedule before it starts to fall on deaf ears, but each time that I do apologize I truly mean it. I promise to do my best to update more often in the month of December. I cannot promise it will be three comics a week right now, but I will do at least a Christmas day comic and a New Years comic.

Over the long weekend I have been doing a lot of thinking about the comic and a lot of work on the second Robot Friday book, Cats in Space and other such nonsense, and I really do have big plans for next year. I am working to clear a lot of my outside schedule so that I can put more creative time in Robot Friday for next year. I will make an official announcement for scheduling some time early 2012 but I really do plan on sticking to a 3 day a week schedule for all of next year.

I’ve been very pleased with how the comic has progressed and the projects I have been able to complete with Robot Friday this year and I promise that I will only step up the production and fun factor in the year to come. Unfortunately my very busy year in 2011 has gotten the best of me in these last two months of year and I really need to slow it down a bit, take a breather, draw for fun and get things in order for next year. Thank you all for understanding and for spreading the word and for reading.

Just a reminder, I will do my best to get more comics up next month, but especially on Christmas and New Years. Thanks again and have a great Holiday

As I read through my back log of comics, thanks to the DCU New 52, I was looking at the artwork of a few of these books and was marveling at some of the detail the artists put in some of these pages in so little time as, I’m sure, there production schedule allows. Those thoughts lead me to thinking about what it was like for me as I tried to break into professional art.

Mind you, I am not anywhere on the level of some of these guys drawing comics today in terms of illustration skill, but I have managed to fill the past 15 or so years of my career as a professional artist in one fashion or another. My primary skill set has fallen in the general graphic design realm with some illustration work thrown in, fairly standard skills for anyone in the business today. Putting my resume aside, let’s talk about what it takes to actually break into the art business as a professional.

In my opinion, and experience, there is only two things a person needs to possess to break into the art business (or any business to be honest). Those two things are courage and will. That’s it.

I remember, as a teenager and young adult, reading anything I could get my hands on about how to become a professional designer, artist, illustrator, comic book artists or whatever and a lot of what were in many of those books have stuck with me over the decades. But almost everyone of the books or articles or anything I’ve ever read on the subject of making a living as an artist has always gone way over the top in terms what it takes to “make it”. I’ve since read, just recently, that a lot of people giving advice to younger upstarts often do it in a way that it discourages these new upstarts, it keeps them from becoming the new competition, because the art business is pretty much nothing but a competition.

I’d read books that would tell me stuff like, “you need to learn to draw everything, trees, cars, cats, dogs, people, clothes, hair, kids, buildings, clouds, dirt, mold, debris and anything else you have to use your imagination to come up with just to get into the comic book business.” Although this is great advice, you do need to know how to draw as much as possible, I think it discourages right off the bat. It’s like reading instructions for building a cabinet that are poorly written, “First open the box and layout all the contents, next find plank A with exterior B side C facing you, place widget A1 into side C opening 2 and affix resin to properly secure the widget.” Really all they could say is, “Put the widget into the hole in plank A” and that would be PLENTY to get the ball rolling, but if the instructions are overly complicated it discourages you from even starting the project. So it goes with giving advice to people wanting to know how to break into the art business.

In this day age,  so many of us are on such a level playing field that only two things really do make or break it for us, courage and will. Someone wanting to break into art today needs to have the confidence in themselves to be the one to step up to the plate and tell everyone they meet that they know that they can do the job, after that you need the drive to get the job done. The art business is not easy, no matter the field you go into or if you work for yourself. The art business is very, very hard. Almost daily you will be faced with people and experiences that will serve to undermine your Will to be in the business, but the art business is also very satisfying.

So, only two things needed to get into art as a living, Courage and Will, outside of that you can pretty much put it all together for yourself. Of course courage and will won’t be everything, you’ll need the talent and skills that it takes to be an artist and if you just can’t get that up to professional level then the market will give you plenty of notice on that, but without courage and will you’re never gonna find out if you have what it takes. So, if you’re wanting to “break in” then make as much art as you can, put a portfolio online and start telling people that hire artists that you have what it takes to do the job and if they give you the chance to do it then you better damn well do it, or at least finish it, or there may never be a second chance. Good luck and have fun!

If you follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ you’ll know that I’ve been working on the cover to the second Robot Friday comic book for a couple of weeks now and it’s finally finished! The first book I did took me a very LONG time to complete because I was trying to figure out everything as I went along. Book two, Cats in Space and Other Such Nonsense, is proving to be much smoother.

Visually I pretty much have everything in order now that the cover is done. Now I just need to sit down and plug all the commentary into it along with a few other literary things, then tie up some loose ends and it’ll be ready to buy in time for Christmas!

In the meantime, though, below is a look at the cover. By the end of October I plan to have the book finished and it will be online to buy in print and digital format right after Thanksgiving. Enjoy and spread the word

I’ve always kind of been fascinated with the Green Lantern character, though I never have read any of the books until now. A week or so ago I picked up the DC New 52 Green Lantern and I love it. I love the art and the story. What struck me as some of the coolest looking stuff in the book were the little blue skinned, big headed guys called the Guardians. I’d seen them before in comics and magazines and, of course, cartoons, But I never really understood them or thought much about them, but the art in the #1 Green Lantern really makes them stand out and gives them that authority they deserve.

I just really think the Guardians have a wonderful character design and I just had to take a crack at it for a blog sketch this Friday. I’m pleased with how it turned out and I think I’ll do a whole group sketch and maybe throw in Sinistro as well. Maybe. But for now, enjoy. Spread the word and thanks for reading