Welcome to the Sketchbook Confessional for January of 2020! Woo hoo #jewell2020 the future is here!
The Sketchbook Confessional is a place where I post and describe all of the art that I did in one month’s time, an effort to reel in the chaos of art and objectively know what I did and did not do.
Art:
Tilted Sun, my creator-owned one-woman epic sci-fi fantasy comic, reached 97 pages this month, and I placed the series on break to work on some other comics and projects! I’m very happy with finishing 97 pages of a comic on my own. There are many things I learned from this process of creation, and you can read them here.
Overall, if you ever feel like criticizing a comic or a movie or TV show, I would recommend that you try making your own, first. You will see and feel with your own two hands the idiosyncrasies of making HARD directorial decisions, editing, and creating things like shots and settings. Please know that comics artists, letterers, and editors do not get enough credit. Hug/message/support an artist near you today, while they are still alive!!
In other comics news I am cranking along on Crow Magnum, a collaboration between me and author Laurel McHargue! Crow Magnum is a small-town psychic thriller.
Life:
After journaling all of 2019 in a Hobonichi Techo journal, I ordered a 2020 Techo journal for this year. Last year I filled my journal with one-line events like meetings, dinners, or people I met on certain days. This year my goal is to journal in a more long-form way in my written/paper journal, in addition to these blogs, where I can fire off words on a keyboard much faster than on paper.
I started journaling seriously after I visited my grandpa’s house in Houston last year and realized he had all of these amazing journals that he had saved.
While his journals were not longform-written texts or detailed expositions of his day-to-day life, he did have written down events of each day, people he’d met, meetings, and projects he was working on as an executive at Shell.
I thought about how great it would be to have a decade of journals, physical pieces of paper about time, and I decided to go with the Techo as my journal of choice year-over-year.
My Dad is also a journaler, though we don’t know the extent of his journals yet, he has mentioned in many letters to me that he only wishes he had started journaling earlier in his life.
On Marc’s side of the family, we have access to family letters and documents going back as far as the Civil War, including this mysterious book from one of Marc’s ancestors where the ancestor says you may peruse his book of photos, but you must add your own photo to the book:
https://twitter.com/beckyjewell/status/1114529776906264576?s=20
(That book should really be in a museum!) Seeing it made me realize that journaling is a good idea, no matter what time you live in, and no matter who you are. At some point, it all adds up, and at some point, journals, like art, like letters, are all we have about life.
My Grandpa of journaling legend passed away on the morning of January 30th, 2020. After getting a call from my mom at about 9:30 in the morning, I returned from my office in Crystal City to my home. I sat in my art studio, reading and re-reading messages and posts about grandpa from many cousins, aunts, uncles, and extended family members.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door from the mailman - I signed for the package, which contained the 2020 Techo from Japan that I had ordered. It was like some kind of sign - as if fate was saying ‘Keep track of this, you must remember. ’
I was so lucky to see my Grandpa last year in Houston. He was all smiles and very at peace.
Grandpa was so transcendently intelligent and before-his-time that the world almost didn't know what to do with him. He skipped grades, he passed every test, he ended up being not just an executive, but an engineering executive. I still remember looking at some of his mathematics books in the attic of his house in Houston, and just being blown away. That, and finding a slide rule lying around in a closet, and I start to have the smallest glimmers of just how bright he was.
All of that and he was so incredibly kind, and loved his family. He surprised everyone! On the surface, he just looked like this smiley dude, but if he touched your life for just a second, you'd walk away smarter and better. He was a champion for anyone in his life. In his final year, he could still describe in perfect detail memories like his first date with Grandma, people he met in Hiroshima after the bomb dropped, my Mom's first steps as a baby, and memories of his own mother struggling through The Depression.
One of my best accomplishments as a teenage artist was making paintings for my Grandpa of some of his travels, and he would walk by the painting in his house each day. The best art is this way - it is a part of life.
We will miss you, grandpa, King of our Hearts.
Reading/Watching/Playing:
I ended up getting a cold midmonth - I sat in bed for three days and read a few more books than usual as I eagerly awaited getting back on my feet.
Reading: I finished Reboot by Jerry Colonna and also a classic by Susie Moore: What if it Does Work Out? Both of these books are great if you are a leader or entrepreneur - Reboot is better for you if you’re a Director/VP/CEO or executive in charge of a team.
I really liked Jerry’s writing about deep emotional work as a leader and as a coach of leaders - and I wish there were more books like Reboot, but I don’t think there ever will be. It’s unique. 10/10 would read again, and though I want to give away my copy to a friend, I also want to reread it myself as time goes on.
I attended one of Susie Moore’s webinars a long time ago about blog writing, and I found her to be a fun and exciting speaker, so I figured I would read her book. The book is the same way - it’s fun and helpful to read. The very title of the book screams optimism, “What if it Does Work Out” is like asking yourself “What’s the BEST that can happen?” Even if you’re not itching to develop a side hustle, the side hustle “What’s the best that can happen?” mentality is worth adopting if you’re into Servant Leadership, leading from abundance, and stepping people/ideas out of negativity patterns.
I also read Man’s Search for Meaning immediately afterwards, which becomes a good read because no matter how bad your life may be, you will probably find yourself spared the misery of a concentration camp. There are moments of honesty in the first part of this book about human nature that put a lot of things in perspective, and will also just expand gratefulness.
In the second part of Man’s Search for Meaning, the author goes into his actual field of study, a type of psychology called ‘logotherapy’ which still feels very pertinent today. I’d never run into this kind of thinking before. It seems to be refreshing in ways that are strikingly modern, a compelling counter to Freud and Jung. Meaning is very much still the final frontier of modern life - not many people have it or have enough of it.
A friend at work gifted me the Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin. I’m only through Book 1 and wow, fantastic. If you are into Sci Fi/Fantasy and you are not reading these books, you are missing out. I can’t say much else without spoilers, just read them if you haven’t!
I loved most of all N.K. Jemisin’s afterward, where she wrote so transparently of her writing process and even struggle. The book itself is like an ice skater, it looks so fantasticly perfect and intricate, yet from what I take from Jemisin’s afterward, it was years of hard work and effort. As artists, I think it is important to talk about when things are hard. Otherwise it just looks like we are dancing through life, pumping out novels like magical faeries. We are more like shadow faeries who just don’t give up. Haha.
Fitness:
Earlier this month I started seriously hitting the treadmill, and, I only hit the treadmill because it is still a bit glum in Washington DC. Otherwise I’d be running outside.
I find the treadmill and workouts with my personal trainer help me keep cheerier than I would be otherwise, and I have more energy to crank through the day and get stuff done.
I hit the treadmill so hard that I ended up getting that cold, and, in the words of Ru Paul, “Catching a Cold is your body’s way of saying, Bitch, you need to sit yo’ ass down.” So I sat down for a while and ended up playing and reading all of the materials detailed above. I wish I could have worked out more, but I was deep in a Theraflu state of mind.
I did recover end-of-month and reached 5.83 miles in 60 minutes on January 28th, very close to my goal of 6 miles in 60 minutes. Eventually I want to run a paced half marathon and other races, not just do the race but do well in my own little lane.
Treadmill stats on 1/28/2020
It helped me to start thinking harder about exercise in November of 2019 - it’s nice to remember that you don’t have to wait for a new year to go after something you want, like fitness, better relationships, or having more fun. There’s something special about every month of the year, too. Now is always a good time.
Until next month, ra!
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