Changes and challenges
I have been away from here. Been busy. Professional stuff. Personal stuff. Stuff.
You know: LIFE.
Election is right around the corner here in Brazil, so I decided to take my Killjoys’ jacket out of the closet this week. Make some noise, at least visually. It’s just the right color. I hope it’s sunny on Sunday so I can also use my red Converse All Stars.
(about a month ago in a previous letter, I mentioned Gerard dressing up for his MCR shows, and every time I have the same urges, like this week, I think about how at some point or another we all dress up and cosplay some imaginary version of ourselves, like we are super heroes with secret identities and uniforms, or actors in a play out of our control).
There are several drawing challenges/games in October, which are basically excuses for people to draw something every day. Themes are suggested to try to make the experience fun. It is fun, and it helps brighten your day and make you remember drawing isn’t a burden.
Inktober I guess was the first of these initiatives, and it was created by Jake Parker. Chris Samnee made his challenge all about the Batman universe, and called it Batober. Jim Rugg and Ed Piskor went along and suggested the Kayfabetober, with themes that reflect the subjects most often discussed and celebrated in their YouTube channel, Cartoonist Kayfabe.
Some people just make a doodle/drawing everyday anyway, as a way to warm up or loosen up. Others might take themselves a little too serious and “save" their drawing time only for their professional endeavors. Some don’t like this game because for them drawing is a burden (even if it is what they do for a living), and it takes up all their energy in a daily basis, so doing it for fun is beyond them.
One thing is certain: drawing takes time. It can be a lot, or it can be a little. Sometimes you just don’t have that time available, or isn’t organized enough to open up that time in your daily routine.
I tried once or twice to play this game, and lasted the first week of the month at best. There was always pages that needed that extra half hour, or scripts that wouldn’t exist unless I spent that time sitting in front of the computer, choosing in silence the right words to go along with the right images.
At the end of the day, as many people remember the joy of drawing while playing the drawing game all through October, what I always had to remember is that if I don’t write my new stories, they won’t exist.
Be safe. Be kind. Be curious.
Pa-ZOW!
Fábio Moon
Moon Base, São Paulo
September 26th, 2022