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[24 Mar 2012|03:15pm] |
Jake Solo and Rainicornbacca.
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[21 Mar 2012|12:18pm] |
Princess Bubbleia.
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[20 Mar 2012|01:33pm] |
Ah. the exciting topic of...time management? Yup. This post is about how I schedule my time. (BORING) I have to admit, I love when artists/writers share their methods for getting stuff done. So I'm sharing mine. Take THAT, internet.
I've kept a daily planner/pocket calendar thingy since the days of college; I wouldn't really know how else to keep track of all the crap* I have to do. My current (and favorite) planner so far is this little number from Moleskin. I've used this type of planner for the past three years...:
It's about 3.5 x 5.5 inches, so yeah, I like to write SMALL. I love seeing the whole month! Since my days at my non-comics (Aquarium) job change week to week, I use red pen to outline shifts.
For comics, I will make deadlines for the week, and check them off as I go (or reassess my schedule if I don't meet them).
Food, travel and social stuff go on here too. I also enjoy anytime I can use stickers (see the tiny fruit ones on the top? those were to remind me to pick up the farmshare that month).
With all that said, I feel like I'm just finally starting to be more efficient with my time. Up until last fall, I was still working 3 - 4 days at the Aquarium, so my work-from-home time was only about 3 - 4 days a week. Now, it's more like 5 - 6, so really planning out each work-from-home day is important (for me at least). Here's 2 versions of a-day-in-the-life-of-Maris:
DAILY WORK SCHEDULE (average) 9 AM wake up, work out 10 AM coffee + breakfast, maybe some planning for the day 11 AM shower/clean 12 AM - 2 PM work 2 PM - 2:30 PM lunch 2:30 PM - 7 PM work 7 PM - 8 PM dinner 8 PM - 11 PM work 11 PM - 1 PM tv/movie/video game/doodling TOTAL WORK TIME: 9.5
DAILY WORK SCHEDULE (crunch time) 9 AM wake up, work out 10 AM coffee + breakfast, maybe shower 11 AM - 2 PM work 2 PM - 2:30 PM lunch 2:30 PM - 7 PM work 7 PM - 8 PM dinner (sometimes takeout) 8 PM - 2 AM work TOTAL WORK TIME: 13.5
Things like breaking a bigger project into little mini-deadlines, and establishing daily/weekly/monthly expectations are helpful to have on there too (and they can help to prevent going into "crunch time" mode). Basically, if I get to check something off once I've done it, I feel good. For really big accomplishments, rewards like going out to fancy dinner, or starting a video game (SKYRIM!!!!) are nice little perks (haha Skyrim pun). I'll save the Skyrim post for another day though.
All that said, I am always looking for ways to work more/faster, but without sacrificing my sanity. Cooking, taking walks, working outside (when possible) are all little ways I try to not become a total comics zombie. Also, having a part-time job that engages me in a completely different way than comics has been integral to my well-being. Plus, I am more than happy when those two worlds meet (I'll be posting soon about some Aquarium comics I'm doing!).
Ok. Hopefully that's helpful or interesting. I know it helped me to put this in writing...Oh, and speaking of which, I have been curious about digital calendars, but for now I will keep it strictly physical (call me old-fashioned).
*note: When I say "crap", I am referring to paying bills, car maintenance, appointments, meetings, etc. It's not ALL crap, I promise. |
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[16 Mar 2012|12:34pm] |
It only makes sense to combine two of my favorite things...
STAR WARS + ADVENTURE TIME =
And then he was all like
There will be more of these. Oh yes, there will be more.
Happy Friday!
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[10 Mar 2012|12:58am] |
Only in the dead of night, will I post this fan art of...JAR JAR BINKS:
Crispy mornin' munchin'.
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[07 Mar 2012|04:41pm] |
This was a going away present for a coworker-friend Sunnye:
Sunnye kept an amazing blog about her plastic use for a year: KnowPlastic
Currently, she's busy traveling the world (with her poop, no doubt); you can be insanely jealous of her exploits here.
The stuffed poop was made with brown fleece, polyfill stuffing and, of course, love.
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[02 Mar 2012|02:18pm] |
I just can't help myself...
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| Process: Staying Fit (well, kinda) |
[27 Feb 2012|12:47pm] |
Last year, I pretty much became a work-from-home illustrator. By "pretty much", I mean that I still work 1-2 days a week for my other awesome job, but those other 5-6 days are spent writing, drawing or coloring. Although I love working from home, it can be challenging to not completely devolve into a Playdough-like lump. And while writing, drawing and coloring are all great cognitive exercises, my mortal being was left feeling...well, a bit Playdough-y. So...
Step 1.) STANDING DESK. That's right, I stand up and work. And I love it. No more backache or crappy posture from working in front of a computer for 10-12 hours a day.
Step 2.) GOOD OLD-FASHIONED EXERCISE. I will be the first to admit that I have a really hard time being consistent with things (long-time readers of this blog will agree). Daily exercise is a chore, and between paying bills and cleaning and cooking, I don't really like to subscribe to additional "adult" responsibilities...but, with the persuasion of Liz Prince, Joe and I started the INSANITY WORKOUT (when you read that out-loud, it should sound all epic and reverb-y). You may have seen the late night infomercials advertising fitness guru Shaun-T's "Insanity Workout", or his classic "Hip Hop Abs". Well, I totally dig it (oh, and while we're on the subject of late night infomercials, the Magic Bullet Blender is pretty rad too).
Liz, Joe and I have been working out 5-6 days a week since late November, and aside from the occasional soreness, I feel great. Like I want to Hulk-out all the time. It's awesome. The best part is that it's FUN. When you workout and can laugh at all the silly crap you're doing (see images below), it makes it rather enjoyable. Ok. That's enough about that. If you really want to read more about our experience, you can check out this blog. And now, here's me sweatin' and lookin' silly:
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| Robot Quilt |
[22 Feb 2012|08:22pm] |
Our good friends just welcomed their new baby; this was my baby shower gift:
To make this quilt, I first did some doodles:
Then I tightened up my favorite design (and did some maths!):
And then I cut out about 204 squares and sewed them all together. With my sewing machine! I'm not sure if I'll ever get past plain old square quilts (I'm very intimidated by anything other than squares), but I figure that'll pave the way for Tetris and Legend of Zelda quilts. Maybe someday I'll seek counsel from the amazing quilter-seamstress-toymaker-designer Claire Sanders, but until then...Yay 8-Bits!
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| Process: Writing |
[20 Feb 2012|12:33pm] |
Prior to this past year, I had either written and drawn all my comics, or drawn comics while working from a script. For the work both written and drawn by me, most were mini comics, or short (2-12 page) stories for anthologies. I had never really given much thought to separating writing and drawing, but a number of opportunities presented themselves...like writing a one-page story for Mike Allred's Madman: 20th Anniversary MONSTER! Actually, he asked both Joe and me, so we worked together (awwww). In this post, I'm going to outline the process that I used to write the script. I'll be doing this with future posts as well, since I've recently written some other comics-y things.
BRAINSTORMING...or IN WHICH MARIS AND JOE TALK ABOUT NERDY THINGS OVER COFFEE
This might be my favorite part. Joe and I spent many walks and coffees discussing what may happen in the story. We do this for each other's respective projects as well; sometimes it's good to just talk stuff out.
FIGURING IT OUT...or IN WHICH I MAKE ILLEGIBLE MARKINGS WITH A WRITING UTENSIL ON A FIBROUS SURFACE
I should mention that I wrote a brief synopsis to send to Mike before we started laying out the panels. Also, I re-read o bunch of Madmen comics to get my head in the story. Research = fun! (Especially when it involves reading comics!)
THE ROUGH PANEL LAYOUT...or IN WHICH I MAKE ILLEGIBLE MARKINGS WITH A WRITING UTENSIL ON A FIBROUS SURFACE (part 2)
I guess this would be the second draft (but who's counting); scrapping things that don't fit, and tweaking the dialogue and settings to make sure it flows.
THE SCRIPT!! or LOOK, MA! I'M USING A COMPOOTER!!
Yup. Looking a bit more...professional? I really like using a pen and paper (stubborn and old-fashioned, I know), but typing it out is nice. I can make those final edits, and even scribble on the script some more. After looking at the final script, Joe combined a few panels/lines of dialogue. When you look at his layout sketch, you can see how ridiculously dense it is (sorry, Joe):
If you'd like to see more about Joe's process (including some very silly reference photos), they can be found here and here and here.
Mike Allred's Madman: 20th Anniversary MONSTER is out now! I'll be posting more about my writing process for other projects, as well as my pencilling/inking/coloring process. Until then...bye bye!
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| Turkeys are done, People are finished... |
[18 Feb 2012|12:55pm] |
That's right! I finished coloring the book about primates! Written by Jim Ottaviani! To be published by First Second! Let me just say that Jim is THE BEST. Last night, I received some Zingerman's Chocolate-awesomeness from Jim (stealthily delivered by the ninja-like Liz Prince):
All that's left are the lettering and the cover!! Woot!!
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| NEW YORK COMIC CON! |
[12 Oct 2011|04:12pm] |
NYC here we come!
(no, we will not be arriving via tractor)
Joe and I will be sharing the magnificent S-2 table, right next to Mr. Paolo Rivera. Saturday we will be in COSTUME...you heard me. IN COSTUME. The identity of my costume will remain a surprise for now.
I will being selling lots of prints, including this one:
Each of those dudes will be available as individual prints too! Also, there will be mini-comics and original art. AND I'll be doing commission sketches. woot! It'll be a fun time!
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| APOCALYPSE CALENDAR!!!! |
[05 Oct 2011|02:19am] |
Now you can see in EPIC DETAIL all of the marine critters I jammed into this piece for the APOCALYPSE CALENDAR! You can see a bunch of other apocalyptic images, as well as support this project (previously mentioned here), at it's kickstarter site!
(click here for a full list of the critters in this illustration)
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| MODOK! |
[03 Oct 2011|12:58am] |
Teeny tiny MODOK, from Emerald City Comic Con.
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| APOCALYPSE CALENDAR!! |
[27 Sep 2011|09:34pm] |
That's right! With the end of the world just around the corner, wouldn't you like to spend your final days looking at THIS? I was lucky enough to be part of this awesome project, put together by RISD buddy Thomas Quinn, featuring a whole bunch of rad artists! This calendar has a Kickstarter to help it see the light of day (before the light of day is extinguished, that is):
APOCALYPSE CALENDAR KICKSTARTER!
You can even watch a video about it! Can you guess which piece I did?
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| COOOOOMICS |
[21 Sep 2011|10:55pm] |
Hey everybody! It's the internet! But let's talk about REAL LIFE:
Joe and I will be at our local, down-the-street comics fest this coming SATURDAY!! If you live in the Boston-area, come out and say "hey" at M.I.C.E. (Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo). IT IS FREEEEE!!!! I will be drawing things and chatting and maybe if you want to hear about ocean animals I will totally TELL YOU ABOUT THEM. They even let me do one of the posters for the show (available as a limited edition print AT the show:
MICE, The Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo
September 24, 2011 10am - 6pm
1815 Mass Ave., Cambridge MA (Porter Square)
Illustration by Maris Wicks
That's me: always working intestines into an illustration. AND...I got to help draw the cover of this week's dig boston, along side the talented Ming Doyle and Patt Kelley:
The DIG is a free weekly local paper that you can get on many classy corners around the Boston-area! Pick it up!
Stay tuned for more comics-related news...
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| MOOSE! |
[18 Aug 2011|12:05pm] |
Biggs riding a skateboard, done for Paul Maybury Heroes Con 2011
Hey everybody. It's been a crazy summer; I will have updates on work and upcoming conventions soon. I recently did a pin-up for my friend Max de Radiguès' mini-comic MOOSE #3. His comics are ultra-awesome and have been a great inspiration to my own work. You can buy MOOSE #3 (and many of Max's other comics) HERE.
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| sketches! |
[26 Jun 2011|12:13pm] |
I did a BUNCH of sketches at Heroes Con...it was a lot of fun. I'm going to try and pace these out, though it is very tempting to post them all at once. I'll start with the more summer-y ones:
Octopuses and put-put golf are summer-y, right?
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| wormie mcwormiton |
[10 Jun 2011|05:32pm] |
I finally got jealous of all of Joe's gifs and created my own:
It's a worm who is worming around (actually, it's more of an inch worm, which is really more of a caterpillar...)
Thanks to everyone who came out and said "hi!" at Heroes Con; Joe and I had a great time. We got to sit right next to the magnificent Stéphane Roux, and spent a lot of time bumming around Charlotte with the ridiculously talented Ming Doyle. I met so many new comics peeps...that con is SO CRAZY I LOVE IT. Oh yeah...I totally cosplayed. WTF?
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