TOPIC: Skyfire’s journey to success

Okay so for the last couple of days I've mostly just been drawing (as usual) and keeping to my at least 2 hours per day rule. Most of the days it's longer so this is something I don't need to worry about. However some new problems have arisen, my friend and writing partner has started to drift in terms of our graphic novel project. This is largely due to the fact that our Final major project for art school was due during the time we were really getting into the writing, because of our final project however this had to be postponed. But of course this is now over and we still haven't made any progress, in fact my writing partner now wants to switch ideas. Obviously this is not good, and he has a problem overall with commitment. I have told him it's a bad idea and to counteract this now I've decided to set the goal of writing and drawing the first chapter of the graphic novel by the end of the summer, I feel like this is a lot more achievable than the more vague "writing a graphic novel". I will discuss a date to get it done by in the next couple of days. Tbh might just message him now.

That's about it, the only other couple things I've done is set up a new Facebook account with just my mates and people I knew from school. This means I don't have to see a ton of shit on my newsfeed. Also I messaged the threesome girl and she's been pretty receptive and friendly, may meet up with her after lockdown. Will have to see though.

Luke

Think I missed something before. 3some girl???

Just some girl I matched with on Tinder who said she's into MFF threesomes, quite attractive. Definitely worth pursuing as long as it isn't too much work

Okay I've got a bunch to write down today so if you're reading please bare with. The day before yesterday I had a brief but intense period of self doubt whilst I was reading a thread on web design, this is mainly due to my financial situation which isn't really great, I don't have an actual job and haven't for the past 2 years, this obviously means I've been poor as fuck for a while. When I was looking through AGF'S (I think that's his name??) on the GLL forum and seeing how much he's making from freelancing this definitely unsettled me, now I know I'm not supposed to compare myself to other people but you don't have complete control over your emotions all the time and after reading through his thread (procrastinating) self doubt set in. "Should I be doing art?", "should I diversify my skills?" were things that I started questioning myself, at least for a short while anyway. Obviously the answer is no, of course I shouldn't give up doing art but like I said it was a brief but intense moment of self doubt.

However I did begin asking myself "how do I make money whilst pursuing art" so I started to brainstorm, now I did some graphic design in college this year before specializing in illustration, now there seems to be a wealth of opportunity on freelancing sites like fiver for basic graphic design roles. I was thinking that I could become adept in logo design because this is something that does interest me. My friend however thinks I should learn how to draw caricatures, this may also be a good idea, considering I have drawing skills already. I will definitely consider both. Not sure which one to pursue at the moment. Would have to draw a fuckload off aces to get really good at caricatures anyway so this would still take a while.

Another idea I had was designing the album covers of electronic music albums this is definitely something I'd really like to do but of course my skillset probably isn't strong enough yet. When I do build up a portfolio though I will start messaging the Djs on my facebook (from the promoter days), so cold- calling basically but what I will do is offer my services for free/cheap initially. Again this is probably another 2 years into art school so this is not any immediate reward in terms of financial gain.

In terms of productivity I've been increasing the followers on my Facebook page by inviting people to like it, we're not talking huge numbers at the moment I probably have around 63 likes, but at lest it is 63 people who are interested in art so I'm not complaining. I've been continuing to work on my Terminator design, for AT LEAST 2 hours per days like I said I would and in fact today is the first day I've actually timed myself exactly but turns out I've been doing an extra hour everyday. You would think this would be beneficial but I don't think it is in terms of optimizing my time because at the end of the day I'm too mentally exhausted to do anything else and I also need to be doing research for my graphic novel. So I've decided I am going to time myself everyday exactly and then when it gets to 2 hours stop and then work on another skill or do research on art/graphic novel. I think this is a good way to allocate my time and I am still on target to reach my goals.

Other than that not much has gone on, me and my mate have started the graphic novel conceptualization work again and our target is to finish the first chapter by the end of the summer so all is looking good so far. Just need to pick up the pace.

Luke

Mad thing happened today, me and my mate went to go and visit my mate and his mates who were doing LSD in the forest in the forest near the town, by the time we got there the boys had already taken LSD and were peaking but turns out one of them had run off before we go there, anyways long story short he got ran over by a bus after he wandered off. He's okay, he's in hospital at the moment and he remembers nothing about the experience. But yeah pretty mad. We essentially went looking for him for 2 hours and even went to visit his mother to see if he came back to his house but then we got a phonecall and then yeah...ran over by a bus. Anyways that was a pretty stressful day, and gives me a good reason not to LSD in the forest with them.

Only done half hour of my drawing today so am going to get that done in the next couple of hours. I think I'll still be able to hit my target.In terms of what I've been doing for the last couple of days besides drawing, I've spent it doing some research on logo design and caricaturing. First I started with logo design and started watching a free course on it, however when it got to brand identity my mind immediately switched off and was thinking this shit is BORING. Don't think me and graphic design are a good fit.

Anyways I also did some research on caricaturing, turns out you have to be able to draw faces really well before you can do this. This is something I'd be willing to do. However again this is not necessarily an immediate financial reward, will probably take 6 months plus to get good at this. Like I said I would be willing to do this however.

Still working on my Terminator, will probably take another 7 days I reckon. Got a bunch of other projects I want to work on but after that I will start work on the faces. Another point to note also is that I think that I've been stressing myself out too much about this financial stuff, I think I need to just focus on learning and improving my skills. This is not to say that I WON'T be promoting myself but that it's just not the priority for now.

Luke

Not much to report, only managed to get an hour of drawing in yesterday due to a hangover and the heat. I'm not beating myself up over the failed target though, I still managed to get some work done after all and had run out of ideas for what to do for my Terminator last night anyways. The Terminator is nearly done, all I have to do now is add the guy he's standing on with his brains on the floor. Should take 2-3 more days I reckon.

In terms of this moneymaking mentality, I've been thinking that maybe I'm thinking about it too much? It's good to focus on making money and becoming financially independent but ultimately what I want to do is making money from the thing I am passionate about, this means I should focus on my artwork a lot more than focusing on the financial side of things. Nevertheless I will start reading some Internet marketing books when my Universal Credit comes in. Marketing is something that does interest me anyways so it's not a struggle for me.

My grades from art school are coming in tomorrow, basically I did a foundation year at a college and I got accepted at a university this year. So the grades don't really matter because I'm already in but I still would have liked to have not failed.

And that's about it, still talking to some girls from Tinder but nothing serious has come about yet. I've realized that it is optimal not to get into too long conversations with them online and try to meet them asap. After all I'm trying to bang them and not "talk" to them.

Luke

Not much has happened really in the last couple of days. As usual I have been drawing and have managed to finish my Terminator. I am sort of pleased with it but maybe I should have worked harder on a background for it? Anyways I will attach so that people can take a look. In terms of my mentality on making money, this is beginning to change I am thinking less on "How do I make money?" and focusing more on my craft, I think it is helpful to think about things in this way rather than any immediate financial reward, I've always maintained the mentality that "once I get good enough" the money will begin to flow. I think this is true for artists especially. It is important to focus on the PROCESS rather than an abstract idea like money. At least this what I'm beginning to believe.This is only the beginning of my thoughts on this however so they aren't fully fleshed out ideas I must admit. I think overall it's important to improve as an ARTIST rather than think about "getting a job" or "making money". I'll see how my thoughts develop in the future as I go along this process however.

Other than focusing on art and money I've been chilling with my mates and also messaging some girls on Tinder, also with a potential lead who I've been messaging for the last few days. 7.5/10. Will let you guys know how things go. Might suggest going on a date with her on some walk or shit.

Luke

Here's the Terminator

Thoughts on success are beginning to become clearer. Like I mentioned in my last post I am beginning to understand that it is most important to focus on the PROCESS rather than the OUTCOME. This is something I've started to understand through taking action rather than reading about it. Like Chris says in one of his mindset podcasts- Experience really is the best teacher. This doesn't meant I'm going to stop focusing on goals however, my goal still is to draw at least 2 hours for 365 days but by doing this I am in fact focusing on the process.instead of thinking I should be making x amount of money for y amount of work. I just need to focus on the process of my craft, purely and really learning to enjoy it. I need to become so well versed in my craft that the process becomes unthinking, it's just something that I do and something that I am.

I've been interested in Taoism for a while and I think that this relates to this. I believe that the Taoists try to align themselves with the "Tao" or the Way and that the Way is the process, or essentially the process of living. I think that by aligning themselves with the Tao they achieve greater harmony with life itself. Again I need to do more research, May read a book on it to gain greater insight into this philosophy.

Luke

Always be taking action. Should be the core of every day.
Reading books can be helpful but reading too much and never taking action is harmful.
My ratio is 90/10 between doing planned stuff and free time.
Btw man, have you looked into UX (user experience) design? Could be worth to learn since pay can good.
It mixes very well with your interests in arts and marketing!

Hey man, that's what I've started to realize about taking action too is that it has to be done consistently throughout the day, no excuses. I think you're right, reading can definitely be a form of procrastination too. My mate from college said he is interested in interface design but that's the only time I've heard it mentioned. I'll definitely take a look it. Thanks

Okay so not much to report at all, again focusing on the drawing not much needs to be said about that. My daily routine has been slipping recently and I've been drinking too much, need to get that in order really. On the girls side of things this seems to be going well however, been getting matches but my Tinder profile probably needs an upgrade with better pics of me doing more interesting things. To the main point though, basically I'm messaging a few girls at the moment and there are two girls who are willing to meet up in the next week despite lockdown, one of them I've had a conversation with about being FWB to which she said she is willing. Not gonna try and shag her in my car or anything but will try and treat it as a first meeting and then invite her over my house and then bang her and continue to see her. The other one is a girl I've spoken to a couple of years ago but she's always had a boyfriend. She said she is definitely up for meeting, again not gonna try anything and will probably follow the same routine as the other one. Parents said they're gonna be heading down the caravan in the next couple of weeks when the caravan parks open up. Ideal timing really. Will see how things play out though.

Luke