Black Rainbow Comics

Up until three weeks ago, I was hard at work on a business plan for Black Rainbow. In total, I spent about four weeks on it. During that time, I learned a few things.

1. Business plans are really hard to write
2. Research was difficult due to the privatized nature of most online comic businesses
3. I am easily distracted by junk food, rap music, and illegal downloading

I became so focused on making Black Rainbow into an economically viable and self sustaining business that I lost sight of why I was doing this in the first place. Under the self imposed pressure, I felt the fun slip through my fingers. It took a good talk with my actress sister Olivia to realize my priorities were heavily skewed in the wrong direction. I was over involved with the business planning when my priority should really remain on content development. After all, what business could I do when I really have nothing to sell?

Own your territory! Territory provides…Sustenance…Sustains us without any external input…Can only be claimed alone…Can only be claimed by work…Returns exactly what you put in (Pressfield, pg.154-55).

In his book “the War of Art”, Steven Pressfield speaks on artists who define themselves territorially as someone who “must do his work for its own sake…To labor in the arts for any reason other then love is prostitution” (pg.151). With that in mind, I have to reorient myself to the right path again and focus back on my characters, my stories, and my drawing. Surprisingly, Olivia reassured me that this is a normal process that many artists endure and that I am not alone. The sudden panic to prematurely pursue payment of one’s art passes and is followed by a more resolute mentality to nurture territory more deeply.

I became a little sidetracked but the mission, although halted for now, was not a total waste. I can always come back to it. After all, business plans are supposed to be dynamic documents. In fact, within a month, I learned about many things such as potential revenue streams, interesting Internet demographic information, Internet marketing, and screen printing costs to name a few. If anything, this deviation was a great learning experience.

Any struggling artist out there should read "the War of Art" by Steven Pressfield. He spits truth on some of the innate aspects of artistic struggle such as procrastination, fear, inspiration, and endurance.