Posted by EmilyMMcg
on April 17, 2013
Hollywood,
Jobs,
unemployment /
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This is usually never an easy thing to do. I pick jobs that I genuinely like, with people that come to mean a lot to me. This means that my full blown neurosis kicks in when I have to leave them for whatever reason.
I tend to get very emotional and feel like I’m betraying them emotionally. It doesn’t make a lot of rational sense. I know in my head that everything will be okay and that most of the time the change is for the better.
That is the other hurdle, however- I’m not a big one for change. Even though I seem to have done a lot of it in my life and everything has always turned out for the better, change is one of my weak spots. I will go far out of my way to avoid it. Since your job is such a significant part of your life, the change is major.
I’ve broken out in hive before. My favorite is my eye twitch that comes around when I’m most nervous. I have a hard time eating and trust me – I love to eat. All and all I do awful at this. I have bust into tears before.
Tags: change, emotions, leaving, nerves, Neurosis
Posted by EmilyMMcg
on April 07, 2013
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What is it like living here in LA?
Having lived in New York City, I can tell you that there is no other place like LA. The sun, the youth, the crushed dreams, Hollywood, the beach, and porn all come together in this strange alchemic formula to create a huge salad of rich and poor – success and failures. It’s not easy to be there, survive here, stay here. You constantly meet friends who could be gone tomorrow. They may have packed up everything in their car and drove here on a whim. Maybe they are making it, maybe not. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard the same story of dewy eyed faith that people can make their dreams come true, only to see those same people leave a few months later. LA can be quite unkind. I still can’t believe, sometimes, that I have lasted over 5 years here. I also can’t believe I have lived somewhere I really don’t like, or fit into for so long.
Being raised on the East Coast I walk too fast for LA, I dress like I’m going to a party most of the time and I keep the appointments I make. I’m not looking for the next big thing, or something bigger and better.
I have found a few like-minded souls here. There are good people, and people fresh off the boat that haven’t had time to absorb the evil LA smog. You hold on to those people. Don’t even suggest I write about dating here.
Tags: culture, differences, LA, living, Los Angeles, people, survival
It’s so much easier to work on a deadline. It really cuts down your procrastination time. I’m doing sketches and the like for Free Comic Book day and I want to have this little side project done before then! If you don’t know what Free Comic Book Day is, find out more here: Free Comic Book Day May 4th. It’s really a lovely little tradition that can get your kids or your friends into reading something new. Of course if you’re lucky enough to come to the store I’ll be at you get a drawing from me too!
Then I can get back to Cora and her misadventures. The new book will be in an illustrated diary type format and I really have to keep myself from adding more and more content. Wacky stuff just keeping happening here in LA, and I some point I have to cut myself off and get the book done!
Tags: comic books, comic shop, comics, Free Comic Book Day, procrastination, projects, writing
Posted by EmilyMMcg
on March 02, 2013
Comics,
Process,
unemployment,
Writing /
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Half of comics is all about writing. It’s hard to see behind some of the best artists in the world but it’s true. People work long and hard to kill off Damian Wayne, or set up Catwoman’s next heist.
So, in honor, I will show you some of the writing process. Here is rough draft 1 of the first page of the new book. It’s a shell, an idea. Hardly fleshed out when you don’t have an image to go with it. However, this is what this book will be all about. The prose and the illustrations will fit neatly together on a page, more like a diary than a traditional comic. Words will have just as much importance and will need to be designed on the page just like an illustration would be. Yay for typography!!!
Your Preview:
Month 1
First page. Girl standing in empty office room, lights off and cringing. Big letters at the top in a banner- The End.
Yes, that was me – at the start of 18 long months of unemployment. Hopefully you can’t imagine the tension, fear and absolute loss of hope when you’re standing there, looking at an uncertain future. Unfortunately I know a lot of people can. I was not without my resources. I was a college grad, had a good head on my shoulders. I had, at that point, been tossed around enough by Life to know what I was doing when I lost a job. I was ready to saddle up and ride to the next great LA adventure but, nothing prepared me for what happened next…
Tags: Catwoman, Damian Wayne, Death, design, process, typography, writing
Posted by EmilyMMcg
on January 17, 2013
Comics,
Hollywood,
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It’s not hard to finish a book. It’ hard to deal with all the little things that pop up when you’re trying to finish a book. I thought this Dead Animal Alphabet book would be a breeze to finish and then I got a gallery show for the month of February.
So goes my timeline.
Tags: coloring, gallery, gallery show, kid's book, procrastination, time management
Posted by EmilyMMcg
on January 10, 2013
Comics,
Process,
unemployment /
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A new year and time to ramp up the comic making again. Every year I’m excited to get started on new projects and finish old ones. I The ABC book is also coming along. Yay! Yes. It’s dead, stinky animals. Don’t you want to teach your kid’s their letters this way?! What could be more fun!
I also finally decided to get off my butt and actually create an artistic business card. I’ve done it for others. Why not for myself? In the mean time I think I found the drawing style for 4 Hire. What do you think??
Happy New Year!!
Tags: art, artwork, children's book, comic books, comics, design, drawing, Emily McGuiness, film, kid's book, New Year, self employment, story, storytelling
Posted by EmilyMMcg
on October 14, 2012
Comics,
Jobs,
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Pasadena Library
I do a fair number of shows every year. I go with my little book and my artwork and various extras that I can come up with. It’s an amazing feeling to have finished a book. I have finished something. I have something to show you when you come talk to me.
In comparison with everyone else at these shows I don’t have much. My little set up looks like a one armed paper hanger. It’s depressing at times but fuel to keep creating. I will finish this book. I will plod on like a good work horse and get this done. I have some great ideas on what else I can do with the concept. I do actually see this as something people can relate to. I’m hoping to have some sample pages to you soon so you can get a bit more of the flavor of the book.
You’ll have to be satisfied with a sketch for now.
sketch
Tags: a, art night, comic books, conventions, hard work, Pasadena, process, sketches
Posted by EmilyMMcg
on September 15, 2012
advertising,
Comics,
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At booth #1514 tomorrow I will be at the world famous Stan Lee’s Comikaze with the quantifiably awesome Rick Marson and his zoms.
I get to chat to people all about the new book and the last one, Ties. It’s never easy getting people excited about something not out yet, but I hope you enjoy some of the process behind the making of 4 Hire.
The con circuit is all part of the process and it gives me a great place to meet all of you and chat about the story. It’s all about telling stories.
Tags: booth, comics, Comikaze, conventions, fans, Stan Lee
Posted by EmilyMMcg
on August 27, 2012
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Process,
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I’m reading over Emitown again and I’m getting the sense that part of the reason people like this fairly boring story of one girl’s life is because it’s cute and squee and it has cats. It’s not really my thing. I can’t really be cute with what I look like. I get motherly or bombshell. Those are the choices I was given. My book has some of the same themes as Emitown. Obviously we all share common experiences, so I’m comparing my concept and drawings with hers and I feel like mine are technical and stiff.
I have always battled with being “correct”. The best example is when my friends and our were playing a game and we drew a card that said, “do a dance”. My turn comes and I’m standing there trying to concentrate on the dance steps I learned years before. I was met with polite applause. My friends were free spirits and did nothing that would resemble dancing but it was much better received. They were able to show their soul and the rules be damned.
In a slice of life story it’s so important to show that inner self; show you’re a relatable human being and share those common experiences. That’s what makes a good story. I know the story can grab people but the art? Is it too technical, too classical? Should I be pushing the goofy faces and manga expressions? Am I over thinking this? Probably.
Tags: drawing, Emi lenox, Emitown, process, slice-of-life, storytelling, style
Posted by EmilyMMcg
on August 22, 2012
Film,
Hollywood,
Jobs,
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It’s always weird living here in LA.Our culture has distorted the life of the celebrity. You should see what kind of money some of these people make! I know acting is hard and all but it’s a little mind boggling. I know you have to work and sacrifice and kill yourself to get to that level, and it doesn’t usually last that long, but really! The money! The attention. No wonder more than half the kids I meet just want to be celebrities when they grow up. It looks like an easy gig.
It’s not all that easy to live with them, or live in a town that caters to them. I walk down the street in Beverly Hills and I feel like a small town church-mouse. There are people taking pictures of this guy’s car. I’m sure it’s a very special car but …. Paparazzi were standing outside my building one day trying to take pictures of me. WHAT? Not even in New York did this happen to me. You’re constantly seeing them, or trying not to notice them, or hearing about them. It’s exhausting sometimes, but it is something you deal with. People name drop all the time and it’s ridiculous, like we all haven’t seen Kim Kardashian getting out of her car somewhere. It’s just not that special here. It’s even more weird when you get to meet them and chat with them a bit. They’re normal people, sort of. Most of them have all the same issues we all do but it’s been amplified and put under this weird lens of Hollywood that tends to magnify any insecurities or childhood traumas you might have experienced.
My own celebrity experiences have been many; none very significant, but they happened none-the-less. So it was a conscious decision on how to play this in the book. It is a fact, and a strange one, of living here in LA. You interact with these people directly or indirectly. I can’t name names for the most part. I’m sure I would have a million lawyers on my butt for not getting a release, impossible in this town. There’s all sorts of legal ramifications you’re not aware of even existed. I’d probably spend about 10 more years in paperwork if I tried to leave the book un-redacted.
So while my book is mostly very true (who could make some of this stuff up!?!) for the sake of my wallet and legal fees, I have had to change some of what happened and to whom. You’ll have to figure out for yourself what is strict truth and what I fiddled around with. EWWWWW… fiddled.
Tags: Celebrities, famous, fantasy, hollywood, Kim Kardashian, Los Angeles, stars
