Royden Lepp, illustrator, photographer and animator, writes to inspire artist to produce “creator owned” material.
I’ve missed so much good TV (so..much..) Four days a week I get up before work, and draw for three hours. Sometimes I draw after work, but I try to not to. Did I mention how much good TV I miss? But the trade off is that I get to create something that I own. If my audience is just my wife, or my Mother, it has to be worth it. If it’s wider then that, I’m truly blessed. I’m telling this story just to remind people that being ‘creator owned’ takes discipline, hard work, late nights, early mornings, and so many blank pages that ask the creator who the hell he thinks he is. That blank page is taunting the creator day and night, and for some of you, that’s why you stay on the couch. There’s too much pressure. Too much competition out there. The blank page wins. If you’re a creator and you haven’t started that project that you’ve always wanted to do, this is the best time. The world is changing. Publishing, or better put, “sharing”, is becoming more accessible to everyone. Be encouraged. You have a story to tell, so tell it, even if the first story is just told to yourself, and then eventually your friends and maybe one day strangers. At this early stage of creation, the goal is in the “doing” and less in the achieving.