What a 2023 (Patreon)

Hello! I'm in a bizarre transitory period in life right now, and meanwhile I've been inspired to look at my book again, Between Music And Silence.

It has been beside all my other projects since I started it in early 2018. I've had the dream of making an animatic for an animated version of BMaS for several years. And whether I attempt to fully animate it myself or get someone else to do it for me, this would be the next step.

I'm itching to see the book in visual form because I wrote it while imagining the exact cuts and cinematography--plus, most people I know are willing to watch or play something but not read it. It would be at home as a mini-series. Long ago, I even released the book in an episodic form, making each chapter an episode (which I took great pleasure in even when no one followed it.) I've always loved chopping this story up and delivering it piece-by-piece. I've heard of artists having these pet-projects they take through their whole lives which they care about more than anyone else does; sometimes they're actually good and sometimes they're not. I guess this is that for me.

My main difficulties with animating are keeping the shapes and sizes of things consistent; I know myself and even other more accomplished artists usually have to retry the same visual many times before getting it right. And when you bring it into animation, those scribbled attempts add up to too much time. There's a robotic level of consistency and efficiency I see from experienced animators that I need. All in all I think my next hurdle as an artist might be learning to work with other people.

I have a few projects vying for my attention: animating this story you can read here, Welcome To The Dark Place, some future project, and of course Lethal Company. I'm crossing my fingers I'll feel the drive to get back into Lethal Company soon. By the way, a random note: I tried out VR a while ago and wasn't impressed with the experience, which is probably why I won't be trying out putting Lethal Company in VR for at least a while. (But I did see a mod that is working on it!)

I have wondered if and when I'll finally have an emotional reaction to the changes taking place in my life this year, and I think I just won't. It could be that I've been depressed, or that 2022 simply exhausted me, or that it's just the way I am. Your guess is as good as mine! I still enjoyed 2023 very much even with its low-keyness. I've been catching up on movies the past couple weeks; I went on a Ghibli spree with The Boy and the Heron, The Tale Of Princess Kaguya, and Only Yesterday. Kaguya was my favorite for sure, but I'm glad I finished with Only Yesterday.