Looking Back and Stuff...

The 2007 Exhaustion Tour is finally nearing the end of it's run.
Kitchen 3.0 is now 92% complete.

As we're finally winding down the big kitchen remodel, my wife and I find ourselves slowly forgiving the little things that could've gone better. We don't really acknowledge them as mistakes, per se, since the whole things been one big arduous and exhausting learning experience. I was worried we'd be obsessive over that stuff, but the good has by far outweighed the bad. We're exhausted, but taken as a whole we're proud of what we've accomplished.

It got me to thinking about my life as an artist, and how hard it's always been to look back on my past work without wanting to burn down any building in which it was housed. All of my college work is in boxes and portfolios, to be seen and scrutinized either posthumously or by nosy future children looking for a little patriarchal ribbing.

All of the work since college has been for corporate or freelance reasons, so I'm pretty disconnected from it. None of it has really carried any meaning for me. It was a means to a meal. It's not been very "artistic", but it's kept me from starving.

It's been with my cartooning that I've found some comfort in returning. Whenever I pull my printed copy of The Zoo treasury off the shelf, I'm both reminiscing and rediscovering. I really enjoyed those characters back then, and I still do. A lot of it still makes me laugh. I'm glad for the work I put into it. There's a few things I still nitpick artistically, but it still holds a lot of value to me.

Bodinski's Blog is a wild, untamed beast wrapped up in a cute little round caricature. I had so many strong emotions when making it, I barely remember being a part of most of the process. Each time I pick it up, I'm not struck by the fact that I find something new. Some of the references are starting to be lost on me. I don't mourn what I've forgotten, though. I think it's my brain's way of telling me leaving the past in the past.

Overall, Brinkerhoff has been my favorite thing to revisit. I often go through the archives in the process of making the comic, and I re-laugh at some of the things that have happened in that rabbit's past. Sometimes I feel, dare I say, proud of what I find. I have to admit that I like the writing. I set up some ground rules for the way that the comic would be paced and put together and I like the way things have turned out to this point. It's different. It has a voice. For me, Brinkerhoff is fun. It's been rewarding for the 1 1/2 years and 402 strips it's produced. I'm excited to see where it goes. I'm excited to look back on it tomorrow.