Recently in Idea Generation Category

Dr. Roger Sperry, a world-famous brain scientist, demonstrated that 90 percent of the brain's energy output is used in relating the physical body to gravity, while 10 percent of brain energy output is utilised in thinking, metabolism and healing. The more biomechanically out-of-balance a person is, the less energy he or she has for healing, metabolism and thinking.

Visits to conferences, going to workshops, attending launches, networking in the local comic book store or just simply talking to a colleague. You always have the intention of just interacting, or with one thing in mind. And yet you come away with more than what you went for in the first place. Many times had I gone to a conference, given a talk at a conference or seminar with the intention of learning or teaching one thing. Yet I leave with something else. These are lessons that come well after school, after college, apprenticeships, training or even University. They're not full courses, they're a few sentences long. It feels like getting a mini degree in a matter of a few minutes.

Here's an example, and it's from a DVD I bought some time ago as I enjoyed it so much.

No thinking - that comes later. You must write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite with your head. The first key to writing is... to write, not to think!
Sean Connery, Finding Forrester

Even a film can give you a mini degree. These few lines from the movie have provided me inspiration when i've needed the most.

The Touch of the Master's Hand

It was battered and scarred,
And the auctioneer thought it
Hardly worth his while
To waste his time on the old violin,
But he held it up with a smile.
"What am I bid, good people", he cried,
"Who starts the bidding for me?"
"One dollar, one dollar, Do I hear two?"
"Two dollars, who makes it three?"
"Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going for three",
But, No,
From the room far back a grey haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow,
Then wiping the dust from the old violin
And tightening up the strings,
He played a melody, pure and sweet,
As sweet as the angel sings.

The music ceased and the auctioneer
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said "What now am I bid for this old violin?"
As he held it aloft with its' bow.
"One thousand, one thousand, Do I hear two?"
"Two thousand, Who makes it three?"
"Three thousand once, three thousand twice,
Going and gone", said he.

The audience cheered,
But some of them cried,
"We just don't understand."
"What changed its' worth?"
Swift came the reply.
"The Touch of the Masters Hand."

And many a man with life out of tune,
All battered with bourbon and gin,
Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd
Much like that old violin.
A mess of pottage, a glass of wine,
A game and he travels on.
He is going once, he is going twice,
He is going and almost gone.
But the Master comes,
And the foolish crowd never can quite understand,
The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought
By the Touch of the Master's Hand.

"The Master's Hand" was written by Myra Brooks Welch. She was called "The poet with the singing soul."

Just realised I hadn't uploaded a cartoon for a while. I was at the doctors last night getting a check up so I thought I'd post this cartoon I did recently. Apparently local doctors here in Sydney are using the internet more often now and quite often use it to assist in diagnosing or getting more information on rare cases.

Feelings are about how we interpret an event, how you think or react to it. The same event would be interpreted by many others in a very different manner. We're conditioned from an early age to represent certain events, like a death for example, as tragic. Yet others see this as a time to celebrate. You see, events have no meaning but what meaning you assign to it. And by assigning a meaning to the event, is what causes you to feel a certain way.

For the algebra inclined, lets use this sum I was once shown: E + R = O (Event + your Reaction to it = Outcome). Now whilst you have no control over the Event, you have complete control over the Reaction. In essence you have control over half of the formula. Far more than most people think they have.

Here's an example, someone told me once that I wasn't a very good artist. I only felt bad about it because I believed it myself. But I didn't have to think that. What he said to me was only half the formula. I only felt bad because I agreed. What I should have told myself is that I am only in the early part of a long journey as an artist, my art will only get better. My self esteem won't go down, if anything it will go up! Between stimulus and response lies opportunity for a conscious choice.

Charles Schulz was failed at art school in the subject of drawing children. Colonel Sanders was knocked back over 1200 times when trying to sell his secret recipe around America, don't know about you but I would have probably given up after the first 10 knockbacks. How many times has Donald Trump been bankrupt, yet he continues to even greater wealth. You can be dumped by your girlfriend, be suicidal, get divorced, have an alcohol problem and still bounce back. Billy Joel did. I remember slaving during my career in animation and earning $60 one week! thinking about how I'm going to survive, I've been married:getting divorced, I've had alcohol and substance abuse and feelings of suicide with constant personal doubt. Survive I did.

From these few people I mentioned, you can see how someone can turn a seemingly negative event into an empowering experience. And following the unviversal theory of balance, there is equally someone who can turn a positive experience into a soul destroyer. The truly amazing gift is that you have the power to make the change.

Producing cartoons and submitting them, I am constantly rejected. I'm not the only one. But we are of few who choose a life of rejection in the graphic industry.

Late last year, early this year I was suffering from a severe cramping pain that made my joints swell and my body temperature increase like an oven. I went to the doctors who gave no clear concept to what was happening. I was crying heavily with pain, folding over to try and ease the intencity of fire that ripped through my body. I looked for the sharpest knife in the kitchen as I was prepared to cut my left arm at the shoulder clear off. I had the towels ready. The pain was nothing I had ever experienced. No volume of pain killers taken from those at the hospital or emergency medical centre could give me relief. The pain grew worse and the diagnosis was so long in coming, it didn't help. I was terrified, I didn't want to know what was happening. I knew there was something wrong and I just wanted to die. I couldn't think of anything else but how I could end the pain myself. I was finally injected with cortersone and began to feel temporary relief. Days went by and the pain came back slowly. I looked inward to my training in tai chi for answers. It was meditation that gave me the answer I needed. My mental anguish was causing the imbalance. As fear was growing inside me, the disturbance it created had detrimental effect on my body. I had let my fears grow and overtake my skills. My ability and knowledge I had taken for granted.

It is still a journey I am taking but the role that fear plays in my life, I chose not to allow it - my fear - to stop me moving forward. No matter what happens, I can still choose to be at peace.

Learning to understand and face my fears has made me understand that life is full of fears. You just have to tame them. To many, my management and ability to tame them is what they see only as my courage. A word I've taken for granted. A word that I have given new meaning. A word many respect.

Courage

Recently I was on a flight to Hobart with Jetstar, they issue colour denoted boarding passes as you check in your luggage. If you check in early you receive an silver boarding pass, if you are there later you receive a blue pass. I was in line at the terminal waiting for the flight to start boarding. They make the announcement for boarding. The line is extremely long as people got up from their seats and joined the queue. It seemed strange that they'd issue this many silver passes. My eyes scan the line and I see many people in line with blue passes. Clearly they have no idea on how the system works. I giggle as one by one they hand over their boarding pass only to be given it back and informed only silver passes are being accepted on board right now. The line seems to reduce quickly as these people are quickly denied access. I'm now the second last at the front. There is a group of indonesian tourists in front of me. Turns out they have blue passes. They stand to the side and start discussing why have been knocked back. They appear to be first time travellers, totally gullible. My evil streak surfaces as I show them my cheeky side.

me: "You need a silver pass to board now."
them: "What does a silver pass mean?"
me: "The company likes you and would prefer you get priority seating."
them: "So what does a blue pass mean?"
me: "Well once the silver pass holders are seated there is no room left."
them: "What happens then?"
me: "Blue passes are for standing room only, a little strap hangs down from the ceiling like in the buses. Don't worry it's only hard to hang on as we take off and landing is a little rocky. The advantage is that blue pass holders allow silver pass holders something soft and squooshy to land on during an emergency. You seem quite cuddly, could you stand in from of me?"
them: "Are you serious, we have to stand?"
me: "Yes ma'am. Trust me, I am the Prime Minister of Tasmania and this is my royal plane."

The men she was travelling with stood behind her and were wetting themselves with laughter as this poor girl grew more and more frightened of boarding the plane after I explained interstate travel to her. Clearly they have considered what I was saying and only realised too soon that I was joking when I said I was the Prime Minister of Tasmania.

My grandfather was struck by lightning twice. I am yet to keep that tradition in the family. If I keep up telling porkies I think I'm bettering my chances. Frankly, I'm quite looney. If you see me in public, don't stand near metal objects or me.

I'm responding to what many freelance ask me when we get together or simply communicate over email. The common question amongst many has been what do I charge. I've written before about how to calculate your time and there are some set prices recommended by the Australian Cartoonists' Association. I thought I'd cover another area that I'm sure will upset some as I reveal another secret that freelancers keep to themselves.

It is perfectly okay to ask for a budget. When a client calls to get a quote you should always ask if they have a set budget to adhere to. In many cases a corporation is given guidelines on expenditure and the more intelligent client will work with you on enhancing what they get given their budget. Still there are a lot of clients out there that are newbies to the scene and are very cautious when they are asked for a budget. Their belief is that your quote will match their budget rather than you giving them a price up front for the task.

There has been a real boom in the industry or change in what companies we are now dealing with. Public Relations companies are now starting to expand in to traditional areas that would normally be covered by Advertising Agencies or Direct Marketing companies. Unfortunately with this comes staff who are unfamiliar with how to deal with the creative industry and tend to talk or haggle their way to get a quote.

Too many times in the past year have I had the unfortunate circumstance of having to deal with clients who have no clear defintion of what the final product is they want or what they are trying to achieve. Gone are the days of being given a creative brief that could be quoted and fulfilled without hesitation. Now the trend seems to be that an idea sparks a thought which is passed on via chinese whispers to a staff member who must now complete the project with no real idea on budget or goal set in place.

Here is something that I hope will set in place a way of weeding out the clients who will be worth working for. Lets find those who have a budget or close to one in mind. At least they know what talks.

If the client cannot answer what their budget is, try asking this...

What has been spent on similar projects?
At least this will give you an idea if they have done something similar before.

What is the annual budget and how does this project fit into it?
Here you're asking for a measuring stick ie. if they say the budget is $100,000 per year then you can roughly estimate how much they're used to spending.

You need this information to provide an accurate quote. If this seems to become an issue sorting out the money side of the commission then it is a safe bet that the job will be a painful one. Every client I take on board now must be organised enough to be able to inform me of a rough budget, timescale and a brief that I can work with to create the final product without hassle.