Deadlines and the flip side of procrastination

I put it off as long as I could.
It was a side project I was working on and I was having trouble settling on a theme. A theme and an illustration. I'd done a lot of thinking, but had done nothing concrete to move things forward.

So I sat at my desk and started mapping out ideas. A list of words. A list of images. And (no surprise, really), it worked. Ideas started to materialize.

I settled on a theme.

A snowy night. A night when snowbanks shimmer like sparkle snow in a storefront window.

And with a theme, things shifted.

The ideas started to flow.

The snowy night led to the idea of adding animals. But what kind?

Animals that turn white in winter (there are fewer than I expected). The Peary caribou is one and it would be the first of four I would include in the drawing.

Things were finally coming together. I had the shape of the caribou defined and most of the night sky around it was filled in.

But something was wrong.

The nose. With a pointed eraser, I rubbed it out. And something happened. The area I erased looked like the breath of the caribou. I was so surprised at the sight of it. Serendipity had stepped in and transformed the drawing.

The relief I felt was audible. This was going to work.

The drawing came together, I met my deadline, and felt good about what I had created.

And (fingers crossed), I learned something.

Start before you're ready.

Procrastination is hard to eliminate entirely, but sometimes a deep breath, a pencil (and an eraser), and a list will get things going.

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Production Notes:
On the final panel, I added a line from a cut-up poetry exercise. The original pencil drawing along with the hand lettering was scanned. Color was applied in InDesign.

Click on the drawing to enlarge.

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