On the Eve of the Contest Deadline

So, here I am... hours until the deadline for the "Comic Strip Superstar" contest of 2009; and I am exhausted!

"Why?", you ask? Well, since you've asked...

It all started about 3 weeks ago when my aunt sent me an email about a national competition that Amazon was putting on to find the next big cartoonist.

At the time, I told her that I was flattered, but realistically would probably not have the time to devote to creating the two Sunday comic strips that were required (alongside 10 dailies - which at the time I thought I had taken care of - but I'll come back to that). I tucked the email away and didn't really give it much more thought... Until...

As fate would have it, just days after my aunt's suggestion, I was laid off from my full-time job. While at first, this was devestating for all the normal reasons, it wasn't long before my aunt's email came to mind, and I decided that now the only thing keeping me from entering the contest was something that I had in spades- TIME!

I set to work generating ideas for two good Sunday strips (even though the "Jeremy And Tim" comic strip is over 20 years old, I had never actually made a true Sunday strip). Once I had the concepts lined out, I began rendering the artwork between job hunting sessions.

Everything was going well until last week sometime when my wife and I were reading through the rules of the contest again. We both stumbled upon a rule that seemed as horrifying as it was unwavering. It said (generally) that while it was acceptable to enter a feature which had been published, the content that was submitted for the contest must be made up of all-new material that had not been made public.

Suddenly, with less than a week left until the contest's deadline, I would need to not only finish my Sunday strips, but also crest 10 brand new dailies... And they had to be good enough to replace the current 10 that I had cherry-picked from my current library of hundreds of old "Jeremy And Tim" comic strips.

I essentially had two choices:

1. Give up and be resonable... You're unemployed, and the days are ticking by; you need to find a job, not spend time generating comic strips for a contest that you have no way of winning at this point...

OR

2. Suck it up, pull your creativity together and spend the next week making absolutely the best examples of the "Jeremy And Tim" comic strip that you can.

Needless to say, I chose option #2.

Thus began a hectic, non-stop, sleep-deprived week of more illustration and comic strip generation than I have ever had before. I now lay on the bed in my home office the night before the competition with only a few more panels on the last Sunday strip to render. With the help of God and the loving patience of my wife and family (who helped by letting me have as much time as possible) I have actually done it! I am ready to enter this contest!

I have no delusions of being the grand prize winner, or even of making the finals, but this last week has proven something to me that I think has changed things... it has showed me that I could really do this whole "cartoonist" thing...

And what's more... I would really enjoy it!

So wish me luck and send up a prayer over the coming weeks/months. I will be sure to keep everyone updated, but regardless of the outcome of this contest, I have a renewed ferver now.

As long as God lets me keep my talent, and continues to give me the chance, I will be pursuing a career as a cartoonist. I know that now.

Signed, Jeremy Burt
The Artist responsible for
The "Jeremy And Tim" comic strips
Posted via my iPhone