Wes Molebash ✏️

You might not have many readers *right now*, but you will have more in the future. And they’re gonna be STOKED by the backlog of material they’ll get to dig through!

It’s hard to create when you’re feeling depressed, so give yourself space. When the desire to create starts to return, it’s a good sign that your mental health is improving.

If you’re trying to figure out which idea to pitch to an agent, choose the one you’re most excited about regardless of its “marketability”. Making books is a long game, and no one knows what the trends will be in a couple years when your book finally comes out.

Just left the theater after seeing Fantastic Four. Such a fun movie!

“Are you a born writer? Were you put on earth to be a painter, a scientist, an apostle of peace? In the end the question can only be answered by action.

Do it or don’t do it.”

— Steven Pressfield, “The War of Art”

Never underestimate the power of doodling.

Make art that is as loud and obnoxious as you want it to be. To that end, feel free to make art that is as quiet and gentle as you want it to be. Your work won’t be for everyone, but no one’s is.

There will be days when you make very little progress on your art. You might even make *no* progress. This does not mean you are a failure. It means you are a human. Be kind to yourself.

Every now and then, for no reason at all and at the oddest time of day, a song pops into my head. A song from my childhood.

“Fish heads, fish heads
Roly-poly fish heads…”

If the creative process is keeping you energized, you’re on the right track.

I’m as perplexed as you.

AI video is getting too good. I’ve been fooled a handful of times this week. Stay wary, friends.

It’s wonderful how I can have very specific ideas about a character’s personality as I start to write a story, but by the time I get into the meat of it my character has become someone more remarkable than I originally imagined. The creative process is beautiful.

Has anyone ever asked for a shirt that felt like butter was smeared on their chest, arms, and torso? No.

That’s exactly how it comes across. I AM NOT A SHORT STACK OF PANCAKES THAT CAN BE BOUGHT.

Look, I try very hard not to be negative on social media, but…

I’m really tired of online clothing stores describing T-shirts and hoodies as “buttery soft”.

I hate drawing backgrounds. When I started working on the Travis Daventhorpe series, I forced myself to draw detailed environments. I still hate drawing backgrounds, but I’m better at them.

Breaks are very important to the artistic process. Take time to hang with family, read a book, watch a movie, strum a guitar, or play a video game. Effective breaks are like carbo-loading before a creative marathon.

My best ideas come to me while I’m making something, and rarely before. Sure, I get ideas when I’m doing non-creative stuff, but they never flourish until I sit down with my tools and get my hands messy.

Bad Guys 2 was a lot of fun. Had some quality laugh-out-loud moments.

When you’re working on a large project like a graphic novel, it is VITAL that you break that beast into the smallest increments you can. Quit thinking of it as a book you have to complete, but rather panels and pages that you chip away at days at a time.

Slow and steady finishes the comic.

It’s August 1st and Southern Ohio is getting “pumpkin spice” weather. Not complaining.

“Determined idiocy” is what separates the pros from the amateurs.

Every cartoonist I know wrestles with self-doubt. Not an exaggeration. The most talented people I know all think they suck. But for some dumb reason they keep making stuff.

MAKE 👏🏻THE 👏🏻 THING 👏🏻

The Columbus Crew have been stinking it up pretty bad the last few games, but they are still the greatest sports team in the history of the world and I will die on that hill.

#Crew96

I never gave it a chance before seeing the movie. 🤷🏻‍♂️

K-Pop Demon Hunters is really good. Also, I guess I like K-Pop now?

It never goes away. Ever. But every time you draw you’re pushing it aside. So keep going!

I’m not one of those cartoonists who are gonna tell you to draw every day. But I will say that the more you draw, the more you karate chop self-doubt in the face. Take from that what you will.