This is part eight of an ongoing project by the DW-WP interns Hilary Allison and JP Kim.  This summer, we’re pulling out all the “social media” stops to get our work seen and our names out.  It’s an experiment, and we’re documenting every step… so YOU can learn from our successes and failures.  Read Week 1 here.

Creating a Backlog

JP is rolling out the updates at Whurf.com!!

JP: I kind of touched upon the idea of a backlog last week when I wrote about the importance of consistency.  A backlog is basically any posting material you have saved. Having a backlog of artwork, specifically, is one of the most useful things any artist who is running a blog/web-comic could possibly have.

Before you even start thinking of having any type of blog/web-comic, you should make sure you have at least 5-6 pieces ready to go before you launch.  It allows you to work at a

comfortable pace, without having to fret over whether or not you’re going to have something to post/update every week.

By no means should your backlog be used as a crutch or excuse to slack off, but it does give you a good bit of breathing space when you find yourself pressed for time, or under pressure due to unforeseen circumstances.  My backlog consists of a butt-load of old artwork I deemed “not good enough” at the time of completion, or I just never got around to completing.

It has saved me from many a missed update in the past.

On a purely artistic note, having a back log is also a good way to gauge your improvement over time and revisit old pieces that you thought were finished, or you didn’t like, and revamp them a little.  It’s always good to take a gander at old pieces with a set of fresh eyes.

 

Consistent Updates for HilaryAllison.net are ready to launch.  I spent the last week creating this colossal backlog…

Scanned (and otherwise collected)

• 5 Finished Comics Pages /  Art Pieces
• 4 Sketchbook Comics
• 38 Comic Strips
• 8 Sketchbook Illustrations
• 30 Small Collages
• 5 Old Comics / Pieces
• 3 Pieces of Found Art
• 4 Pieces by Cartoonist Friends
• 57 Print Ads (pasted long ago in scrapbook of comic relief)
• 5 Illustrations for 3 in-the-works Exposition Blog Entries
• 6 Illustrations for Future Blog Entries

 

I had no idea that I had so much content scattered around!

Sources included:

• a stack of sketchbooks
• several journals
• one scrapbook
• one external hardrive
• numerous school notebooks and binders
• bulletin boards and walls (drawings/cards by friends)
• dusty class assignments in trunks, boxes, and portfolios

 

Future stuff to scan…

• pages from old / little known / just plain good comics and books
• thumbnails and pencils to juxtapose with finals

Future stuff to photograph…

• my desk and workspace
• SVA’s facilities (or lack thereof?)

Future stuff to dig up on the hard drive…

• reference photos, to juxtapose with final art

 

Rate of Release

Now I’m chomping at the bit to upload everything!  But JP says:

WARNING: While compiling a backlog you may be taken a back by the amount of nice work you haven’t shared and want to post it all as soon as freakin’ possible.  Be wary of this and DON’T BLOW YOUR ENTIRE LOAD AT ONCE.  Just because you have a lot, doesn’t mean you should increase the rate at which you post, it means you should have more things to post for longer.  Remember this.

So… if I’m going to spread it out… one update a day?  JP talked me down to three updates per week. My schedule goals are:

MONDAY: JOURNAL UPDATE.  May not include artwork.  Monday is a good day for this, because weekends are full of happenings to report, and right now, I don’t have computer/scanner access over the weekend.  (Ah yes, have I mentioned that my laptop is dead?  Hence recent silence on Twitter.)

WEDNESDAY: ART UPDATE.  This will be the biggest post of the week, a finished comic or another art piece that I’m especially proud of.  Middle-of-the-week updates will reach a larger audience than Friday, Saturday, or Sunday updates.

FRIDAY: SKETCH UPDATE.  A quick drawing, messy comic, small collage or found art.

Should I make the schedule live this Wednesday, or wait until the beginning of a new week?  You know what, Wednesday.

Till next week!

HA & JP (the Interns)

HilaryAllison.net & JP-Kim.com

@HaHa_Hilary & @whurf

Past Installments:

Week 1 (Getting Started)

Week 2 (Setting Up Websites)

Week 3 (Twitter)

Week 4 (Building with Tumblr)

Weeks 5-6 (Part 1: Life Offline, Collaboration)

Weeks 5-6 (Part 2: Life Online, Counting)

Week 7 (Traffic Reports)