Commander Broccoli by Cheryl Nickel

This week I'm learning to focus. My mind usually likes to frolic through the daisies and tulips of my imagination and this can be a good thing for people in the creative field, but  it can also lead me into the middle of nowhere. So my plan is to corral my thoughts and make them do what is really important according to my goals. For example, when I need to get work done, my first impulse is to go make myself some tea and then check all my email accounts and facebook first. After about an hour, my tea is gone and I really need to get to work. But first, I need to make more tea and then check all my emails and facebook first. And Twitter while I am at it. This has proven to be not very effective. 
My solution starts with examining every thought and make sure it is aligned with my goals. Then I can reject the unproductive ones, hold off on the 3rd, 4th and 5th cup of tea and take 15 minutes to check my accounts only once or twice a day. This is what they calll 'self discipline.' And since I like tea and checking my accounts so much, I'm using it as a reward for getting actual work done. The grass is greenest where it is watered. Now I need to get to work!

People have been asking me about putting together a Commander B comic book so I have it in the works right now. I might put some of my best college comics in there, and maybe I'll throw in some of my worst too, just for fun. I have ideas of new illustrations that will be scattered among the comics so that I will have something new for the people who have read most of them... although I don't think anyone has seen all of them, except Jaredillo, my husband. ('Jaredillo' is floral for 'Jared.')
So this is exciting for me! I wrote out a bunch of pages in a business plan sort of style so I can keep focused and get it done by May. Yay! Ok bye.

Great times were had at the Comic con. The best part was all the people we met including lots of amazing comic artists, comic fans and a few random people who didn't really know why they were there. I had such a great time I think I might just plan to go to the one in Calgary in April. There's a lot I have to do to between now and then to prepare for that!

Someone asked me today what inspired Trixie. Well, a combination of things did. Recently I was trying to think of new characters to put in my comic and I came up with a bear and her. As I was developing the characters I fell in love with Trixie and thought up a whole pile of fresh comic ideas. Her looks were inspired a little by Ronald Ann from Berkeley Breathed's strip "Outland" (and "Bloom County"). But I'd say the main influence would be that we are going to be adopting a little girl from Haiti which has been on my heart for over 4 years now. Her name was inspired by the name of the director of an orphanage in Haiti, named Dixie.

Hey, I'm going to the Comic Convention at the end of the month at the Winnipeg Convention Centre. I'll be there all weekend selling my large original comics, some in colour, some black & white. If I have time I'll make some t-shirts too.

Here's a little sneek preview sketch of Trixie on my Characters page. She's inspiring me with all kinds of comic strip ideas, it's almost hard for me to finish this summer's comics without her!

I did a survey on facebook on whether or not people would appreciate my comics in colour more than black and white. Most people said yes to colour, some didn't care about the colour as much as the content, and a couple people had good reasons for preferring black and white. 
    I decided to do colour, just 'cus it's fun. Except for the ones printed in the daily newspapers, of course. This time the colour is a little more subdued. I coloured my comics a few years ago just for my website and looking back, they are a little tacky with their bright pink or orange backgrounds. I did some research and I really like the way Robb Armstrong's comic "Jumpstart" is coloured, so I took a mental note about why his colours work and mine didn't. Now I understand and know what works. I've got a lot to learn about colour still.

    I woke up the other day and layed in bed thinking about my comic. I was wondering if the average person who reads comics, likes my comic. What could I do to make it appeal to more people? Feedback is rare. Most of the feedback I do get is positive, from people who are aquaintances and so I can't really know if they're being honest or just nice. Years ago, one close friend told me that her and her Mom are a bit freaked out by Commander Broccoli, particularly his helmet and antennaes. She's often encouraged me to try a comic strip about a family, or do a comic strip featuring my stuffed bear, Derry. I started wondering if a lot of other people had a problem relating to CB as well. What are your thoughts? Leave a comment for me below.
    Though I do take her feedback into consideration, I don't think I can ever totally let go of Commander Broccoli and start fresh. He has been in my life for the last 20 years and I have hundreds of comic strips of him. It's like he's a part of who I am. 
    All this wondering led me to the idea of adding a new character to my comics... a little girl named Trixie. You can see a sketch of her on my facebook group http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/241303862565906

    Ok, maybe not exactly a deluge, but I was pretty excited to have 4 comic ideas in less than two hours! I would be quite happy to have multiple comic ideas more often, then I could consider doing a daily comic strip. 
    The reason I got all these ideas is because my family wanted to go to my brothers cabin for the weekend. I said I couldn't go because I had to do my comic strip. They asked if I would go if I came up with an idea, then I could draw it at the lake. I said yes, but they better pray. So, they all started praying for me to get ideas. I got one idea for each person who prayed! Coincidence? No.

It's only the beginning of July and already its been an amazing summer for me! We've gone from lake to lake and then back to the lake again (in one weekend haha). I even got a nice tan for the first time in years. I would seriously be satisfied if autumn started already. More great weather is just more heaven for me, especially since I'm able to do my comics outside and enjoy the weather at the same time. What I'm really amazed at is there are so few mosquitos! Yay! I hope your summer is as amazing as mine. Enjoy every minute!