failure

Well, That Was Easy (A Return To timotheories Form)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

If you can believe it, I have been quite busy these past few months, dear readers.

I’m sure you’ve noticed this fact, given that timotheories effectively shut down in the month of August and didn’t return back to form until December, a solid four months later. This is largely due to two key reasons –

  1. I bought a house in September
  2. and then I got engaged in November

On top of that, I spent the better part of August searching for the house I have now bought, and once more in October shopping for a ring and planning how to propose to Mysticque on the eve of our anniversary. And spoiler-alert, she said yes to me. Which was both exciting and terrifying for me.

You see friends, I’ve never done either of those two major life things before, but it was finally time for me to take the plunge and make a financial decision that would further my ambitions AND more importantly secure a future for my fiancee and I. But it feels terrifying because I’m making decisions that don’t just impact me anymore. They impact the woman I love, and her son, who will also become my child too. Also, I’m hardwired (just like you) to resist change because it could hurt me.

This is why I consciously decided to carve out those months to complete those major goals and then get back into the rhythm in time for Christmas.

Fear of failure is where the terror comes in. Obviously I don’t want to let them down, nor do I want to put them into a bad situation. But to do nothing is worse because I know what I am capable of, and failure is simply an opportunity to learn.

When we are children, we are given many chances to learn, and as we learn we improve. Riding a bicycle, using a lawnmower, and wiping with toilet bowl cleaner all come with some risk. But if someone who is trained to use those items instructs us properly on how to use those items ourselves, then we can better prepare ourselves to complete those tasks too.

I guess my point, creative cuties, is this – Life will continue to be as it always is, difficult and beautiful. Which shouldn’t stop anyone from pursuing their dreams. Dreams are what make life so interesting after all, they motivate our waking life, it’s that easy. And that’s my major theory for the week.

Tim!

 

Take Chances, Make Mistakes, Get Messy (Colin MacIntyre, cartoonist preview interview)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

Well, fuck. I guess I should just give up the chase then. No more interviews.

At least, thats what I thought last Sunday, when I didn’t post this months preview post.

I made a mistake, doing this crazy venture, yet again. I thought I was going to make this awesome interview with a local cartoonist, a first for me on timotheories, and everything went to plan… right up until diving head first into the editing process.

You see dear readers, I brought in Colin MacIntyre of @thecolinium instagram fame with the intentions of revealing his secrets for you. Secrets about making artwork every day. This dude is insanely committed to sharing at least one drawing each day on his instagram feed. And he damn near does it at least five days a week. So that was my intention. To share a cool story with you, about a cool artist, and the awesome conversation we had.

Then I learned that somewhere along the line, his closeup video came out super yellow – I don’t know if it was the tungsten filer on my LED lights, or the warm tube bulbs hidden behind the chairs, but somehow, he ended an incredible shade of yellow and orange, like an Oompa Loompa. And so I messed around with Lumetri Colour settings in Adobe Premiere to correct my problem. Turns out that once something has been over-exposed, video or photo, it’s quite difficult to correct.

Lesson learned I guess! But you know what creative cuties? The results aren’t so terrible, and they work on two levels I think.

1) Colin is a cartoonist, so that resulting video has an illustrated feel, and

2) Pushing through with this interview is definitely in the spirit of Colin’s deeply held mantra of making art no matter what

Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy, as the great Mrs. Frizzle used to say, amirite? That said, Colin is  is a full-time communicator. He works in sales by day, and freelances as a cartoonist, podcaster (I Have Some Notes), and blogger (The Long John Index) who makes art every day. In this preview clip below, he and I discuss why making a commitment to art is difficult.

And humour conveniently plays a factor into his response.

theories Summarized

Does it really surprise you though to learn that television, smart phones and overcommitment can play a huge role in why we don’t make art? This is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg on why Colin is awesome and why making art is so important, even if you fail in the process.

So watch the clip, leave some comments, subscribe to my channel if you haven’t yet, and enjoy the process of watching me learn the ropes of this social media thing too, because surprise, I’m not an expert either. And it hasn’t stopped me from continuing this dream. Never give up, never surrender. That’s my own theory for success.

Tim!