Flow state

The Looby-List of good things: Comics, pancakes, knitting, more knitting, expanding our music horizons, and coveting objects in March.

Hello hello, 

I have been making comics off and on lately. I have just finished a 16-page mini-comic, hand drawn and inked, digitally coloured and then sent off to be professionally printed. I learnt a lot by creating the entire thing from concept to print in a three-day weekend. Was it exhausting? Yes. Did it get a bit rushed? Yes, for sure. But there is definitely something to be said for velocity creativity. It got me over and past my usual dithering process "should I? shouldn't I? Maybe I need to make more pancakes before I start, oh there's a new episode of Last of Us out? Ok… after that". You know how it is. 

Next time I will slow it down and maybe do around a couple of pages a weekend rather than 16. Perhaps then I could get into a flow state rather than drawing with a sense of panic. I looked up "How many pages of a comic should you do in a day?" because I was curious about what others might manage. Marvel artists average one per day, five days a week. That seems entirely reasonable for a professional. 

On Sunday at 9pm, with an aching hand, I realised that I had miscalculated the number of pages and suddenly had to fill two more. After trying to muster up the energy to start a new short story, I gave up. No ideas were coming. I had maxed out. Flop state. Those pages are blank, sorry to say, but they create a nice sense of space in the slim, over-stuffed, hasty zine. 

Here’s how Harry Bliss and Steve Martin come up with cartoon ideas. $50 on a street corner. If only it were that easy!

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Flow:

Speaking of flow, "There's a positive feedback loop where the more you get into what you're doing, the more you get out of it, and the more you get out of it, the more you get into it…." Three creatives on tuning out the noise and tuning in to your work. You may remember that famous TED talk from 2014 by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi; Flow, the secret to happiness. Alternatively, as flow is a state that may be rare for many of us, mindfulness is easier to access with similar results. 

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Play:

The newest game from Ami Baio’s Pink Tiger Games is Cloud Nine: A Game of Wonderful Things. Cloud Nine is a conversational game to share the wonderful things in life. Players collect Cloud Cards, which represent a wide assortment of things and experiences, big and small, that bring out a range of emotions from joy and happiness to wonder and amazement. Each Cloud Card includes questions that players can use as conversation prompts to learn more about why we love the things we do. With art by Lisa Congdon. Back it on Kickstarter. Ami is the best!

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Knit:

Knitting’s on the upswing again (according to yarn stores across North America). Actually, I did some market research myself (that is, I read the free summary of this $5000 report). It looks like knitting is indeed on the rise, with most people citing mental health reasons for creative hobbies. I am still busy crocheting endless granny squares (103 at last count!), but if you are feeling restless, sad and anxious, these are some lovely knitting patterns to contemplate:

1. Augustins sweaters

2. Magda sweater, Gregoria Fibers

3. Moby Slipover, Petite Knit

4. Hipster Hat, Petite Knit

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An early costume design by Eimer Ní Mhaoldomhnaigh, and Colin Farrell as Pádraic Súilleabháin

Costume:

I love a good costume design story. Because I was researching the resurgence in knitting, I came across the The Banshees of Inishernin, which showcases a vast array of vintage-inspired knitwear. Costume designer Eimer Ní Mhaoldomhnaigh employed the skills of 83-year-old Delia Barry, who has been knitting for 75 years, to study knitting patterns from the early 1920s and create accurate and gorgeous chunky knits. She found it challenging to take her painstaking creations and weather them so they looked authentically old and moth-eaten. Despite the knitwear being featured in magazines such as Esquire, GQ, Vogue and Vanity Fair, she can't understand the fuss. "When you've been knitting all your life, they're just jumpers." - here are some knitting details for you knit-nerds.

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Covet:

I have discovered that one way to deal with the yearning for items that I don’t really need is to arrange them nicely in a photoshop spread, put them in a newsletter, and send them out to share with you. That umami bomb is really good.

** No affiliate links or kick backs - just things I am literally coveting. x

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Stuff:

“I was always struck by Peter Rabbit’s pale blue jacket and how cool it was…” designer Bella Freud shows us her Objects of Affection. Eccentric, inspired, and dreamy. 

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Listening:

I mentioned last week that I have been listening to a lot of 80s music to get into the mood for the thing I am writing, which is set in 1986. I got tired of that soundtrack fast; sorry for inflicting it on you. Now I am craving new music. I was interested to read this article from the Conversation; Why do we stop exploring new music as we get older?

“What we think of as our “taste” is simply a dopamine reaction arising from patterns our brain recognises which create the expectation of pleasure based on pleasures past. When we stop actively listening to new or unfamiliar music the link between the musical pattern and pleasure is severed.”

The article also gives us 7 tips for expanding our musical horizons. Number 5 is to find a friend to give you good recommendations. Here’s mine for you today:

Fruit - by the A’s. 

The Linda Linda’s Tiny Desk from last year 

Principia - En Attendant Ana

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Crone Cooking: Pancakes

In an effort to cook 52 essential recipes by the time I turn 52 (March 2024), I have started a little list, and this week was dish number one. Pancakes.

I have always made terrible pancakes and have never really persisted with trying to refine a recipe, so this was an excellent excuse to start. I began with the River Cottage recipe found on Instagram. The first batch tasted okay, but the batter wasn’t thin enough, and they didn’t cook through. They got much better with the second batch, at a lower temperature, less oil in the pan, and more milk in the mix. But they did taste a little baking soda-y. When I looked up some other resources, I discovered that unless you have buttermilk (or something else adding a little acid), the baking soda is essentially useless, as it needs the acid to react and create the rise. Lazy Day Pancakes from Bon Appétit suggests NO baking soda and four (!) tablespoons of baking powder. This recipe also instructs you to separate the eggs, stirring in the yolks first and then the lightly whisked whites at the end. It seems pancakes are one big chemistry experiment that may take more than one or two batches to master. I’ll report back with updates.

Next time, lasagna!

Thank you for all the additional list suggestions for my 52 things! I have added many more to my “back up list.” Pretty soon, it will be 65 recipes to cook before you turn 65.

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Chime in!

This week I ask:

1. Do you have a good pancake recipe?

2. How about lasagna? I have my thoughts, and I’m interested in yours.

3. What are you listening to that may expand music horizons?

4. Colin Farrell’s knit collar: yay or nay?
   

That’s it for the week. Hope you are keeping warm (or cool). Come on spring…

xo,

Claire

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What’s coming up on Loobylu (aka The Subscriber Pitch):

The next paid-subscriber-only edition is about what to wear to the office after 22 years of not working in an office - a webcomic.

What came before:

In the last paid-subscriber-only issue, I created a print zine and offered to send it to subscribers in the mail (there is still time to sign up for this). I recently made a webcomic about returning to the ceramics studio, brainstorming with spider diagrams, and amateur archaeological adventures.

Loobylu is a reader-supported publication free of affiliates, partners and sponsors. For access to past and future subscriber-only posts, support Loobylu with a paid subscription.