I keep thinking about a note a friend sent over the weekend:
I was really struck by a passage in Richard Hell’s autobiography where he describes (partially paraphrased) the poems and songs and cartoons etc. that “support me intellectually, aesthetically, psychologically” (emotionally, I might add). What strikes me about your adventure is the commitment to go beyond support to immersion. I think all of us who experience art think about that.
This will be very different from how I learned to write and design — slowly and circuitously by surrounding myself with great “support” material and by trying and failing a lot. All of us who have pursued a craft know the longing to block everything else out and just jam on that one passion. To make all there is in your head to make, refine your technique until you’re untouchable and go as deep into the pursuit as you’re able. What would that yield? It’s this idea that makes the dive feel so tall and ultimately so thrilling. Today, I don’t even hold my pencil correctly. Tomorrow, the immersion begins.
Art Monk 