As the story goes, back on The Brother’s 7th birthday (1994) I got my first comic books – the first three issues of the Chris Claremont/Jim Lee run on The X-Men. Technically, he got his first comic books, but I promptly stole them from him and he hasn’t seen them since (unless you count the split second I let him look at issue 1 after Jim Lee signed it in 2003 – which was a birthday present I gave to myself that year and a whole other story onto itself).
As you can see, I loved this comic. This was a really hard time for me, not just the whole “growing up” and being a pre-teen/teen. In 1992, I pretty much watched cancer eat away at my great-grandmother while my granny took care of her. At the same time, the first friend I made when my family moved out to B.F.E. was also dying of cancer. I took comfort in this world of super powered mutants as a way to try and deal with what was happening. I carried it with me EVERYWHERE I went, and it was always put in my backpack from grade 7 to 9. I read this specific issue multiple times throughout the day, studied it like it was handed down from up high. It was the reason I started to teach myself to draw (small town school = not much in the way of art classes), and fell in love with the medium of comic books. Out of all the “things” I own, this is second only to the box I keep my dogs’ effects and pictures in (my Kirk Hammett signature series ESP is third).
Obviously, I really liked this comic; I read it so much, the cover is no longer attached to the book itself and is taped up to keep it from falling apart. Anyway, it was all the way back then that I decided that I wanted to draw comics. And if I couldn’t draw comics, I’d do something in life that had to do with art.
Being typically me, things happen the hard, long way. I never went to the art schools I wanted to go to (i.e. the ones that offered illustration classes and taught you how to do sequential art) because I couldn’t afford them. So I settled for in state schools (three, specifically) and only graduated with an AA. I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I was going to end up working for the state just like my parents for the rest of my life despite them always urging me to do something I enjoyed for a living.
Well. I guess I could only take so much of that shit. Not going into details on what finally made me smack myself and yell, “Snap out of it!”, but it happened and I found a pair and decided to apply to the art schools I had always wanted to learn from (not to mention apply for a job I’ve always wanted, but that’s a different subject). I didn’t care if I had to live in a cardboard box to go there, if I was accepted I was moving. Luckily for me, The Savannah College of Art and Design now offers eLearning.
And yesterday, I was informed that I’ve been accepted to attend.
I just went from “nervous because I might not get in” to “nervous that I got in and how am I going to pay for it and I hope to GAWD my hands start feeling better and that I don’t need surgery and HOLY SHIT I’M GOING TO FINALLY LEARN HOW TO DRAW COMICS”.
*whew*
I asked the Universe to give me the tiniest bit of good news since the past four years have been a trial of disappointments with money, career, education, death, living arrangements, and It came through for me this time. I hope I don’t fuck this chance up.
