No new comic this week. Unfortunately fate has seen to it that time was in short supply. So I drew this instead.

I believe that in anything a person pursues to really benefit from it you need to reach the point of The Ever Present Guilt. As in if you don’t keep at it or miss your schedule you feel the watchful judging eyes of the universe on you. So when I find myself in this situation, and it happens, this is pretty much the conversation in my head. Usually late at night, mind numbed by exhaustion, slumped over a blank piece of bristol, pencil in hand and drool on my chin.

Part of the time crunch is spending time at my kids school for their winter fair volunteering as a caricature artist. I did this last year and back again so am getting organized for 12 hours hunched over a board sniffing sharpies. Full disclosure: I don’t have much confidence in my caricature skillz. I went into this last year prepared to be run out by angry children with pitchforks and Frankenstein rakes screaming “SHAM!” But let me tell you, if you have never drawn for kids, you owe it to yourself to do it. Even one kid.

It’s an amazing reminder about why anyone spends time doing art in the first place. Not because they are easily impressed – because of the contagious sheer joy they have in watching someone draw…anything. Many of them get super jazzed and you can see in their faces that they want to do this too. Their excitement as they watch you work. Having a child look at you and yell to their friends, “HEY THIS GUY IS AN ARTIST!” is a real cure for any constant mild imposter syndrome.

Hearing a kid say, ‘This is so cool!’ makes you stop and remember for a moment: “You know what. This is cool.”