welcometopergatory

[welcometopergatory]

1/31/20: Rough Landing.

   It’s been a good while since I've accessed this blog. I’m hardly active on my main Instagram where it counts, why would i be good at maintaining a blog on the side I guess(?) 

   Quick note, after spending an embarrassing amount of time trying to morph this tumblr into a simple yet effective and functional blog, I’ve come to the conclusion that I know absolutely NOTHING about computers or coding. This is bad. Forget trying to create a functional informative blog, how am i gonna successfully create and maintain a host space for SFG when that time comes?

   SFG, That comic iv’e been talking about for years now. YES, the comic is still in progress. YES, it’s not finished some couple odd years after it should have been. I have my reasons but sometimes they feel more like they might be just excuses. I can’t tell anymore. Here goes, bit of a long one. 

I currently work 2 jobs. One part time and one full time. As you can imagine, this takes up a massive amount of my time and energy. Especially my full time job, working overnight, which leaves me absolutely drained and asleep for most of the day. Bad. 

Life happens. If it’s not working or sleeping, its running errands, family engagements and obligations, upkeep around the apartment, keeping myself fed. It’s amazing how much of a burden cooking a whole ass meal actually is. All of this takes up about 80% of my downtime. Maybe I’m just bad with time management.

I am my own worst enemy. I struggle immensely with a lot of internal issues. There’s no reason to get into the details, but i’m a person who struggles daily with a stupid amount of self esteem issues in almost every aspect of my life. And at their worst, they are CRIPPLING. so much so, that I recently went through a 6 MONTH slump losing confidence in my art and my dream. 6 months of my comic and drawing tools to collecting dust. This was a major, MAJOR blow. Setting back a comic already behind by 2 YEARS for an additional 6 MONTHS.

I am a one man team. This one is probably a bit obvious, but I’m the brains and the brawn behind the whole comic. I do the rough drafting, paneling, layouts, sketching, inking, editing, scripting. on a given workday, I spend a whopping 4 to 5 hours actually awake and able to accomplish my daily activities. Thanks, overnight job. Like i said before, most of this time is spent maintaining my living space and keeping myself fed and ready to return to work. On a day where I work both jobs? FORGET IT. There is no free time, just one job straight to another with a nap in between. This makes trying to squeeze the many facets of creating a comic HARD, and forces me to pick and chose what I can really focus on in a given day.

   What about my days off? See complaint #2. Look, all of this really falls on me and my decision to pursue creating a long form comic. I knew what I was getting into, yes. And I’m aware it won’t get any easier, at least for a long time if at all. 

   Within the first month of 2020 alone, a lot of very big and very scary personal things have happened to me. This year is going to be difficult. Very hard decisions are going to be made, and massive changes are going to take place. Neither of which I’ve ever been good at coping with. But sometimes change is unavoidable and needed. And some of these changes and decisions are things I've been running from and can’t escape anymore tbh. More on that on in a later post, as this one has ran on for too long and people don’t like to read long things, I know.

   For the time being, things are moving along. The comic is slowly crawling to completion, and (Here’s that estimated deadline I ALWAYS give and FAIL at delivering on) I’m HOPING to have the comic fully finished, edited, and out the door by mid to late August. Don’t quote me.

  If you took the time to read any of this, thank you and that means a lot considering I probably wouldn’t even read this massive thing myself. I owe you the best work I’m capable of producing. And no matter what happens to me or where I end up, SFG will continue no matter what. It has to. Lastly,

 Pergatory still lives.

[welcometopergatory]

(1/1/18) Happy New Years.

     Happy New Years to anyone who might read this. 2017 was big year for my creativity. I came to the realization that making comics is 100% what I want to do with my life. And I began the process of preparing my comic to be self published online.

     I’ll be the first to admit that I severely underestimated how much time and effort would go into the process of making this comic happen. I’m a one-man show. When serious work finally gets underway, I will single-handedly be taking care of rough drafting, drafting, paneling, drawing, inking, uploading, editing, posting, and maintaining the space my comic is hosted. All in a timely manner.

     I’m fully aware this all comes with the territory, and i’m completely committed to everything this comic will require. That being said, work on the comic stopped for the past 2 weeks. I’m only one man, and life gets in the way. I spent the past 2 weeks dealing with personal issues involving family and the relationships in my life. Drawing is my passion, but it can’t be my entire life. So i took a break to focus and address different aspects of my life, as well as enjoy some family time for Christmas and New Years.

     To wrap this up, this will be the year of SFG. I will finally release my comic this year. Maybe not as soon as I had hoped, not as frequently as I originally wanted. But I’m gonna try and be realistic about dates and deadlines and release this comic nonetheless. I’ve always said one way or another this story will see the light of day, and I swear on my own life that will always be true.

     It’s a new year and, quite literally, a new me. One of my biggest goals this year is to finally start becoming the person I always wanted to be. And it’s a goal that’s already in progress. My work on this comic is going to shift into full gear, and I’ll be working my hardest with any and all free time I can get. So as it stands, rough drafting will resume by the end of this week (It’s currently Monday afternoon). With buying presents out of the way, acquiring materials will now continue slowly but surely. And of course, the hopeful release of SFG is aimed sometime around mid to late May.

     I’ll keep the updates coming as things develop, but for now I have high hopes for 2018 and can’t wait to open up and share my passion with whoever is willing to join me on this journey. Happy New Years!

[welcometopergatory]

(12/21/17) December Update.

     Timely, persistent updates are definitely something I need to get better at. I understand it’s been awhile, i’m overdue for a solid update here. 

     Progress on SFG has been slow and steady as of late. Let me be the first to point out that the rough draft was not finished within the time frame I had hoped to finish. And inking has yet to begin, as previously hoped for around this time.

     I was unable to acquire all the materials I needed for inking before the big holiday shopping grind. In all honesty life just happens, and I’m just one guy trying to squeeze in a DYI passion project in between work, sleep, family and obligations. At the moment, that is. So although I've suffered a definite delay to my whole comic here, It doesn’t mean anything is cancelled or put on hold.

     Work on SFG continues on as normal, although there are a couple of things I’d like to address. Originally, SFG was aiming for a mid-to-late March launch date in the spring. Although with all the setbacks I've encountered and slower than expected progress, I have been thinking about pushing the launch date back to around early/mid May. 

      This will allow me more time to finish my rough draft, build up a good amount of buffer, find a host for the comic, and start getting some decent promoting going across social media. As you can tell there’s still quite a bit of work to be done here, and maybe I underestimated the amount of work needed to get this comic off the ground. Call me ambitious. 

     I’d just like to wrap this up by saying the launch date might be up in the air now, however work continues on the comic and promoting the series will begin steadily around the new year/January. The holidays have been a very distracting  and demanding time for me this year. I’m considering New Years to be the time for me to regroup and re-focus my attention onto the comic, among other things. More on that later!

Thanks.

[welcometopergatory]

(11/13/17) Happy Birthday!

The month of November is not only my own birthday month, but as of this year it also marks the 8th birthday of my personal creative brand, Welcome To Pergatory! You may have noticed that this particular brand tends to dominate any and all of my social media and/or online presence. In honor of my own birthday today I thought I would offer just a brief insight into what this WTP brand is and where it came from.

To start, Welcome To Pergatory first began as a series of collected illustrations completed between October 2009 to February 2010. A good friend of mine was working on his own series of collected illustrations under the name Flowers for Frankenstein. His illustrations blew me away with how creative and impressive they were. 

This inspired me so much that I wanted to try my hand at something similar. After much deliberation on what to call my project, the final name came to me after reading a Bleach manga book. Welcome To Pergatory is named after the Bleach Chapter of the same name.

Obviously the big difference for me is how Pergatory is spelled with the ‘e’ instead of the proper ‘u’. I don’t remember if this is intentional but it stuck. The collected WTP illustrations have become some of my most colorful and whimsical illustrations despite my lack of skill and ability back then. I like to believe they were created during a peak time of my own imagination. I find it more difficult to channel that sort of young, random creativity these days. 

Anyhow, following the deep inspiration of Flowers For Frankenstein, and to the heavy soundtrack of Emmure’s Goodbye to the Gallows album, the original WTP illustration book was created over the course of that Fall/Winter during my sophomore year of high school. Once completed, I found that the project had had something of an impact on me. 

The original WTP helped me determine that drawing and illustration was most definitely something I wanted to do for a living. At the time of it’s creation, I had been on somewhat of a hiatus from anything creative. It was my first serious project since I had stopped working on SFG and another unannounced comic a couple years prior. 

It was a big departure from comics. But it helped revitalize my creativity and interest in illustration, on top of helping me learn to branch out from my previous strictly manga influenced style of drawing. What came of it is the more cartoonish style I’ve developed and actively use today. 

And mostly, the end result was keeping the Welcome To Pergatory name as an overall brand and label in which to house and host all of my creative endeavors. My goal is to one day be able to officially release all of my more ambitious projects under the WTP name in the future. 

And even though WTP has been finished for years now, the project remains a very special part of my journey into illustration, as I consider it the official “reboot” to my lifelong passion of drawing, taking up pen and pencil yet again after my hiatus. 

A so to speak “sequel” is still planned for the near future, under the name Welcome Two Pergatory, along with revisiting the original WTP illustration series for some very special projects in honor of the next couple anniversaries. 

Pergatory Lives.

[welcometopergatory]

(11/10/17) A Damn Moment

I spent some time typing out a whole monologue to say the least, but ultimately decided to keep my thoughts short and sweet. I’ve been pretty down lately. Just dwelling so much on that ever present probability of failure. Failing my comic, future planned projects, myself. Failing to reach my goals and dreams. And the fact that I should be considering some sort of backup plan in the event of my failure looms large over me.

I could go on but I don’t really see a need to. I think from time to time, anybody with big aspirations probably gets themselves down with this type of negative thinking. It should be noted that I myself am naturally a negative person. A pessimist. But despite my negative disposition, my project is still in its infancy so I’m not ready to count myself out before I’ve even tried.

Sometimes you just have to dust yourself off and build yourself back up. It’s taken me years and years of defeat to realize that. As I’ve stated before, no matter what happens this project will see the light of day in some form or another.

All of that aside, SFG is still progressing albeit slowly. I’m currently in the process of collecting necessary materials which is exciting. But more on that later!

[welcometopergatory]

(10/31/17) Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! The best parts of the year always seem to fly by the fastest. It makes me pretty sad to think Halloween has already come and gone, and before you know it Christmas will have passed and we’ll be sitting right back at January to do it all over again.

I was able to get more into the Halloween spirit this year, compared to where I was this time last year. I know it’s cliche but i’m a very Fall oriented person and my year consists of September through December. The other months are gray areas I just drift through on my way to Fall. I grew attached to the Halloween season this year, but all things end and onto the next holiday!

All of that aside, work on SFG stopped entirely this past week in order for me to shift my complete focus on sewing my Alamo City Comic Con Halloween costume completely from scratch. It was a very extensive project that required 100% of my time and effort. 

Unfortunately, I must admit that this means work on the SFG rough draft is now very behind schedule. I won’t put an estimate on when the rough drafted copy might be finished, but I’d like to say that even if the rough draft isn’t finished by the previously expected mid November time frame, inking on the final copy will begin early December as scheduled no matter what.

I still need to collect necessary materials for inking and work on the final draft, but I’m working on it. That’s all for now, I’ll have more updates in November!

[welcometopergatory]

10/22/17 (Spooky October Update)

I didn’t realize it’s been so long since my last update. Happy Halloween! The best time of the year is already in full swing! I’ve been meaning to update but it I always find myself out of time. If I’m not working or sleeping, I’m always very busy. Not because I want to be, of course.

The rough drafting process for SFG volume 1 continues on! However, It’s definitely not speeding along like I had hoped. In the spirit of complete honesty, I guess you could say I underestimated my own ability and the amount of free time I struggle to have. I went in with the old 14-year-old-me mindset thinking I could dish the whole thing out pretty quickly. Well, wrong.

My drawing capabilities are much better than they were back then, therefore, the rough drafting process is much more extensive now that i’m able to paint a much clear and cleaner image of what i’m trying to present. I’m trying to give it everything I have and present the best work possible. So I guess these things can’t be rushed, although I do tend to get carried away with details on the rough draft. I have to remind myself constantly to save the “spinning rims” for the final draft, so to speak.

With that being said, an updated estimate on the rough copy’s near completion would have to be Mid November with inking on the final draft to hopefully begin around Late November to Early December. If all goes well, that is. But don’t quote me.

On a final note, I’m completely aware that nobody really reads and/or sees my blog or anything on it. However, I’d like to do occasional posts about people and things that inspire me and my stories, things I find entertaining, opinions, etc. And hopefully even get into the scope of my planned projects and the direction I hope to take them. That is, if I can magically get better at updating.

[welcometopergatory]

9/18/17  (SFG takes shape)

I’m absolutely horrible at keeping up with anything, which i’d like to say is due to my not-so-hobby-friendly overnight work schedule but sometimes i think it’s just me not trying hard enough. 

I’m happy to say that rough drafting on SFG volume 1 has officially started, albeit progress has been a lot slower than i’d like. Also, I’d like to point out that I had already previously completed volumes 1 through 13 back in 2005 to 2007. 

However, since i was only a kid, the art style was very rough and unprofessional along with more plot holes than you can shake a stick at. So of course right now is just a matter of converting my old work to its new and improved glory, and not to mention more visually pleasing art. The story has grown significantly since back then, as it has grown and developed alongside me all these years.

I want to say a good 90% of the story has remained relatively the same as 12 year old me had intended to present it back in 2005. Several cuts and changes were made where needed to adapt it from its original form. 

With all that being said, i’m aiming to be finished with rough drafted volume 1 around late October or so, if all goes well. That way drawing and inking can begin on the final version around early to mid November. I still have quite a few supplies to get and details to work out.

Pictures and details will start to pop up as the rough drafting progresses!

[welcometopergatory]

6/27/17

I know updates and posts are slow all across the board. I’m actually really bad at posting updates but it goes without saying. However things are definitely progressing albeit waaay slower than I would like. I’m really only able to get some practice in every other weekend which, I know, doesn’t sound like much progress at all. 

It’s just hectic between always being tired and family/relationship obligations. And I know that’s probably just me making excuses subconsciously. Still trying to figure out how others make time for their passion. 

Despite the slow progress, I’m still on track to hopefully begin work on SFG around Fall/early Winter of this year and the start of next year, with an early to late Spring release. My style has never been perfect so the world will receive my raw and sometimes rough style of drawing in all its glory. 

Speaking from experience, one of the greatest feelings of drawing a comic is watching yourself progress and get better over time.

[welcometopergatory]

5/25/17

     Working overnight is probably the biggest reason for my extreme procrastination in illustration these days. I always wonder what kinds of jobs illustrators work that allows them at least a little time to do what they love to do. Comics, projects, etc.

     The Unfortunate side of the overnight lifestyle is sleeping all day and being so incredibly lethargic the few (very few) hours i’m actually awake before returning to work. Maybe it’s just me and i’m not dedicated enough? Is it possible to be artistically productive working graveyard day in and day out?

     It’s so difficult to gauge these things without an outside opinion or an example to go off of. I’m the type of person who sometimes needs guidance or a helping hand to find which step is the right step in the right direction. One of my many counterproductive flaws. 

     So what’s the secret to finding time to be productive? Are overnight shifts just working against me and not ideal, or is it just me not trying hard enough? Not wanting it enough? Cause believe me i want it. But maybe I just need to rethink and rearrange my life to accommodate illustration more extensively?

[welcometopergatory]

5/10/17

Everybody has to start somewhere.

[welcometopergatory]

What is SFG? Part 4.

••I want to go ahead and thank anybody who might be even a little interested in what I’m planning here with this comic. I’m not anybody special at all. I don’t have any real experience or schooling in anything artistic under my belt. I’m completely self taught and DYI and it’s a big scary step to put myself out there and try to overcome my insecurities about my stories and art style when more experienced people are already doing it better. ••I just want to hopefully reach people and connect with anybody who’s willing to give my comics a shot. There’s a select few people I consider responsible for all of this even being a part of my life, cause without their push and inspiration I probably would have gave up on drawing before my journey even started. They’ll be properly thanked and acknowledged at a later time. ••I can’t wait to start sharing details about my story soon. Updates might be slow at times, but you can find a majority of them here or brushed upon on my Instagram. Much love, J. Anthony Perez🗿

[welcometopergatory]

What is SFG? Part 3.

••I've always been horribly self conscious and shy about my stories and drawing style which has done nothing but hold me back. But it feels as if I've reached a "now or never" point with this, so I'm ready to give it all I've got. Only a select few people are already aware of this story and its characters because I've always been so secretive and kept it to myself. ••SFG is a very long story and therefore a very long term project. And I would like to mention that it's just one of MANY stories I have, and ONE of TWO main series in an entire comic multiverse that I've created over the years. I'm currently still in the process of gathering materials and brushing up on my skills, so hopefully by this Fall/Winter work will fully begin on the comic and be ready for reading by Spring 2018. I'm still searching for the perfect place to host my comic since it's fairly large and long term. I'm trying for a system of maybe 2 to 3 chapters released every 2 weeks but that could easily change between then and now. ••A fairly large amount of the story is already planned out and developed, but more story and character details will be revealed as work on the series gets closer. To make this comic something real I can share with the world is my biggest goal in life, and I'm gonna put everything I have into it. I will post updates in the event anything comes up that might change or delay any of my plans.

[welcometopergatory]

What is SFG? Part 2.

••When I was a kid drawing out SFG for the first time I never thought too much about what I wanted to do with it long term. The story was actually created on the fly for a large part toward the beginning, making it up as I went. As I got older it was real on and off, as life took precedence and the comic would go off to the wayside. But just because I wasn't physically drawing it, doesn't mean I stopped working on it. ••For years and years I developed the series further in the back of my head. Thinking of new characters and directions to take the story. Eventually I realized just how much this project meant to me as it grew and evolved over time, and I already had a lot invested into it. I knew I needed to draw it in some way. I just want to share my story with whoever might find an interest in it. I always intended to draw it out immediately after High School, but my life took a lot of twists and turns in the years following, and the comic would get put on hold constantly. Not to mention my horrible procrastinating and laziness. ••It's been a very long road but things are finally falling into place, and after much, much delay, it seems like I'll finally be able to start soon.

[welcometopergatory]

What is SFG? Part 1.

••SFG is the name of a comic series I’ve been developing for the past 12 years, give or take a year, of my life. It follows the story of my protagonist and his friends and family as they journey through a world of elemental abilities and powers on the path to adulthood, making a name for himself and facing powerful threats and antagonistic entities that cross paths with him along the way. The story heavily contains and follows a Shounen style of storytelling with others formats and elements mixed in. ••The series started as random ideas in my 9 to 10 year old brain, basically coming up with things I wish i could see on TV at the time. It wasn’t until 6th grade math class out of pure boredom in the Fall of 2005 that the story actually started to take shape. I sketched out a horribly drawn fight scene, including the character who would go on to become my protagonist, on pieces of stray graph paper that ended up getting taken away by my teacher and ultimately thrown in the trash. I had no idea the direction that this random comic on scratch paper in math class would one day go. ••"SFG” is an abbreviation for “Super Fighting Generation.” It should be noted that “SFG” was originally a temporary placeholder name that ended up just staying and becoming permanent cause 12 year old Me couldn’t be bothered to think of a real name, I just wanted to hurry up and draw it.

[welcometopergatory]

5/3/17

I've actually had this account for over a year now but it was just mockup for the longest time to make me feel nice if that makes sense. I tweaked it a bit to be more formal and less personal fantasy.

[welcometopergatory]

4/16/17

Been cleaning up my Instagram lately trying to get things ready to put myself out there in terms of illustration and my various plans and projects. I've always been extremely shy about my stories and art style and its held me back for years and years now.