My Own Worst Critic

One of my best creations is my webcomic, Missed Approach.Its the story (in webcomic form) of an airline, it's crew and their daily pursuit of their next destination. Starring, Capt. James P. Kurt, First Officer, Dan Doodles and Flight Attendants, Doris McKenna and Cali Crystal.

 My first Missed Approach webcomic was self published on September 12th, 2011 and has been published very sporadically since then but not due to lack of effort, want or even ideas (as i constantly think about this webcomic and feel it is inferior to very few comics). As I have stated before, I am my own worst critic and this self criticism has stopped many amazing ideas from seeing the light of day. However there is hope for the future as I have been influenced greatly by the philosophy of Rick Rubin. Although I'm sure that when Rick is referring to artists, he's referring to musical artists, his philosophy of creation for oneself first and putting the public second has helped me in my self criticism. When I say that I am my worst critic, that criticism has it genesis in my doubts about whether the public will like my creations. I love my art, but that self doubt about whether the public will like my art leads to my self doubts about my love for my art. The result being not letting a lot of my creativity see light of day. This must change.

It's not that I don't appreciate the appreciation of my art, but I have decided to put myself and my art first and to no longer worry about adulation, because it doesn't matter. What matters is that my art will no longer limited by my self doubts. If you like the art that I created for myself first, then that's amazing. You are appreciating my true art and not art being filtered by what I think you want to see, but instead the uncensored creativity that is coming from my soul and finding its way onto my paper.

And now a few of my favorite pictures from my most recent gigs…

This is one of my favorite event caricatures. This event took place 

at the Virginia City High School Prom. 

 

This caricature was drawn at Virginia City High School Prom as well. Gracie and Luke were in a serious car accident in which both of these kids broke their backs (yikes!). Thank goodness they're recovering amazingly! 

This couple was at An Evening of Music and Motion presented by 

Drive Toward a Cure for the Parkinson Support Center of Northern Nevada.

Another couple from the event. I think I did a great job at capturing their personality!

A Father and Daughter at the event. Although when I drew her glasses it partially changed the look of her eyes, it still turned our to be on of my favorite event Caricatures!

Lessons Learned

Hello Everyone!

Well, Michael Hopkins Caricature's first airshow appearance is in the books. While it was far from profitable, overall it was a very positive experience I made a few great contacts and I learned some valuable lessons

The journey started April 5th when I left Reno, Nevada (home) for Laughlin Nevada (home of the 2024 Laughlin/Bullhead City Airshow). The first lesson learned was that I need a Van. Trying to pack all of my event supplies (canopy, tables, chairs, canopy weights and walls, drawing supplies, luggage, etc., etc. etc.) into my little Ford Focus was almost impossible. In fact, technically it was impossible, as I left several items at home because they wouldn't fit. 

Since I couldn't pack any food in an ice chest (again, because there was no room for an ice chest in the car) my first stop was Mc Donald's for breakfast and even though I had brought coffee from home, I did order the meal (which included some more coffee from McDonalds). 

FACT! One cannot have enough coffee for a road trip. Also, being a friend of, “if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong” , I had two portions of coffee now and as such, I would be safe in case of an emergency. You know, in case my car broke down in the middle of the Nevada Desert?? Even though I'd be stranded in the middle of the desert, out of water, dying of heat stroke (well kinda, it was early April…and cloudy) I would at least have a robust supply of caffeine (still relatively hot in my mug) until I reached Tonopah, Nevada (approximately 240 miles)

When I started approaching Tonopah, I could tell there was a minor traffic stop ahead for some road repairs (if I remember correctly from my previous trips, it was needed) and some road construction work in Tonopah itself (again needed). Thank God I had an additional supply of coffee for those 15 minutes of waiting…

After a stop in Tonopah for fuel and more caffeine (this time in the form of Coca Cola), the remaining journey was a breeze. Actually, I should say the drive to Las Vegas was a breeze. You see, I was under the impression that Laughlin was close to Las Vegas. It's not (*well, relatively speaking it is, it's about 100 miles) however in my mind it was a lot closer and my mind was the device calculating the need for restroom stops. 

Just a thought…why isn't there an road trip app that would calculate your age, beverages drank and miles driven and in-turn suggest the need and locations of rest stops??

All of this info didn't matter until I passed Las Vegas, glanced at Google Maps and realized I had an hour and a half till I Laughlin Nevada (WTF?!?!?) I was certain a YouTuber had informed me Laughlin was close to Las Vegas??? Well, so much for that YouTuber’s dependability (*again, relatively speaking, Las Vegas is close to Laughlin however when the brain is being influenced by the bladder, an hour and  half, isn't close at all!!!)  Thank God for Searchlight Nevada, an overpriced Chevron station and McDonald's! Fuel purchased, coffee replenished and bladder emptied! On to Laughlin! 

Lesson learned? When one's been drinking all morning (coffee, coffee, water, Coca Cola, lukewarm coffee and water) while driving over 500 miles, make liberal use of all rest areas!

Anywho…here’s some pics from Michael Hopkins Caricatures first Airshow! Enjoy!

Laughlin, Nevada

As advertised, "The Best Corndog in the World"