I spent the first half of 2016 focusing on art, and posting speed drawing videos up on YouTube. My goal was to build up my channel by posting “the process” of my art and get plenty of practice drawing. That changed in July when I finally decided to get off my butt and release my first novel (that I wrote at the end of 2015). I didn’t expect writing to fully consume my days, but after Two Percent Power: Delivering Justice came out, I just kept going and finished up the second book, Spilled Milk.

Unfortunately, that meant my art took a back seat. And while I’m finishing up the trilogy (scheduled for release early 2017), I still want to do more art, and hopefully, post the videos to my YouTube channel. I skipped Inktober but seeing all of the artwork from other artists I follow has inspired me to pick up the pencils and pens again.

Anyway, take a look at my funky pencil grip in the video below:

Check out my YouTube channel (youtube.com/c/brianmanningart) for more…

That’s the catch, you’ve got to finish it, otherwise, it’s pointless. We’re too busy chasing the next wave of inspiration, not realizing that all the winners are the ones that actually finish the game. I’m not speaking from a position of success, telling you all how I “did it”. I’m equally guilty of pouncing on the next shiny new object that crosses my path as well. There has got to be a point where we all accept that leaving a bunch of tasks sitting around unfinished, only to label them as “I’ll finish that someday”, will never accomplish much. We’ve all got tasks sitting around, partially complete. Like half cleaned offices, partially built projects, unfinished manuscripts, or a half checked to-do list.

…And you’re gonna hear me roar! Yes, I did just quote Katy Perry. I’ve got no regrets about that. Speaking of regrets, something you always hear when others are doling out advice about how we should be living, is to live a life of “no regrets”. Do you want to make that decision now, or live with regret later on, always wondering “what could have been”? The problem is that most of us already have regrets in life, and hearing that type of advice always seems to stir them back up. I think making decisions to avoid any type of regret is the wrong way to go about it.