That’s great, Stephen! Very encouraging and a good reminder to focus on the small steps. I think we all make the mistake sometimes of looking at other people’s super cool accomplishments and assuming it all happened overnight.
Hi, thank you for clarify this whit a comic stripe… now im in this strange path to descover what I really want to do…and is taking me a year of time to start to know that…
This was so encouraging to me. I frequently come back to trying to draw and get disheartened quickly from comparing my efforts to work I admire. Then I give up for a while and tell myself maybe I just don’t have the right skills for drawing or designing. This is a great reminder to just keep at it and even if the “bricks” are a bit crumbly and rubbish to start with, they’re still bricks and can only get better. Thanks for giving me a bit of motivation, I really enjoyed reading these comics so far, keep it up! Thank you, Anne
It’s like when a baby learns how to walk– the truth is, it really sucks at walking. But we don’t make fun of the baby for falling so much. We don’t compare the baby to kids who can walk. It’s just a baby! And so are we, when we first try something. It is a very natural thing to “fall” and to fail when we first try to do something.
Thanks so much for this comic Steve! This is so relevant for so many things. I’m working on my Master’s Thesis right now, and I’m working in an area that has relatively little scholarship so that my idea is new and interesting, but there is just enough scholarship that I frequently end up comparing myself to these Herculean academics who are “so much more brilliant than me and I’ll never be that smart and know that much and make such clever arguments!” when really they’ve just been working in their fields for 20 years longer than I have. It’s nice to be reminded of this every so often, so that I can now continue laying the bricks
I’ve been on a real downer with my art lately- I’d love to be concept artist but couldn’t ever see myself being employed as one.
This comic has really given me some hope and motivation back. And if ever I feel discouraged again, you can be sure I’ll be back to read through this for inspiration.
Thanks very much for the encouragement and the motivation!
Hey Stephen, thanks so much for your art! It really means a lot to me, this concept about building something brick by brick.
I have many large goals which I really want to accomplish, but I often look towards the immediate results(which discourages me), and forget this crucial principle about building things a little bit at a time.
So I guess I would say it again, thanks for the reminder!
I really do love your art and the message it conveys, so keep the good work up!
Really inspiring stuff. I love your perspective. This article really increased my hope and confidence towards achieving BIG DREAMS or GOALS! Thanks for taking the time to share your wisdom, its much appreciated.
Your picture blog here is very inspiring and this one in particular has put a great big smile on my face, I’m sure whenever I’m feeling down about my artwork or any big goal for that matter I will most definitely look back on this blog and regain some of my enthusiasm! Thanks a bunch keep up the great work here and in your comic career doing Mal&Chad!
This story reminds me of the true story I heard actor Will Smith tell in an interview.
Will’s father,wanting to teach his boys a tangible lesson about goal setting, took Will and his brother to a wall that he had demolished and ordered them to rebuild it. Will’s dad gave him and his brother no interactions on how to re build the wall, nor did he supply the materials. It was left to them to rebuild it on their own.it took a year to complete the project, but the two brothers successfully completed the task alone, and as a result learned valuable lessons in resourcefulness, persistence, ingenuity, and working progressively towards a goal. Smith credits this as one of his greatest accomplishments.
Thank you for this…
You saw this sentence many times before, but this little story is VERY inspiring… When I usually just hide in the corner – there are SO much more greater people than I am, that can create WAY better things… I simply want to die sometimes, because I feel useless.
But then I saw this. Simple little idea. Just small steps. We shouldn’t be afraid to make them… Because it’s PRECISELY it, what leads us to those greater people…
Thank you again you made me to let myself try one more time
omg again! that’s me, looking at the picture that came out into the world, vs the one that was in my head. lol!
have you seen… man, i can’t remember where i saw it, on someone’s blog… i can’t find it. it was a graph, showing how your visual acuity as an artist evolves vs how your manual skill in creating art progresses. and where the two lines overlap, that’s when you feel you are at the top of your game, and where the vision gets ahead of the skill, that’s the periods where you feel you suck. but the point of the graph is, it’s a cycle. so if you feel you suck now, it will get better.
Thank you for this! I’m just in the start point of that road and feeling very small. Now I have hope again. PS: Sorry for the english, not native language.
[...] the roadblocks life — and your own brain — throw at you. I'm always looking for new ways to lifehack my own habits and ways of thinking to improve my art, and personal outlook on life, and this site looks like [...]
I feel like your in my head >< Its so hard not to put ourselves down at times. I'm well known for this. Thanks for the inspiring words. If only I can pain the walls over my art station with stuff like this.
Thank you so much for this blog. Just an immense amount of gratitude here. Your comics have pulled me out of creative funks twice now, and always seem to be exactly what I need to hear to get going again. I want to say they’re inspiring, but I find a lot of things inspiring that don’t result in action. These are motivating, effective. And lovely to boot. So, thanks.
That’s great, Stephen! Very encouraging and a good reminder to focus on the small steps. I think we all make the mistake sometimes of looking at other people’s super cool accomplishments and assuming it all happened overnight.
Ha ha, I think I’ve looked at your work like that before Sarah– it’s cool to know you struggle with the same thing.
greta article Stephen! And reminded me of the things we’ve been talking about.
Awesomeness. This principle is crucial.
Thanks shaun! Good hearing from you.
awesome stuff. these are so cool and so inspiring. Appreciate it!!!
Hi, thank you for clarify this whit a comic stripe… now im in this strange path to descover what I really want to do…and is taking me a year of time to start to know that…
This was so encouraging to me. I frequently come back to trying to draw and get disheartened quickly from comparing my efforts to work I admire. Then I give up for a while and tell myself maybe I just don’t have the right skills for drawing or designing. This is a great reminder to just keep at it and even if the “bricks” are a bit crumbly and rubbish to start with, they’re still bricks and can only get better. Thanks for giving me a bit of motivation, I really enjoyed reading these comics so far, keep it up! Thank you, Anne
I’m really glad! Thanks for the nice comment.
It’s like when a baby learns how to walk– the truth is, it really sucks at walking. But we don’t make fun of the baby for falling so much. We don’t compare the baby to kids who can walk. It’s just a baby! And so are we, when we first try something. It is a very natural thing to “fall” and to fail when we first try to do something.
Keep it up!
Thanks so much for this comic Steve! This is so relevant for so many things. I’m working on my Master’s Thesis right now, and I’m working in an area that has relatively little scholarship so that my idea is new and interesting, but there is just enough scholarship that I frequently end up comparing myself to these Herculean academics who are “so much more brilliant than me and I’ll never be that smart and know that much and make such clever arguments!” when really they’ve just been working in their fields for 20 years longer than I have. It’s nice to be reminded of this every so often, so that I can now continue laying the bricks
I’m glad! Thanks for being here!
I’ve been on a real downer with my art lately- I’d love to be concept artist but couldn’t ever see myself being employed as one.
This comic has really given me some hope and motivation back. And if ever I feel discouraged again, you can be sure I’ll be back to read through this for inspiration.
Thanks very much for the encouragement and the motivation!
Aw– thanks for letting me know that– I with you the best in you pursuits!
Hey Stephen, thanks so much for your art! It really means a lot to me, this concept about building something brick by brick.
I have many large goals which I really want to accomplish, but I often look towards the immediate results(which discourages me), and forget this crucial principle about building things a little bit at a time.
So I guess I would say it again, thanks for the reminder!
I really do love your art and the message it conveys, so keep the good work up!
Awesome! David Ramsey’s recent book Entreleadership goes over this in his chapter on Goals. It was a paradigm shift for me.
Your cartoon illustrates it nicely.
I didn’t think I’d stumble upon such an inspiring message today. And yet, it speaks only the truth.
It reminds me that I spend more time on my project. I’m already proud of my work ’til now, but I’ll be even more once I’m done and get to share it.
Thank you!
Really inspiring stuff. I love your perspective. This article really increased my hope and confidence towards achieving BIG DREAMS or GOALS! Thanks for taking the time to share your wisdom, its much appreciated.
Your picture blog here is very inspiring and this one in particular has put a great big smile on my face, I’m sure whenever I’m feeling down about my artwork or any big goal for that matter I will most definitely look back on this blog and regain some of my enthusiasm! Thanks a bunch keep up the great work here and in your comic career doing Mal&Chad!
Thank you! I’m glad.
This story reminds me of the true story I heard actor Will Smith tell in an interview.
Will’s father,wanting to teach his boys a tangible lesson about goal setting, took Will and his brother to a wall that he had demolished and ordered them to rebuild it. Will’s dad gave him and his brother no interactions on how to re build the wall, nor did he supply the materials. It was left to them to rebuild it on their own.it took a year to complete the project, but the two brothers successfully completed the task alone, and as a result learned valuable lessons in resourcefulness, persistence, ingenuity, and working progressively towards a goal. Smith credits this as one of his greatest accomplishments.
Art is not question of skill. It is the human way to do things with heart.
Aww. This is very inspiring! Thank you very much for this! And, nice art
Thank you!
Ahh This is so true! Very encouraging, inspiring, and makes so much sense. Thank you for this!! ♥ I needed that
Yay! I’m glad!
… I really needed to read this. Thank you.
Thank you for this…
you made me to let myself try one more time 
You saw this sentence many times before, but this little story is VERY inspiring… When I usually just hide in the corner – there are SO much more greater people than I am, that can create WAY better things… I simply want to die sometimes, because I feel useless.
But then I saw this. Simple little idea. Just small steps. We shouldn’t be afraid to make them… Because it’s PRECISELY it, what leads us to those greater people…
Thank you again
omg again! that’s me, looking at the picture that came out into the world, vs the one that was in my head. lol!
have you seen… man, i can’t remember where i saw it, on someone’s blog… i can’t find it. it was a graph, showing how your visual acuity as an artist evolves vs how your manual skill in creating art progresses. and where the two lines overlap, that’s when you feel you are at the top of your game, and where the vision gets ahead of the skill, that’s the periods where you feel you suck. but the point of the graph is, it’s a cycle. so if you feel you suck now, it will get better.
anyway, this one reminded me of that, too.
Your comics are deeply inspiring and moving. Thank you so much for them!
You’re welcome!
I’d love a print of this. I’m imagining it exactly as it’s laid out here—as vertical panels. Any chance of you selling those?
I would love for this to end with him making a second picture better than his first.
[...] http://doodlealley.com/2011/10/19/brick-by-brick/ [...]
Thank you for this! I’m just in the start point of that road and feeling very small. Now I have hope again. PS: Sorry for the english, not native language.
[...] the roadblocks life — and your own brain — throw at you. I'm always looking for new ways to lifehack my own habits and ways of thinking to improve my art, and personal outlook on life, and this site looks like [...]
I must say these little comics are really inspirational.
I feel like your in my head >< Its so hard not to put ourselves down at times. I'm well known for this. Thanks for the inspiring words. If only I can pain the walls over my art station with stuff like this.
Thank you so much for this blog. Just an immense amount of gratitude here. Your comics have pulled me out of creative funks twice now, and always seem to be exactly what I need to hear to get going again. I want to say they’re inspiring, but I find a lot of things inspiring that don’t result in action. These are motivating, effective. And lovely to boot. So, thanks.
My pleasure! You’re quite welcome– thanks for the encouraging note!