Cartooning is a very demanding art form, I agree, but once you get the hang of it, it comes naturally to you. Learning to produce "Sequential Art" (Comic Art is not the correct term) is like learning to speak a second language. In order to be a successful cartoonist, you have to communicate through pictures first (words come later, sometimes edited to fit the art). Plus, you have to work *fast*--me and my friends receive outrageous assignments--editors are terribly demanding, often requesting 20+ pages in two weeks. The faster and more detailed you are, the more your work is in demand (literally).

Sequential art is not just a profession, it's an obsession!

Sometimes in my daily journal (or sketchbook), I record my dreams. Some of these illustrated dreams end up fleshing out a story idea or get me started on a story--sort of a warm up before I do anything in the day. The illustrated dream sequences are not the best art in the world because they often reflect my drowsiness or laziness at the time--but they do seem to be the most interesting drawings I have accomplished within my journals. Illustrating dreams are very refreshing and it takes less time to draw them than it would for me to do an actual full-length 48 page story.

I think that the reason why it is so difficult for people to record their dreams (whether in comic or written form) is that people tend to think too hard on their dreams--that somehow their dreams ought to make some "sense" and too much emphasis is put on the dream and *not* on the "dreaming." Dreams don't make sense and the only sense they make is when we decide to make sense out of them. Dreams do not follow any set rules.

That's why they're so damn interesting!

Dreams are extremely freeing for me as a cartoonist. When working on a regular story, I am limited to a coherent plot or outline--in other words, I *have to* follow the rules. With dreams, there is no true coherent sequence--images flow onto the paper and I am not bound by an already heavily thought out plot or outline. The only times I've ever had difficulty recording dreams like this was when I concentrated too long on how everything

should look, feel, etc. This isn't necessary!

There are many cartoonists out there who have published dream-related material. Mr. Kulikowski's article barely even tapped the surface! Comic Dreamlogs are not new...in fact, the first cartoonist to record his dreams in this form was Windsor McKay--the creator of Little Nimo--back in the early 1900's! And cartoonists aren't the only ones to be influenced by dreams...

Remember Salvador Dali? He used to doze off with a glass of water in his hand. Once he fell asleep, his grip on the glass would slip, and he'd awake and paint whatever he last saw in his mind. Anyone who's interested in this sort of dream experiment should remember it.

When keeping any sort of dreamlog, my advice is draw or write your dream without thinking about it and don't waste too much time recording it. Do your best to try to capture the essence of your dream. Do this immediately after waking. Record only what comes to mind naturally--*in the sequence that you most remember it*

I don't know, maybe I'm an unusual case, but...expressing my dreams (mind you, I did *not* say 'recording' my dreams) has always been easy and enjoyable.

I would be more than happy to hear from any of you out there in dreamland who are presently keeping a dreamlog. How do you express your dreams? Is it easy for you?

Thanks for hearing me out,

--Val, the Dream Shaman

Comic Journal Dream Entries by Val, the Dream Shaman

Dream Note: In response to the Dream Art Review by Stan Kulikowski (ED issue #9), the following dreams are presented in a "sequential/comic book/journal form" and are subsequently "brief"--for easy analysis. Since I cannot submit the actual artwork (for lack of obvious reasons), the dreams are in semi-scripted form (so, while reading 'em try to imagine them as being part of a comic book).

Dream #1: August 1, 1995 "LampShadeHead"

--Outlined in black, there is a young male figure standing before you. He has an old tattered lamp shade for a head. No face. There is a spotlight on him, as if he is on stage--infact he *is* on a stage of sorts...the stage of your mind--the Dream Theatre--and is about to make a monologue...of sorts--

LAMPSHADEHEAD: (soft voice) ...many wonder what we really are and why we do what we do... (second panel, closer up)

LAMPSHADEHEAD: ...why and how do we become *spirit* guides... (third panel, his hands crossed)

LAMPSHADEHEAD: ...we're ghosts, really. The ghosts of people who have led rather unsavory lives... (fourth panel, hands uncrossed)

LAMPSHADEHEAD: And we pay for what we did or didn't do in life by serving an eternity of community service... (fifth panel, LAMPSHADEHEAD in dead silence, hands to his sides) (sixth panel, LAMPSHADEHEAD more distant)

LAMPSHADEHEAD: ...Yet many fear us. Many think we're demons. Or hallucinations. We're just trying to do our job... (seventh panel, still distant, image of LAMPSHADEHEAD gets fuzzy) LAMPSHADEHEAD: My name is

now LampShadeHead. I killed myself in 1989... (eighth panel, even more distant) LAMPSHADEHEAD: ...gunshot wound to the head. Val, you saw me die. Now only you are open enough to see me. Thanks for listening. (ninth panel, figure fading)

LAMPSHADEHEAD: ...I was once known by the nickname "Cheesy"...And I just wanted to tell you that I think what you're doing is great... (tenth panel, completely black, figure has gone) LAMPSHADEHEAD: (just his voice remains) ...keep it up.

Dreamer's Note:

I had a friend who shot himself in the head at a party in 1989. It was a suicide. I watched him die. That was six years ago. It has never left my mind. When I dream about him sometimes, he either has no head, is holding his head, or, as in this dream, has a different sort of head altogether. He tells me he is a "guide" to several people and, on numerous occasions has given me advice. I don't know if it's really him in my dreams. He scares me. But in this dream he put me at ease. I'm a cartoonist and have just landed my first job doing a series of stories for an independent company. It's a great start...perhaps I needed a "psychic" pat on the back(?!)

Another Side Note: August 1 is a holiday for me; Lammas--a pagan holiday in celebration of the harvesting of corn and bread--a feasting day, so to speak.

Dream #2: August 2, 1995 "Sour Reunion"

--first panel opens with me (back turned to audience) looking out at a couple on a park bench--a man with a beard and scruffy black/brown hair with a bimbo-ish blond--the man is smiling and waves at me--

MAN: (happy) Hi, Val! ME: (narration on top margin) I was at a woodland resort somewhere up north. I walked into an underground room (which actually led me outside) and saw an old friend with a strange woman. (pause) I was only slightly jealous. I felt afraid and sad... (second panel, close up of man and woman; laughing)

MAN: (still smiling) It's been a long time... I've missed you!

ME: (narration) He looked thinner and happy...not like he ever was before. He didn't look mean. I started to love him again. It felt so real! (third panel, me beside my old friend, I look silly with him, smiling like the blond bimbo--I become the bimbo?)

ME: (more narration) Then I notice that the woman (who had previously been blond)...THAT WOMAN WAS ME! I looked...well, terribly dumb and silly. (fourth panel, I'm a little girl sitting on my old friend's lap)

ME: (still more narration) Suddenly I was no longer looking at myself beside him. I was myself beside him and felt uncomfortable. He sat me on his lap...

MAN: (holding me on his lap as if I were his daughter) So, what have you been up to?

ME: (looking up to him) Well...I'm a cartoonist now--just like you are--and I went to the Chicago Comicon last July and I got a job!

ME: (narration on bottom of panel) ...AND I BECAME A LITTLE GIRL! (fifth panel, big scary close up of my old friend, hands reaching out to me in an invitation to hug)

ME: (narration on top) He reached out to hug me and I was afraid...

MAN: (tearfully happy) I'M SO...SO PROUD OF YOU! ME: (narration on bottom) I jumped away from HIM, knowing that this was only a dream...He started to cry, yet was so happy. I freaked and ran away. The dream soon ended and I felt ashamed of dreaming this dream. ...it was so stupid. (end)

Dreamer's Note:

This "friend" was something of a hero to me long ago, but walked out on me. He was a fellow cartoonist who made it big. We were once great friends. He's no longer so big in the business and I haven't seen him for over a year. I always looked up to him, now he's gone...and I'm still angry and bitter at him for walking out on me. He was supposed to be my friend...*

I hate this dream.