I had heard tales of people crying when they built their lightsabers, but I never expected to be one of them. As much as I love Star Wars, I don’t consider it to be some core portion of my identity. I’ve been a long-time fan, but I don’t harbor some nostalgia for the “good ol’ days.” And I have no delusions about the age range of the franchise’s target demographic.

 

But there I was, 37 years old, blubbering with a group of strangers at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Have you ever been to a party where everyone was talking about Frankenstein and you felt excluded because you didn’t know any incredibly useful facts about The Modern Prometheus?

 

Of course, you have. I know this because I definitely have a lot of friends and am always attending very fancy parties.

Not monetarily. At best, a graded, gem mint copy of Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 #403 would get you $200. This – ahem – “well loved” copy might be worth about a nickel. The pages are falling out, it’s covered in Pepsi stains, and the crinkles are from using a hair dryer to dry the spilt chocolate milk.

 

So why do I waste a perfectly good bag and board on this random Spidey comic from the mid-nineties? (A Clone Saga chapter, no less!)

For my next exercise in teaching myself Adobe Illustrator, I wanted see if I could create a cartoon based on the photograph of a real person. Mostly using the pen tool, as well as some shapes, and using gradients for shading.

I’ve been meaning to learn Adobe Illustrator for awhile now. Originally it was to help my strengthen my abilities as a freelance video editor, but it was hard to find the time to teach myself the program. I was too busy editing videos to learn how to improve them.

 

Or at least that’s what I told myself.

Am I as socially awkward online as I am in person? Only one way to find out!