THE TRUTH HURTS. Spending forty hours on one background isn't dedication. It's a prison sentence preventing you from finishing your project. Many artists fear 3D tools are cheating. That lie keeps you stuck as a struggling artist while pros hit deadlines using every tool available. At Creative Illuminati, we focus on results. DAZ3D and Blender don't replace your art. They remove the soul-crushing labor of perspective and architecture. Use 3D assets to block out your scene and lock in angles. Then, draw over them with confidence. Focus on character acting and story, not vanishing points. Stop wasting time on grids and start building your world. What is the most frustrating part of drawing backgrounds for you? Share your experience in the comments. Join the Creative Illuminati community to master these workflows and finish your work faster. Join the Creative Illuminati at: https://www.skool.com/mikes-sketchbook-7350/about

No more gatekeepers. Print on demand lets you publish, sell, and restock instantly: with zero permission needed. Creative Illuminati teaches the workflow to finish and ship fast. What will you create next? https://www.skool.com/mikes-sketchbook-7350/about

Comics and graphic novels are facing a new wave of censorship. The impact? It lands hardest on independent creators: those without big publishers or legal teams behind them. When a few vocal groups drive organized book bans, it’s not just well-known series that get targeted. Indie writers and illustrators are the first to feel the chill, often forced into self-censorship or kept out of libraries and classrooms altogether. This climate of fear makes it tougher to tell authentic stories, especially for marginalized voices. When comics dealing with gender, identity, or real-world issues are pulled off shelves, everyone loses. The truth: censorship isn’t just about what’s offensive, it’s about who gets to decide what stories are seen. Have you faced or witnessed comic book censorship? Share your experience below. Let’s keep the conversation going and support creative freedom: especially for independent creators. Learn more or join the Creative Illuminati community: https://www.skool.com/mikes-sketchbook-7350/about

Let me guess. You have a killer idea for a comic or graphic novel bouncing around in your head. Maybe you have had it for months. Years, even. But every time you sit down to write the script, you get stuck somewhere around page three, staring at the blinking cursor like it owes you money. Here is the thing. Most creators treat comic scripting like writing a novel. They agonize over every word, build elaborate outlines, and wait for inspiration to strike. Meanwhile, the project sits unfinished in a dusty folder on their desktop. After 30 years as a writer, I can tell you that waiting for inspiration is a luxury professionals do not have. Deadlines do not care about your muse. And the good news is that the same approach that gets news stories filed on time can get your comic script done faster than you ever thought possible. Even better, you do not need expensive software to make it happen. You probably already own everything you need. Read the full article at: Creative Illuminati

You have a book inside you. You know you do. Maybe you have started it a dozen times. Maybe you have folders full of half-finished chapters, abandoned outlines, and notes scattered across notebooks and apps. Maybe you tell yourself you will get back to it when life calms down, when you have more time, when the inspiration finally strikes. But here is the truth. Life does not calm down. Time does not magically appear. And inspiration is not coming to rescue you. If you are tired of waiting, tired of starting over, and tired of watching another year pass without finishing your book, it is time to try something different. The Problem Every Unfinished Writer Knows Too Well Writing a novel is one of those goals that sounds simple enough. Sit down, write words, keep going until you have a book. Easy, right? Not even close. The reality is that most aspiring novelists never finish. They get stuck in the messy middle. They lose momentum after the initial excitement fades. They second-guess every decision, rewrite the same chapters endlessly, and eventually convince themselves that maybe they are not cut out for this. The problem is not talent. The problem is not having enough ideas. The problem is almost always the same: no clear system, no accountability, and no structured path from start to finish. You cannot just wing it and hope for the best. Writing a novel requires a plan, a process, and people who will hold you to your commitment. For the complete article, visit Creative Illuminati