Space Pawdyssey was created in July, 2016 by Greg Grondin.  It’s an ongoing comedy/sci-fi comic strip published (hopefully) each Friday morning.

Not long ago I saw Zootopia in theaters. Good movie. I enjoyed it. That said, when I left the theater, something was gnawing at me. I used to want to animate. I loved cartoons. Where did that part of me go? I hadn’t drawn in years and I didn’t even know why that was.

I suddenly found myself filled with regret.

Over a month and a bit ago, I saw A Fox In Space – a wonderful little animated fan cartoon by Matthew Gafford. It was brilliant and again I felt myself filled with regret.

What would have happened if I had kept up with things?  What would have happened if I had pursued animation when I left school even?

I picked up a sketchbook.  I picked up pencils and pens and I drew. Like a madman, I drew every single day and I have been for over a month and a half. I wrote a fan fic which got really good feedback.  I kept drawing.

I drew Matt’s stuff mostly.  A lot of Star Fox.  A lot of Fox in Space. It was comfortable and fun.  I met other artists.  I learned new things.

I looked at old drawings of mine and looked for improvements in my work.  I found an old drawing of a fox and a bear.  I drew them again and put them in space.

I decided recently that I needed a goal.  A project. Something unquestionably mine.  Not fan art.  Not a fan fic.  Mine.  I kept coming back to the fox and bear.  I had an idea for a comic.

It’s just an idea though.  I look at my work – my struggles with backgrounds.  With characters.  I see the cracks and imperfections.  But then I look back at Matt Gafford’s work from years ago.  I see progress and growth over such a short period of time.  His early works were great in many ways (anatomy – body composition and poses – seems to be a strength) but it improved so much.  I look at my own work… hands, feet, lines… it shown some improvement in just a month’s time as I learn the tools and learn new tricks and find inspiration from others.

So I registered the domain name for my comic – now titled Space Pawdyssey.  Slowly but surely I will work towards this goal. I’ll work on this project – my project – over the coming months and maybe years until it comes to fruition.  Maybe it won’t be the final iteration either.  It may morph, change, get completely revamped. Maybe down the road something bigger and better will come along.

At the end of the day though I’m drawing again. It’s like I’m breathing for the first time. I don’t want to stop.  All it took was a string of little foxes.