FWACATA

A sketchbook is everything, man.

Mine carries comic ideas, character sketches, teaching schedules, reminders, scraps of paper, and things I write down because I know damn well I’ll forget them otherwise. Somewhere in there, a vampire cheerleader might show up. That’s how it goes.

In this video, I walk you through how I prep a new pocket sketchbook, from fixing up the cover to laying out the month ahead. You’ll also get a look inside some older books and see how this little system helps me keep making things while life keeps happening.

Watch the video and get your own sketchbook out. You can set yours up while I work on mine.

I like these small, simple books because they fit in my pocket. When an idea hits, I have somewhere to put it. A scene for FUGLY, something for VIGIL, a note for Dragonbreath, or a drawing that doesn’t belong anywhere yet—it all gets a home.

The pages are full of experiments. Sometimes I’m figuring out a pose. Sometimes I’m writing a few words that might become a story. Sometimes I’m just messing around long enough to discover something worth keeping.

Here’s how I get a fresh one ready:

* Fix up the cover. I cover the cardboard with adhesive labels to give myself a smoother drawing surface, then add my own artwork. Clear packing tape helps protect it from the abuse of being carried around all month.

* Make room for loose stuff. A pocket in the back holds business cards, receipts, tickets, and whatever else needs to come along.

* Keep useful notes handy. Schedules and sticky notes move over from the previous book when I still need them.

* Draw out the weeks. I make a simple grid with seven days and a space for notes. A ruler, a marker, and a little patience get it done.

* Add some color. Green is for money-related things, orange is for FWACATA and creative work, and pink is for school. It helps me see what’s happening at a glance.

Then comes the part that keeps the work moving: PAD—Panel a Day.

Getting to the drawing board for twenty minutes and finishing a panel adds up. Some days, that little check mark represents a sketch, a scene written, or progress on another project. I want a record that I showed up and did something.

Crossing things off helps, too. There’s a small satisfaction in looking at a page and seeing evidence that you got your shit done.

Lately, I’ve been working with one month, one book. When I flip back through it, I can see what I was making, what needed my attention, and where my head was. I keep the old ones because there are still ideas in those pages waiting for another chance.

Some of those drawings also find their way into ART TO THE FACE, my monthly sketchbook zine. This video lets you see where that material starts.

And sorry about the abrupt ending! The camera got hot and cut off while I was working on the cover. Apparently, it had reached its creative limit before I had.

If you enjoy seeing how the comics, drawings, and odd little ideas come together, subscribe to FWACATA here on Substack. Follow along for comics, art, writing, videos, and more time at the drawing table. A paid subscription helps support the work and keeps me making more of it.

Tell me in the comments: what goes into your sketchbook—and would you like more live drawing sessions?

Now grab a little book and put something in it.

This week’s Substack Attack turned into a full tour through the FWACATA engine room.

I pulled out the comics, showed where the name came from, talked about the strange road from Miami to El Paso, and opened up the sketchbooks where all the ideas, bad notes, good accidents, and future disasters are currently hiding. There are glimpses of Meathook, REZ, Zombie Years, Fierro, and a few other things I’m probably not supposed to be working on simultaneously—but here we are.

Then I settled in and worked on a new FUGLY page live, using toy cars for reference, ink washes for motion, and the sort of crooked lines that would make a ruler file a restraining order. Along the way, I talked about why restrictions can make comics easier, why speed matters, how I loosely script pages, and why you shouldn’t wait for anyone’s permission to make the stories living in your head.

There’s also a little philosophy buried under the ink: anybody can make comics, perfection is overrated, and eventually we all go into the ground—so you might as well draw the damn thing now.

Watch the replay, see the page come together, and hang out in the studio while I try to explain what the hell I’m doing.

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Some weeks, motivation isn’t about crushing goals, optimizing your schedule, or becoming a productivity machine.

Sometimes motivation is simply figuring out how to stay human.

After years of podcasts, hundreds of conversations, and more headlines than any sane person should consume, I’ve noticed something: it’s easy to become another voice screaming into the noise. Another person pointing at everything that’s broken. Another reminder that the world is on fire.

The problem is that most of us already know the fire is there.

We’re drowning in information. Every day brings a new outrage, a new scandal, a new reason to be angry, exhausted, or cynical. At some point, constantly describing the disaster stops being useful. It becomes background noise.

So this week’s Monday Motivation isn’t really about politics, economics, technology, or any particular crisis. It’s about something underneath all of that.

It’s about your soul.

Not in a religious sense necessarily. Not in a mystical sense. Just that core part of you that decides what kind of person you’re going to be when everything around you is trying to pull you in another direction.

Why is it that we’re often so protective of the things we love, the things that make us vulnerable, the things that matter to us... yet we’re completely comfortable embracing our anger, our resentment, and our hatred?

Why do we examine our hopes so carefully but rarely stop to examine what we’re furious about?

This episode dives into that question.

It also wrestles with something many of us are feeling right now: the sense that the systems we’re told to trust aren’t functioning the way they should. Whether it’s politics, corporations, technology, or public institutions, there seems to be a growing gap between what people need and what they’re getting.

The question becomes: What do you do when you feel powerless?

What do you do when showing up doesn’t seem to change anything?

What do you do when you’re scared about the future but still trying to remain hopeful?

I don’t pretend to have the answers.

What I do know is that giving up your humanity isn’t one of them.

If things are going to get difficult—and I suspect they might—then we’re going to need people who can think clearly, act with purpose, support one another, and refuse to become monsters just because they’re surrounded by them.

Maybe that’s where motivation starts.

Not with changing the world overnight.

But with deciding what kind of person you’re going to be while the world changes around you.

Listen to this week’s episode and let me know what you think.

And whatever comes next, try to remember one thing:

Be good.

FWACATA’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

So I finally hit Go Live on Substack… and spent the first few minutes doing what every dignified professional does: panic-clicking buttons and trying to figure out where the hell the controls are. I’m used to platforms that give you a cockpit. Substack Live feels more like, “Here’s the plane—good luck.”

Once I realized the stream was actually working (and that yes, there were probably three people watching), I did what I wanted to do all along: show the sketchbook and talk shop.

What I showed on the stream

This sketchbook is my “main project” book—the one where everything ends up: notes, layouts, test prints, character designs, and the chaos glue that holds the whole FWACATA universe together. I flipped through:

* A color print test for “Pachanga Part 3” (for FWACATA #4) because I’m that guy who has to see how colors behave before committing.

* The basic FUGLY template: six squares per page. Simple box. Simple limits. And weirdly—those limits make it more freeing.

* A peek at future FUGLY pages (Issue 2 deeper pages, plus the beginning of Issue 3) and how I outline each page with notes so I’m not just winging it and praying.

* My “PAD” streak system—where I try to do at least a panel a day / up to a page a day, marking off progress. I’m around day 43 in the transcript.

And then it spiraled (in a good way) into the usual studio multiverse: astronaut/Aztec-ish designs, luchador ideas, El Chuco (local mystical mask hero for El Paso), fantasy gravestones for Horlo’s Stand, ink experiments where I’m literally making my own gray markers by putting ink + water in water brushes, and a pile of “what if this becomes a shirt/sticker/book later?” sketches.

I also talked about the eternal Substack question: should I post sketchbook stuff daily, and does anyone even see Notes unless they’re living in the app? (I’m still figuring that out.)

The main event: Turbo Turtle

Then I decided to work on a character design and finally explain Turbo Turtle—because he’s going to matter more in FUGLY.

Turbo Turtle is not actually a turtle. He’s a guy with very short, stumpy legs—born different—who’s brilliant with mechanical design. So he builds a suit that makes him one of the fastest guys around, purely through technology.

The fun part is how “technologists” work in my world: mad science isn’t a job—it’s a sport. An exclusive club. If you’re capable, it’s almost your duty to build something insane and dangerous and then see what happens when it hits the street.

Since people mocked him and called him “Turtle,” he leaned into it: Fine. I’m Turbo Turtle. And he made himself a badass—big arms, forceps, a suit that functions like a Swiss Army knife, with tools and extensions for whatever he needs.

And because this is FUGLY’s world, Turbo Turtle doesn’t fund his projects by being a wholesome inventor. He becomes a collector / paperwork enforcer / bounty-hunter-adjacent—the guy who can actually serve papers to superheroes and supervillains and make debt stick. Because yeah: if Batman owes you money, how do you collect?

He’s got this unicycle / single-wheel morphology, and the suit can tuck down into a high-speed “shell” mode—one wheel, armored front, ripping down the highway. His tires are basically nanite-like: they change form depending on terrain—off-road, slicks, whatever.

And here’s the spoiler: he becomes FUGLY’s partner. For whatever reason, FUGLY likes him. Turbo Turtle is a good dude with a violent streak and a story behind it—raised by good parents, but something in him is wired different, and I’m saving that reveal for later.

What’s next (and how to catch it)

This was my first “Substack Attack,” and I want to do these every Monday—plus I mentioned I’ll be live on Instagram Tuesday 6–7PM.

If you’re here for:

* free comics

* process and sketchbook peeks

* FUGLY updates

* and watching me build this whole universe in real time

…subscribe at FWACATA.com, and you’ll catch the next one.

The internet is one of the greatest tools ever created—and one of the easiest places to lose yourself. This week’s Monday Motivation is about guarding your most valuable resource: time. From doomscrolling and algorithms to attention, creativity, and real human connection, this episode asks a simple question: are you using the internet as a tool, or is it using you? If your focus feels fractured and your days seem to disappear one notification at a time, this one might hit a little too close to home.

Time is the one thing nobody gets more of.

Money comes and goes. Opportunities appear and disappear. Projects fail and can be restarted. But time? Once it’s spent, it’s gone forever. That’s the central idea behind this week’s Monday Motivation podcast: being intentional about where your attention goes and who gets access to your time.

The conversation starts with something most of us already know but rarely act on. We live in an age where we’re connected to everyone, everywhere, all the time. We can look up a recipe in seconds, learn a new skill, video chat with old friends, or send a picture of our dog doing something ridiculous halfway across the country. Those things are genuinely amazing. The internet has become one of humanity’s greatest tools.

The problem starts when the tool becomes the master.

Somewhere along the way, many of us stopped using the internet and started letting it use us. Endless feeds. Endless outrage. Endless distractions carefully engineered to keep us scrolling just a little longer. What begins as “I’ll check one thing” turns into an hour lost to videos, arguments, headlines, and content we’ll barely remember tomorrow.

This episode isn’t anti-technology. Far from it.

It’s about awareness.

It’s about curating what enters your mind the same way you’d curate what enters your home. The algorithms learn from everything you feed them, and before long they begin shaping what you see, what you think about, and what occupies your attention. If you’re not careful, you’ll wake up one day and realize your mental landscape is being designed by people you’ve never met and companies you’ve never heard of.

There’s also a deeper concern here: attention has become fragmented.

Many of us can no longer sit with one thing.

A book competes with a phone. A drawing competes with a video. A conversation competes with a notification. Even our hobbies are often interrupted by the constant urge to check, refresh, or scroll. The result is a life filled with stimulation but starving for focus.

So what do we do?

Maybe the answer is simpler than we think.

Draw without YouTube running in the background.

Read without checking your phone.

Take a walk without earbuds.

Sit under a tree and do absolutely nothing for a while.

Give your brain the chance to process the world instead of constantly reacting to it. Give yourself room to think your own thoughts again.

Because at the end of the day, that’s what this podcast is really about: reclaiming ownership of your attention.

The internet can teach you, connect you, inspire you, and help you build incredible things. But it can also consume every spare moment if you let it. The choice is yours.

Use the internet.

Don’t let it use you.

Listen to the full episode for a funny, thoughtful, and occasionally profanity-filled look at modern life, algorithms, creativity, and why protecting your time may be the most important thing you do this week.

ABSOLUTE BATMAN drawn for fun in video; want some original art? Hit up my commissions page or go to WHATNOT for more! I will be live tonight on Substack!

BE GOOD

A tribute to John Ulloa — the loudest dreamer in the room, the first guy to help carry the table, and the kind of friend who burned through life with both fists full of love, comics, chaos, and impossible ideas. This week’s podcast is part obituary, part celebration, and part reminder that sometimes the people who drive us the craziest are the same ones who push us to live bigger, create harder, and stop waiting around for permission.

If you would like ot help the ULLOA family as they make arrangements in these trying times, hit up their GoFundMe!

“What survives is what you gave away.”

Fifty episodes in.

That alone feels like something. Not a finish line, not a victory lap—but a marker. A pause where you look around and go, damn… I’ve been at this a minute.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth that creeps in right after that moment:

Sometimes the thing that stops you next…is everything you’ve already done.

This episode isn’t about celebration. It’s about confrontation—specifically with that little voice that says:

“Yeah, yeah… you’ve done that before.”“You know how this goes.”“Why bother?”

Because that voice?It sounds like wisdom.

But a lot of the time… It’s just fear wearing your experience like a costume.

In this episode, I talk about hitting that weird mental loop—where opportunities show up, and instead of excitement, you feel resistance. Not because they’re bad. Not because they won’t work.

But because you think you already know how they’ll turn out.

And that’s where things get dangerous.

Because life doesn’t repeat itself the way we think it does. The landscape changes. The audience changes. You change. And what didn’t work before… might hit completely different now.

Or maybe it won’t.

But that’s not the point.

This one digs into:

* The trap of “been there, done that” thinking

* Why experience can quietly become a limitation

* The difference between real instinct and fear disguised as logic

* Taking opportunities even when you’re unsure (especially then)

* Navigating a changing creative landscape without losing your edge

There’s also some real talk about getting older in this game—feeling out of place, questioning relevance, and still choosing to show up anyway.

Because whether it’s comics, podcasts, or whatever you’re building…

At some point, you’ve got to decide:

Are you protecting yourself from failure?

Or accidentally protecting yourself from growth?

Fifty episodes in… and somehow it still comes back to the same thing:

Take the shot.

Even if you’ve taken it before.

Especially if you have.

🎧 Listen to the full episode and ride the thought process in real time:

If this one hits, share it.If it doesn’t, maybe it will next time around.

And if you’re out there doing your thing—quietly, stubbornly, imperfectly—

Keep going.

We’re all just hermits in our own caves trying to make something real.

Say hi once in a while.

A wrong turn, a wasted morning, a Spider-Man sketch… and the only mindset that actually saves your day.

There’s a special kind of frustration that hits when you do everything right… and it still goes sideways.

You wake up early (which already feels like a personal attack), you show up where you’re supposed to be, you’ve got your day mapped out—and then boom: wrong place, wrong time, wrong everything. Plans? Gone. Energy? Shot. Mood? Hanging by a thread.

That’s where this episode lives.

But instead of spiraling (okay, maybe a little spiraling), this one turns into something else. A reset. A pivot. A reminder that sometimes the only move you’ve got… is how you choose to react.

So I grabbed a coffee, sat in the park, hit record—and started working through it in real time. Not polished. Not perfect. Just real.

And while all that’s happening?I’m sketching out Spider-Man—because sometimes the best way to process life is to put ink on paper and keep your hands moving while your brain figures itself out.

That’s kind of the thread through this one:

* When your plans fall apart… what do you actually do next?

* How long do you let yourself be pissed before it becomes a waste of time?

* And is it actually possible to have fun even when things suck?

There’s a line in here about time that hits harder than expected. Because yeah—money comes and goes, opportunities come back around… but time? That’s the one thing you don’t get a refund on.

So maybe the real move isn’t controlling everything.

Maybe it’s learning how to flip the moment.Turn it. Twist it. Make something out of it—even if it starts as a bad joke, a dumb story, or just you entertaining yourself like a crazy person in your own head.

That’s where the good stuff lives.

🎧 Listen to the full episode

If you’ve ever had a day derail before it even started—this one’s for you.

FWACATA’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

🎨 Side note (because yeah, this matters):

The Spider-Man sketch from this episode? That’s part of the process too. Drawing, creating, staying in motion—that’s how you keep from getting stuck.

If you’ve been thinking about grabbing a custom piece, commissions are open.Sketch cards, full illustrations, weird ideas, cool ideas—let’s make something.

Bottom line:Plans are fragile. Your mindset doesn’t have to be.

Go listen. Go make something.And yeah—this week?

Have fun.

BE GOOD.