One of the most difficult things I'm running up against right now, and have been for awhile, is finding the right balance between being a dad and juggling everything else.

I'm on a deadline right now with my SOLO book for DC comics and I'm constantly hitting a wall where I don't have the time to devote to the project, much less each facet of my life, the attention each deserves. As a result, I think they all suffer.

I teach three days out of the week at Virginia Commonwealth University, about 2 1/2 hours from my home. The commute got old fairly quickly, but I use the time to listen to a good book on my iPod.

When I get to school I have the best intentions to do a pile of the SOLO work while I'm there. And I have done a good bit of it there, but more and more the demands of teaching and the school are taking their toll on getting that kind of work done there.

Monday's I'm wiped because I've driven the 2 1/2 hour commute, then taught my five-hour class, and then run a 3-hour Open Drawing class for the department. Somewhere in there I'm supposed to eat lunch and dinner.

I do spend some long hours on a Tuesday night, generally, trying to get some done. But, again, after teaching a five-hour class, and after meetings and being the faculty advisor for the Illustration Club (Society of Communication Artists), it's hard to find the energy to sit down and focus on anything else. But I have gotten some things done.

Wednesday's are no better. I teach the class, fulfill any other responsibilities then drive the commute home. Wiped when I get in, I then have to read to my son and get him to sleep. Sometimes I can get outside to the studio and get some work done. Not as often as I'd like.

So where's the middle ground? I feel like a heel if I don't spend time with my family. My son's at an age where he really wants me to play with him and I try to give him as much time as I can. It doesn't help that I'm gone three days out of the week. But I have to be a little more blunt and just say no and get out there and do the drawing and painting. But it's hard.

When I get going I can crank. The hardest part for me is to sit down. I do work best under a deadline. It gets my adrenaline going and I get down and get to work. Once I sit down I can get the work out. I work pretty fast, though that would surprise some people. It's just sitting down to get started. I have the same fear as a lot of others, I guess, and that's the fear of the empty canvas or page. I know it's a mental thing, subliminal, because once I sit down I lose that fear pretty quickly and just get to work. But I procrastinate like crazy before hand.

I'm a great one for creative procrastination. Doing things that sort of put the mind on hold, or focus it on something other than the problem at hand, so it works on it subconsciously. I might play my guitar, read a book, clean the studio (hah!), do the dishes, write, whatever. When there's nothing left to do, I work. Crazy. I'd be interested in hearing what other artists do in this situation, being a dad and all.