Not a lot drawn in the last couple days. Working on the next page of the comic. Trying to get the facial expression down as well as the energy and in your face-ness of Smatt. There will be only one word on this page and it needs to be 'sold.' This is just a start. Don't think I'm there yet.

 This is Kevin, my longest running RPG character. I don't know why, but I pretty much never draw my RPG characters. Maybe I like them living in my head better than making them concrete. Yes, there's a bit of likeness from me in him, not that there's meant to be but with no reference, things tend to just end up looking like me. He's very important to me. Max, his world's creator, has said that he knows he can't kill him because he knows it would be devastating. Kevin once had his own LiveJournal. And his stories go back around 40 years. He feels very real to me. This isn't a perfect representation but for now, it'll do.

 City Silent page 262. This has been a good week. For some reason, I wasn't scheduled monday through thursday. I am not going to complain about that. At all. I've needed it. I'm not pushing things, trying to rest up from the damned holidays but I'm still getting some things done. Monday, I went to the record store, which is a 45 minute drive (everything is). Besides getting a couple records, I found a place to maybe get my receiver fixed. Had podcast night. Tuesday, went to the grocery store to get stuff to cook my husband something for dinner, something I almost never do. And I worked on the comic. Today, finished page 261, watched this week's movie for the other podcast and did this page. Sure, it's simple but so what? Also listened to a few records which always puts me in a better mood. Dear gods, I wish life could just be like this. 

 First page of the new year, #261. Been way too slow with this comic. Even though I got 54 pages done last year, that's not enough. I hope to go more quickly this year. Also, if it wasn't obvious, the mice are basically The Beastie Boys. That's who I hear when I see them and draw them. Just without the humor.

 Haven't had time to draw anything in awhile. But I have decided that I want to try and do more with less reference this year. I think it's been making things too stiff and I haven't had a chance to experiment really all that much. So, last night, I managed this in the half hour I had. The brush I used is doing most of the work, which I don't like, though I do think the messy color is interesting.

 I did one of these 'best of' things for Instagram. I did 54 pages of the comic, 11 portraits and two landscapes this year. Perhaps not the most productive but  I think the quality definitely went up. WAY too many self portraits but there was stuff learned in all of them. I continue to explore, continue to remain curious. I think that's important. And somehow, Google hasn't canned Blogspot. So I'll continue to post as long as they continue to ignore this little throwback of the internet.

 And I am calling this done. Added a TON more details to the background, adjusted a lot of colors. I actually ran out of layers on two of the four Procreate files. Don't know how many there are in the AD document, don't really want to know. This one was the most complex I've done, I'm sure. All the way through it, I kept thinking I should maybe have done it in paint. Ah, well. I'm setting it aside now. Final title: "Lost in the Square."

 Totally repainted this image and I like it a lot better. I used the colors from the film which was shot in that weird, usually early 30s fake color film which only processes images in green and red. Don't know why anyone was using it in the 60s unless it was meant to evoke Xmas colors. She is unimpressed with the clown. Not my usual style exactly but it conveys what I want it to.

 Did a little work on this today, mostly adding people in the background and doing a LOT of color adjustments here and there. I've identified the bits in the background that need to be seen to. Still quite a bit to do. I admit, I'm losing steam on this one.

 While my mouse was down, I did a quick sketch of a screen grab I did from a Rifftrax episode 'starring' Whizzo the clown. There were a couple shots where the camera did closeups of this one kid who was NOT having it. Thought she was hilarious. The contrast is a bit too high, but I did this while waiting for the mouse to recharge. No sketch, no layers, just 'paint' in Procreate.

And here she is vectorized, contrast changed a bit. I both do and don't like her. Considering I didn't even sketch first, I'm pretty happy.

 MINOR upgrade on this. Added the rest of the legs, updated the lines on the crosswalk, added a car in the background. But in the middle of doing this, my mouse died, not having given me warning that it needed to be recharged. I want to adjust the colors of the building on the left and likely add some people and cars to the right. I'd like to get this done this weekend. We'll see. Stupid mouse...

 And...I got the page done. Two months between pages isn't great. That being said, the time allowed me to find some new inspiration and I think the mice look better for it. Let's see if I can sneak in anything else before the end of the year...

 Managed to work on this page a bit today and a couple days ago. Got Terry and Rooster into the background, cut the highlight bits out of the overlay. Made an initial mistake of putting Terry on the wrong side but hey, that's why I draw all the characters separately.

Made a couple videos to share process on Bluesky though I don't think anyone really cared. Well, live and learn. I'll drop them here. First, the video showing how I compose the page by moving finished characters around, second, cutting the holes in the overlay, which I do with a mouse. Because I'm dumb.

 Very minor work on this. Some color changes and some detail added. There's actually a little more I did but haven't done the export and vectorization yet. Still, slightly progress. Gotta get those legs in, though...

 Been forever since I drew anything. I have poked at the self portrait but haven't done much more than doodle about since november. Just been too busy, too tired. Did manage to draw some stuff for the next page of City Silent today though. Style's changing again due to some inspiration I've had from Instagram artists I follow. It's making it easier to get the vibe from the hip hop dancing I have for ref. Slow but progress.

 Finally had some time to work on this. The background is complex but I don't want it to get too detailed. This is the first pass. I'm thinking of exporting this WIP into Procreate and just dabbling on top of that for the final run. There will be other people in the background as well as *gulp* cars but again, I want them to be made with as few strokes as possible, just suggestions. Some of the values are off and, because I ran out of paper when doing the figure, the legs are cut off. So, lots more work to do but it's coming along.

 Not much to see but there were a lot of adjustments. One of the bigger ones was that the head and neck weren't sitting right and the neck area of the hoodie was off. A lot. Also, some of the details on the jacket needed to be fixed or added and the eyes and hoodie needed to be darkened. Fiddly things but they matter. So I fixed them. Doesn't look like much but I didn't have a lot of time, either.

 Made some progress on this. Did what I thought I'd end up doing; a close up of the head which got slotted into the already done body. Since it's meant to be overcast and I really liked the sky color I used on the Brattle image, I took it and made a quick and dirty background. But I think I'm going to base the whole palette on the. Might use some overlays, haven't decided. But I do like the way this is looking a lot better.

This was the sketch I ended up using. Tried to keep the coloring a bit loose, though I suppose it's not. At this age, it's hard to bend or push my style. Then again, I like it. There are a couple lines that got lost in the hoodie and the neck. As there's a long way to go on the whole thing, it doesn't matter for now.

 Started another big something today. It's one that has to be done in pieces, hopefully just two; fore and background. I'm in it. As I was in a figure mood, I did me first. This is the first, rough pass. I was hoping to not have to do a separate head but I might end up doing it anyway. So far, I like everything but the face. Then again, I haven't spent THAT much time on it yet.

The idea came from the fact that one intersection in Harvard Square has always reminded me of one in Paris as depicted by painter Gustave Caillbotte:

I took some photos when in the Square last year with this image in mind. While the angle is different, to me, this always reminded me of standing at Nini's Corner (now gone) at the corners of Mass Ave, Brattle and JFK. Though I have to flip the composition, I feel the visual connection will be obvious. So, today, I took a photo of myself in the position, more or less, of the gentleman on the right. But I appear on the left. While I will not be painting the people exactly as they are in the photo, this is more or less what I'm aiming for:

When I made the sketch, I kept it as loose as possible, though it still came out kind of more precise than I wanted:

More to come.

 Finally managed to finish this. I'm really dragging artistically these days. There's so little response to my work, it's taking its toll. There's also the fact that I hate this time of year. I've been in retail for over 40 years and the holidays are just one giant mound of stress. I yearn for a time when I might enjoy them, too. Now, they're just something to try and get through. And that saps any creative energy I might have. But hey, I got a page done. That's something.

Did a lot more poking, redrawing and finally decided these pages were done. I think the mice acting together will get the feeling across better, more a feel of some hip-hop boys doing their thing. This would likely be the number in the Disney movie that's a lot of fun but doesn't really fit in with the other songs. That's what the mice are for; to cause some chaos. And now, vacation, or at least it will be in a few days. Likely won't have time to draw much before then.

 

 I haven't really felt all that well emotionally lately. There's been no creative spark. I haven't liked the pages I'd done for the comic. I haven't felt artistic at all. I had decided to step away from the comic, just put it out of my mind for awhile, something I've done before though it doesn't make me happy. And then, today, I sat down and tried to both really loosen up and go back and look at the earlier pages with the mice. And then I redrew these two pages. Well, most of them. And I think they work a lot better. Not complete and maybe tomorrow, I'll hate them. At least I made something.

 Did a bunch of work on these pages today, including adding a new page between the two I'd been working on. This will screw up the numbering again, but it's not the first time. While it's a little clunky for animation, I think it works ok for comics. There's movement, which I want, and a decent fluidity to the smear, which was hard to do. I think things are going to get a bit more extreme from here on out, but that's the mice. They're loud and rude.

Did a little work on this yesterday. Thursdays are hard as it's grocery day, podcast day and laundry day as well. That being said, I was put in mind of one of the old animation techniques from Looney Tunes, something called a 'smear.' It was first used to extremes in a cartoon called, "The Dover Boys." Still frames of that cartoon are insane and wonderful. While I don't think I can go that far, I think a good deal of exaggeration is warranted for this track. The mice are LOUD.

 

 I haven't felt a creative spark for art in awhile, so this comic has languished a bit. Between prepping for this week's podcast (watching the movie, writing the script), doing some laundry and recording some VO auditions, I didn't really feel like drawing, but I wanted to have drawn, if that makes sense. So I did the Terry and Rooster figures for this page and cut out where the spotlights would hit. So that's at least something.

 So, a couple of updates though I haven't really been able o dial up the right motivation to make art. The bottom is the updated version of the latest opening page for track 12 of City Silent. Had to fix the credit and lighting. But I think that's going to work. The top image is Smatt from the next page. I think. At least it's progress. Work just sucks the life out of me. I have been enjoying the auditions I've been doing for VO work lately, though and have been shortlisted for a couple of them. So here's hoping.

 Was a very busy day so didn't have a lot of time for art. But I knew what the next step was for this page and managed to get it done. The lettering was a pain in the ass. But it does almost exactly what I wanted it to do.

 Ok, made some more progress on this. Got the other two mice in there, lightened the overlay a bit. A bit more to go but it's a start on the new track. They're going to be loud again.

Finally know how to get Silas off stage and Smatt's gang on. Partially came from watching some video of hiphop dancers and partially because I went and saw "Spinal Tap 2." You never know where ideas are going to come from. Still a good deal to do on this page but this is the general idea of how I want to start.

 

 Finished this today. When I went to bed last night, I knew I wanted to add just a little dimensionality to the piece which meant some shadows, something I don't usually do. I also removed the dark patch in the foreground as it really wasn't adding anything and I enlarged and re-cropped the composition to better fill the space. All in all, I'm pretty happy with it. I hope the Brattle stands forever.

 Took another stab at this today. So far, I'm liking the colors but I think it needs a little something, just not sure what that is. Will let it sit and stew overnight then come back to it tomorrow.

Sometimes, I think I spend time trying to learn to draw like someone else. Maybe I doubt myself, I don't know. The top image is sort of like that. Going through the iPad, I found an image or two I didn't remember making and they're closer to what's stylistically going on in the rest of the comic. The top image is a real clash. So I will likely go with something more like what's on the bottom, making the mice's heads smaller, hand and feet bigger. And the messy spray paint, too.
 

 A quick pic of me as Basher, my orc as we wandered about the local ren fast in the rain. So glad I can still do this kinda thing.

 Was feeling pretty low today, what with the world being what it is. But the act of creation is something that can and has helped me feel better. So I took a moment to work on some character designs for City Silent. These are in reverse order, newest at the top. I think the simpler style might work really well as contrast to what Silas was doing, but it needs a bit more refinement.

 Can't believe I didn't post this. I finished this a few weeks ago. There was some added detail and fiddling with color and contrast, some based on the likes of the person for whom it was meant. My best friend Max is not someone that understands art, or so he says but as this was meant for him and his home, I wanted to involve him if at all possible. He was very kind about it. I always feel like I'm inflicting my art on people when I want to give them something, so I rarely do. When he moved to his current home, he did say he'd need some art. So I thought I'd make this based on his favorite place to sit in Harvard Square. Interestingly, one of the main focuses of the original, the mysterious woman in red that was sitting unearth in the center, got edited out of this version. I think it's for the better. 

All in all, I think this one works pretty well. It has that cool feeling of fall shadows and the warmth as well. It feels like the place without being a slavish copy. The colors are far brighter than I usually use in portraits and such. I don't know, I think it works. A print is on its way to him. I hope he likes it.