I don't usually post photos here, but we have a rare occurrence of the Northern Lights here. To be fair, I can't see them much with my own eyes, but my camera can see them pretty well. My phone's camera, that is. Damned amazing things, these phones...

 It's been a long time, too long. This happens every so often. I find I just have no drive for the comic or even art at all. It can be hard to push ahead knowing that it's really just for me. Eventually, I find the energy, drive or whatever to move on. Or I find a direction. And I think I finally did for the next track. Silas is starting to feel good about his art, about the images he's making for himself without interference from the muse, the spirit of the city. While no one else has said so, he's enjoying his moment, gaining confidence. So I took some reference photos from the 'Gotta Dance' section of "Singin' in the Rain," because really, who danced better than Gene Kelly? That section, too has some great visuals even if they don't match the rest of the movie at all. Can't deny that there's been some lifelong influence from there. So between that, a little bit from the "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" part of "Yellow Submarine," I think this is going to be a much more dance-y, arty section of the comic. I want it to be more colorful, too, as if Silas is expanding his palette, his experience, opening up, whatever. So I'll try and keep the figures loose, painterly if I can. This is just a test, though the figure will likely be used in the actual comic.

 

Haven't made anything in awhile. This often happens when I go on vacation. Getting sick on top of that doesn't help. So I threw together another flower image tonight, one I've been poking about with for awhile. I wanted it to remain loose, more about feeling than accuracy. I think it does that. Just a little something to reignite the flame, so to speak. Moving on, I hope.

 Our internet service was down for a week which threw a wrench into pretty much anything I wanted to do. I am amazingly tied to technology for what I do. I know this isn't a good thing and perhaps if I were retired, I would aim back into traditional media more. And really, nothing was stopping me from drawing or doing things with my iPad or Mac. I just felt detached. Still, I did manage another portrait of Barbara Francis from "The Beast of Yucca Flats." She has a compelling face to me for some reason and there are some oddly interesting shots in this otherwise terrible movie. The best part is that NO one is shown actually speaking because the director couldn't afford sync sound. So you spend a lot of time wondering how they're going to have the characters' mouths hidden next to keep from having to do that. It's sort of like old Hanna-Barbera cartoons where all action, like car crashes, take place off camera because that way you don't have to draw them. Anyway. This is the last of her. I'm pretty happy with it. Spent more time on the drawing though I probably should have spent more. Still learning things about all this, and that's a good bit right there.

 I don't really talk about this here as it's not 'art,' but this is one of the other things I do that I'm proud of. "Max, Mike; Movies" was a project I started with my best friend Max Levine over six years ago. It's a weekly podcast about, well, movies. We generally do eight episode series about specific topics or guidelines. We started with a series called, "I Can't Believe You Haven't Seen That." which was movies that one of us hadn't seen and the other, well, couldn't believe it. Other series have been things like guilty pleasures, remakes, James Bond and the like. We've been weekly for most of the run, only missing a handful of episodes here and there. There are marathon episodes where we discuss all the Star Wars movies, all the Batman movies and, most recently both Dune films.  We have a tiny audience but we're not doing this for fame or money (good thing), we're doing it because we love to. It's also flexed my film interests quite a bit here and there. It's about six hours' work a week between watching the movie, writing the script, recording the show and editing it. When all is said and done, I have something priceless; many many records of conversations with my best friend about one of our favorite subjects. And this is only one of two podcasts of which I'm a part.

"Cue Footsteps" is a project I got involved with about four years ago. It was the dawn of Covid and my sister, Valerie Kuhns was bored. She got a couple friends and I together over Zoom to read one act plays she'd written. I did not consider myself an actor so, at first, just watched or read stage directions. Soon, encouraged by Val, I did take a part or two. A few more folks were invited, a couple left and we started recording radio show type plays on a bi-weekly basis. She really stepped up, not only writing and directing and performing in each episode but she jumped into an unfamiliar operating system (Mac), learned a couple different apps as well as how to publish a podcast and made a show out of it. We might not have a large audience for this one, either, but we pretty faithfully get together every monday night to either rehearse or record. It's good fun and well worth listening to. I've certainly grown from this experience as well.

So these are reasons there isn't as much art posted as I might like. I don't regret that as I think both these things help round me out as a person. Now, hopefully, back to the art.

 Finished this tonight and also looked up her name so I can stop referring to her as "Lady Yucca Flats." Big surprise, she's the wife of the director, Coleman Francis, one of the absolute WORST the 50s and 60s had to offer. He often shot his movies without sound so the actors are either seen from the back, have their hands over their mouths or are just off screen. Brilliant. Did a lot of work on this, think it came out better than it started but it's still not a favorite. I think it needs a bit stronger support drawing underneath. I have another one of her I might do as well. There was some learning and exploring here, so I'll take that. So. Barbara Francis. Oh, and their two kids appear in the movie as well. It's really an incomprehensible mess. With Tor Johnson.

 Don't know if I've posted about this or not, but this is yet another thing I do when it's this time of year. My partner and I, probably about seven or eight years ago, noted that the few people that go in costume to the local Ren Faire do so either as knights or elves or some other obvious protagonist. I casually mentioned we should go as orcs and the next year, we did. The costumes have got more and more elaborate over time and weight between 40 and 60 pounds. This is my 'light' version. The masks are full head silicone and do move when we speak. They are HOT. The chain mail and gauntlets are steel, the rest is leather of some sort, the boots, on my costume (I'm on the right) are actually work boots from Japan. 

In this close-up, you can just make out the contacts I'm wearing and get a hint of the black makeup underneath. If things go well, it takes only about half an hour to get into this, much of the armor being put on in the parking lot at the last minute. We managed 2.5 hours and about as many miles this saturday. As is always the case, when we take the stuff off, we only then realize how damned hot we were. We give out little trinkets to kids and tell them they're brave, parents like to get photos with us and the kids. A lot of adults like to do so, too. It's all good fun and I get to be out and about pretending to be someone I'm not. There's actually a lot of relaxation in being anonymous like this. The only real downside is that we often get accosted by drunk, older women who want us to 'drag them off to our lair,' or some such. Last year, as we were posing for pictures with one, she slurred, "Watch out; I grope." Yah, watch out for drunk older women. They seem to like orcs. Still, all good fun and we look forward to it every year. I will continue to go as long as I'm able, but at 59, it takes a LOT out of me.

 Working on an experiment of sorts, using the WORST photo ref ever. It's a screen grab from a terrible MST3K movie, "The Beast of Yucca Flats." The director, Coleman Francis is horrible, to say the least. There are two shots of this woman that somehow struck me and I took two screenshots to use as reference later. They're low-res and out of focus. Still, I'm trying. And I wanted to do it without any shapes and only using tones to suggest the skin. So far, she looks a bit old so I'll have to work on it. It's more painting than usual so I will continue. Editing will make a huge difference.

Here's a version without the darker lines. I think I like it better. This still needs more work and observation.

 I was happy with the previous version of this last night. It looked ok. Today, it looked horribly wrong. And it was. So I started over. I have such little time for art these days that I don't have the patience I should. So, I admit, there was some tracing for the basic pencil sketch for this. Not proud of that. So I have to learn something from this and what I did is that if I'm having trouble with the likeness or if things feel oddly off, I should go back to the grid and THEN I should freehand on top of that to try and pull not only the lines of the piece but put some more of myself into it as well. So, this is finished, I can move on, but it's not my favorite.

 Two things tonight. Top is the WIP of the Buddy Sorell portrait. I'm going to sit at least another night on that one. I like it but I want to think about it a little more. Bottom is "The City Silent" page 200, which seems like a milestone though it isn't. Simple enough to do as I reused the background from the last two pages. For the next track, I want to change the palette completely. This one worked well, I think, but I want something a little more complex both to get away from those stark purples and oranges and also to reflect Silas getting a little more confident and experienced with his own art. No idea what it's going to be yet, but that's half the fun.

 Haven't had a ton of time for art lately. Too much work, the extra long episode of the podcast, being tired. I need to finish the track of City Silent. Sometimes a quick portrait can ease some artistic pangs I feel. I took a screen shot of a frame from the old "Dick Van Dyke" show where Morey Amsterdam was making a particularly energetic expression. So last night, I  did a quick sketch of it. It's close and done entirely freehand, something I don't tend to trust to enough, I think. I  need to just draw more, try and get away from the grid unless it's really needed. While this isn't perfect, it's only about a 40 minute sketch. Some refinement is done when digitally painting. Will I keep it in black and white? That remains to be seen.

 Was feeling not so well today; something I ate. Needed to be near a bathroom. Ended up not being nearly as bad, but I'm still a little shaky. So stayed home and finally lifted a pencil. Did a quick, dirty self portrait which I'll likely only leave here. It's not great, just a little exercise as I try and figure out how to mix my comic and portrait styles together. And then City Silent page 199 which ended up reusing the background from 198 when I figured out what I wanted. I've done this before to give a sense of movement and space. This alley will be prevalent in the current act; in fact it'll take place almost entirely there. I'll end the track with another page, Silas having walked further away. And then the color palette will shift. I've looked ahead and Silas sings the next two songs as well. He's building up his confidence and setting himself up for a big fall.

 Finished this tonight. Didn't do a whole lot to it as I decided I liked its loose feeling. I should do more as there's something pleasing about flowers. Maybe that's why I took so many photos of them this year. This was just a little nothing, just for fun.

 It's been more than a minute since I made anything. Part of that time was spent in Boston celebrating the Million Year Picnic's 50th anniversary. I got to see Vince's, "The Picnic" in my favorite theater, The Brattle which was awesome. I had dinner with my old boss and the Picnics current owner, Tony so we could catch up. And then I got to spend extra time in Boston as I was one of those affected by the massive computer glitch. After that, I worked a full weekend which drained me dry. This I started before I left, or was it after I got back, I can't remember. The black eyed susans in our back yard came up in bunches this year as did a lot of wild flowers. I have lots of photos. A friend recently remarked on the iris painting I did a few years ago, not realizing that it was done by me. He offhandedly said he wanted a flower painting, too. So this will for him. I need to work on the background more but the depth is working pretty much how I wanted. A simple thing, really, decorative. That's ok. We'll see how it goes.

 Got this done tonight. Some of the work was behind the scenes; I rewrote the verse. This was written over seven years ago and it no longer felt right. Wasn't easy but I think it works and it works better than the original. Sometimes it is hard working on a 'script' that was done so long ago. I don't always remember the entire intent. I have to trust to the work. Seeing and reading this whole thing when it's done will be a revelation I'm sure. And there will be editing, oh yes, precious, there will.

 Got some time to work on this tonight. Had an idea for Silas that wouldn't totally obscure the background but which would also bring him right up to the camera and make him front and center. The mural is still visible, the best detail is as well. The text will overlay Silas' t-shirt and hoodie. I need to do some more graffiti for the right hand side but all in all, I'm pretty happy with the way things are turning out. Did some extra windows, changed a few colors around. Track is almost done.

 Finally got a chance to work on the next and possibly last page of this track. Initially, I was planning on doing either some direct vectorizing of a reference photo or doing a lot of tracing as it's a complex background. Then I decided to just draw it freehand, letting things be wonky. As I went along, I added less and less detail, trying to think of things more as shapes, as paint strokes and less as lines and details. Thing came together a lot more quickly. I do admit to some very rough tracing of the fire escape as it was just too damned complex. Just had enough time to get all the layers transferred, vectorized and an initial color pass done. Then I slapped on the full Tamino painting and adjusted it for perspective. There is no way I could have done this half as well in the 'old days' of pencil and t-square (though I did use a t-square a little on the sketch). I just hope I've left enough room for all the other graffiti that has to go in here, Silas and his text. Well, we'll see. Somehow, I'll manage.

 

And done. Not a lot of changes, just some color shifts. Martin Landau has a very interesting face. There's a little more line work in this than I'd like but his face kind of requires it. I think I captures the worried face of Commander Koenig pretty well.

 Haven't had a chance to work on anything as I've just been too damned busy. Actually used a sick day today because I've been so tired. As such, played about with this. I have a version that's not slanted, but I like the feeling of tension it brings to the piece. Will sit on this a little while longer to see how I finally feel.

 Thursdays are always busy. A 'day off,' which is anything but. I have to do the grocery shopping, the podcast, the laundry, sometimes mow the lawn. Then, I might get time to work on some art. I know the last stanza of the current track on the comic is going to take some extra work, so I decided to take a short break and do a quickie portrait. I got fairly far along on this Commander Koenig until I sensed a need to stop and come back fresh. I can already see some things that aren't working but a lot of it does. This is all freehand, no grid or anything, which is why it's a little off. The nose is too long for one thing but it still looks like him. There's currently too many lines on the face and not enough interest in the eyes. What I do like is how the background is working. So, more work later, when I have time.

 And I got them done. Lazed around a lot today, too which was part of the plan. But as long as I got my sound editing and these pages done,  I figure I come out ahead. They work well together, I think and have a little sense of movement and scale. One more stanza to go in this track.

 Got a little done today, the final figures for the four pages. Only really have to do the text, which I can get done tomorrow. Will lay them out together at that point. I think there's some nice 'animation' here.

 Haven't had a lot of time to draw this last week, but I did manage this tonight. I sketched the Silas for the next page as well. Will likely finish those before doing the text.

 Got some work done on these today thought not as much as I might like. Got all the background elements done which includes the bricks and drips for each page. Took reference photos and managed to get the Silas figure done for the first of the four. His sizing really should put the mural in perspective and I like how it's working out. Four pages, four lines. I think there's one more stanza after this and the first track of Act 3 will be done.

I suppose it doesn't look like much, since I already finished Silas' painting, but getting this split into four pages, evenly spaced from the top was a bit of work. There will be a suggestion of bricks in the background but they need to be thinner than the brush I've been using. There also need to be props and some overspray so the image doesn't look too perfect, or perhaps just some drips. Something. I also have to decide how big this is, how big to make Silas in comparison. And he has to sign it. So still a ways to go, but then four pages will be added to the stack.
 

 Got this far today, after doing the grocery shopping, mowing the lawn and doing the podcast. Might get some more in, but this is the background for the next four pages. Well, the painting ON the background. And then there's Silas to model, draw and render as well as the text. Things are moving, which is good, still a lot to do.

 Got this part of the next four pages done. Doesn't look like much now, though it's already something like 33 layers. This is only part of the background as it's meant to look like something Silas painted. There will be alley stuff underneath this, I still have to paint Tamino atop it then Silas and the lyrics. Funny, I've been dreading dealing with Silas' own work for a long time as I wasn't sure what style it would take, what it would look like, how it would be different from other graffiti and then I just did it. Here's hoping it works.

 Getting started on the next set of pages for the comic, I want it to look like Silas is painting that spread I just recreated from Tamino. The colors will change a lot as usual but I wanted the strokes to show and will likely throw some drips in there somewhere. The one thing that will change a lot is that Tamino will not be a ghost figure. This will spread over four pages just like the original. If I can't reference my work, who can?

 And done. It wasn't so hard as I thought it might be though I didn't realize til I was about 80% through that I'd zoomed in the background a bit on the original. Oh, well, not going to change it now. Doesn't really matter. I still like this image very much and it's still my favorite spread of that comic. I would like to get it printed someday and now I can. It makes me happy.

 On Facebook today, a 'memory' popped up. Seven years ago, I was working on page two of "The City Silent." Seven years ago. Page two. I am not on a speedy track. But that's ok. I decided that, instead of posting the 'memory,' and what I had to say at that time, I'd post the finished page two, the current finished page and an image of my books. Had to fake some of the books; couldn't find my copies of "Fite!" which is disturbing as I don't know where they would have gone. And there is no hard copy of "Fite Comics Shorts." So I just shoved their cover images on top of a photo of the physical books of "Biography," "Harlon," and "The City Dreams of Tamino the Cat." It's a reminder to me that I have accomplished something and that I can and will finish "City Silent," even if it's not tomorrow. I need to do these things every so often. It's good for me.