I'm calling this one done. "Three Horsemen" is the title. I wanted to capture a moment of peace between these three, unrelated men. Shoved together on seats, they calmly ignore each other and wait before something big happens, or perhaps nothing happens at all. Two are lost in their phones, looking outwards, the other does the same but without the technology. A typical scene if you've ever ridden public transportation but something about it just interested me. I decided not to use color; didn't see the need. And it would only have distracted or focused attention on one of them in particular and I didn't want that. I'm happy with it. It's something I would look at for a long while. I wish it would evoke some kind of meaning in viewers but I don't know that it will. Doesn't matter, this one was for me.

 Got a bunch done before the podcast. Most of it, I'm happy with. I think there needs to be a little more definition in the backpacks and such as they're just blobs right now. Don't want to go overboard as that will detract from the figures. But it's podcast time...

 Got some more work done on this today, though now that it's afternoon, the vaccines are making me achey and tired again. Will try and come back to this tonight if possible, but so far, I'm pretty happy with it. I think this evokes that kind of malaise one feels on the T, the simple waiting but also a moment of peace. One the one guy on the end isn't looking at his phone. I wonder what he's thinking about. More to come.

 And here's the second guy added to the mix. There will be more adjustments when I get the third done and there's some background to do, but I'm happy with how quickly this is coming together.

 I went and got FIVE vaccines today. I was aiming to get one; the new Covid booster but they talked me into getting whooping cough, flu, pneumonia and something called RVS? as well. So I spent most of the afternoon sleeping. When I got up, I had enough energy to work on this. So far, I'm liking how it's coming out and am seriously considering not using color. We'll see. There's a lot to go.

 Did some more work on this piece. These three were sitting next to each other on the T, kind of smooshed together the way commuters are. I think I will try and do the full figures and environment. These are jus sketches, though I will likely do the faces and bodies separately.

 I'm still struggling, wanting to do something but just not feeling that spark. There's a photo I took on the T of three random guys sitting on the train. I want to paint them, have been wanting to. I tried working freehand on one of them tonight. It's not bad, but too fiddly. Still, it's something.

I've been in a creative void lately. Just haven't had the spark to really make much of anything. I tried watching some shows on art and artists which usually helps but all it did was make me want to draw without giving me an idea of what to draw. When in doubt, do a self portrait. I did the second image based on a photo I took after orc-ing at the faire this year. Then, I re-made the one I did of my best friend Max from a couple years ago, one with which I've never really been satisfied. While this one looks more like the photo it came from I'm still on the fence about it. Both of these were done without underdrawing, inspired by a re-watch of a documentary on Alice Neel. There was something very special about her work. While not technically correct, her portraits had a life to them that a lot of 'better' paintings lack. So I gave it a try. I'm happy with the technique if not the final product.

 

 Had a little time before the podcast this morning to work a little on this. I added some details and fixed a couple of the chairs. I don't want to add any more details and am reviewing even the shutters on the  yellow building on the right. So far, I'm pretty happy with it. I decided to take it to the extreme and abstracted it further, because of that Rothko documentary. I think this version would not work unless I was using real paint, layering thinned down colors as he did as the subtlety would be lost.

 I felt like I had hit a kind of wall with the image as I had been working it. I felt too slavish to the details, was too mired in the tiny things and was missing the point of the whole image, which was to evoke the feeling of sitting in this area of Harvard Square. Then I watched a documentary on Mark Rothko and felt inspired. After watching it, I did what I've often done with some of my images; I deleted the stuff that was too fussy. Usually, it's a line work layer. In this case, I started over, using the same pencil drawing but I held the pencil at the very back end so I had less control. I didn't do most of the detail of the background and worked my way forward only adding as little technique as possible. I'm going to sleep on it but instinct says this was a better way to go. And if that's the case, I don't mind that I put so much work into the other version. If I'm happy with the final piece, it just means that was a necessary step. 

 Worked today, but managed to do a bit on this in the evening. I completely re-drew the woman seated in red. She's kind of a focal point of the image and I thought I could do better. So, I did. I also decided to move one of the chairs in the foreground over a bit to the left which helps fill in a bare spot and  balances the composition better. The wonders of digital art and layers. Did a bunch of little color tweaks. Right now, especially in thumbnail, it's working really well for me. This is Max's favorite place in Harvard Square to sit and I thought he might like a little of it at home. 

 And a slight update. I didn't finish everything but I did go bak and fix some things that really needed it. So, it's coming along. At least I got to listen to some good records today while working on this.

 I have to be in the mood and today, I was. This image has been kicking around for probably close to five years at this point. I'd really like to get it done. I did do a bunch of work on it today and might even get the bits and pieces finished. Maybe. That being said, it's coming along. There's going to be a LOT of color shifting before I decide it's done. But so far, I'm happy with the way it's going.

 "Side Eye." Finished tonight. I decided to keep most of the image in shades of grey and just color his face. That warm brown looks, to my eyes, really interesting against the grey background and blacks. The highlights in purple was a last minute change that I think makes them more interesting. Please click on this as the white background is overwhelming it and making it hard to see.

 It was a busy day off but I managed to get started on another portrait. I haven't done that many of these this year, and most of them are selfies. This is Ian, whom I've done twice before. He's giving us the side eye. The contrast of the highlights and mid tones is too high, but I'll fix that in color.

I've been trying to work on the look for the next track, trying to get out of my head a bit. I came across an artist in Instagram who does some amazing things with figures, kind of suggesting anatomy but ignoring its boundaries as well. So, here are some early sketches.
 

 I wish there were a nice, easy way to do this, but here's the layout of track 11 of "The City Silent." The colors are a bit dull to start, partially as the last track was SO bright, but the energy comes back in a kind of splash or loud clap at the end and I'm good with that.

 Finished page 253 and track 11. 15 pages for this track and it took about 3 months, which is not great but better than some. Now a transition section and the return of most, if not all, the supporting characters. Might also be able to bring Ricci in. We'll see.

 Had a little time to fool around with the next page. It's just an 'end of track' page but will lead in to Silas heading up a fire escape to lay back. Still wanted to get some motion into it. Everything's battery was dead or dying today; my camera, which, to be fair, hasn't been recharged in many months, then my iPad was down to 9% but I managed to get the three figures done with the help of 'Photo Booth,' something I've used for quick and dirty ref before. 

 Back from Boston and I have a few days off, miraculously, before I have to go back to The Drag. I never do art of any kind while away from the studio and this trip was no exception. I did take a bunch of reference photos for both locations and portrait possibilities, so there's that. Sat down to do some art today, wanting to get somewhere on the comic and found out that this is the last verse of the current track. I know roughly the image I'll use for the end of track page but also there's a chance of some pantomime as Silas goes to take a nap while others come to critique his work. Spoiler; it doesn't go well.

 I wanted to try something. I wanted to get a solid pencil sketch down, using some tracing and then just 'paint' as loosely as possible with the iPad and Pencil to see what I could do. I like the results but I think I need to just trust my drawing skills and draw the subject freehand first and work from that. This is The Brattle, my favorite movie theater. I will do a 'portrait' of it, hopefully inside and out, before too long. While I'm doing everything else. This was just a quick sketch.

 It's been a long time since I did any work on this one, but I found a little time this weekend. It is slowly coming along because there are SO many layers and so many details. So far, it's ok. It's going to need some tweaking but most of the elements are in place. I have to do the mid ground which includes people, cars and then the foreground trees. Still not sure overall. I keep feeling like I should be actually painting this. We'll see.

 Managed to finish this today, what with it being podcast day, grocery day, laundry day and lawn mowing day. I went with the old master colors as they felt appropriate for this application. I think I look tired and I am. Of many things. I also wanted an off-center composition and I think this works. One of my better for this year. Got to take more photos of folks and work on them quietly. I've done enough of me.

 Also wanted to do a portrait and as I have no subjects lined up, that means me. Still working on this one. Had a lot more line work but turned the layer off and am trying to simplify it.

 Forgot to post these but I managed to get a couple more pages done the other day. I used to hate drawing hands because they're hard. But I've learned to love them. I take photo ref of my own hands, trying to get them to 'act' in the way that I want. The hardest part is always dropping that finger so that they only have three. Why did I do that? Because the characters in "Fite!" had three fingers as was traditional in animation (which was a cost-cutting measure way, way back). Since Tamino first appeared in "Fite!," I carried the style over to his comic. And since Silas comes from "The City Dreams of Tamino the Cat," well...now that things are more realistic, it's a tossup whether I drop the middle or ring finger. It's usually based just on which looks better. 

The crown has become a problematic symbol. Then again, reaching for power, trying to be 'the best' is always a troubling goal. And if the paint looks like blood? That probably means something, too.

 This one came together easily because of its simplicity. By concentrating on the hands, we get a sort of detachment which I think is a good change from the other dream sequences of recent sections. I also like playing with the paint.

 I had to redo this page but luckily, it wasn't that long a process. While there is still similarity between this and page 124 (this page is 248, so literally twice the earlier page number which is weird), it's not so blatant as it was. And I could use the existing lettering with some minor tweaks, too. Reaching instead of releasing.

This was the page in question. And in this case, I don't mind the similarity as there's contrast in their motives. Digby just wants to be famous. Silas wants to make something meaningful. Art for the sake of art. He still wants to be accepted but it's not for wealth. Silas is lonely. Digby's a dink.

 Had some time before work so managed to tweak and letter this page. Moving on.

 Spent a little time on the comic today. Also did some general drawing-screwing around because sometimes I just like to draw. This is coming along well, I think. The building came from a photo I took when in downtown Detroit recently. I almost never get down there but there were some good skyscrapers I snapped to use later. Seems later came sooner.

 Some friends of mine asked me to do something that they could hang in their bathroom. They originally wanted me to paint a mural but I have no skills in that kind of thing. Besides, it's just not how I work. So I said I'd do a large print. They have a magnolia tree in their back yard so I thought I'd do that. Haven't shown it to them so I don't know how well it'll go over. Took me a long time to get the approach right. I tried a lot of other styles but none of them really grabbed me. I went back to one of my 'cut paper' portraits and decided to try that. To me, it works. It's bright and colorful, a decorative piece to be sure. Now to see if anyone else likes it.

 Because I don't plan this thing out ahead of time, once in while, something like this happens. That's not two separate pages done, this is me having to redo an entire page because I didn't realize I'd used the same visual metaphor earlier in the comic. Digby did something similar to this before, though it was fire, not glowing paint spatters. Still, the gestures were pretty much the same. Once I figured this out, I redid the page which wasn't that hard. I chose a kind of opening lotus flower motif as that symbolizes life, creation, etc. I think the bottom image works better, but I liked the way the text worked in the first one. Ah, well. It worked out in the end.

 This page came together ultra-fast. I really wanted to get away from direct representation as there's been a lot of that lately. While I have done a similar kind of pose eariler in the comic, it was done with Digby and it was a totally different idea, or rather, it was a similar idea done for different reasons. Digby was all about the money, the merch. Silas is trying to hold onto a feeling of self worth, accomplishment. I don't know, I really like this comic. It might speak to no one but me but I really like it. The dream, besides some kind of publishing deal and people reading it would be to have a gallery show with the pages just laid out against all the walls. One can dream, can't one?

 

I did change my mind. And I'm glad I did. I'd also forgotten to erase the registration marks for the text, so I did that, too. Oops.

 Put in a lot of thought on this one as it's supposed to represent a turning point in emotion and outlook for Silas. This is where he's broken free from the City and feels his work is not only his own but that he likes it, it's successful. Might be it should be even brighter than this. For the moment, it's done and I'm moving on.

The 'script,' such as it is, for "The City Silent" is just lyrics, tracks or songs written out, something I did about eight years ago now. It's the only structure I have in place for the story. Every time I open that PDF, Adobe Reader, now equipped with AI (which I hate) keeps poking me, stating that 'this looks like a long document. Would you like me to summarize it for you?' I ignore it because why would I want that? But a few days ago, I thought, "You know, I WOULD like to see you make head or tails out of this." So I pressed the button.

The AI nailed it. I don't know if I'm pleased that what I thought was possibly a needlessly complex and unclear story was properly 'understood' by this fake brain and that my points were coming across or deep disappointed that something I put so much work into was just a few seconds' work for this thing. I can't tell. But I guess it does give me hope that someday someone will read it and get it and that the story will have done what I wanted it to.

I still hate AI.

 Finished this page yesterday but forgot to post it. Already at work on the next one though it's a bit dramatic and I need to make sure it fits stylistically with the rest of the track. A common problem working the way I do.

This is where it stands as of now. I was channeling some more of "Singin' in the Rain" for this one and remembering some of the stuff I saw in some Will Eisner comics recently.

I've also been posting some of my old cubist/abstract furry work to Bluesky to surprising reaction. One of the more popular paintings I ever did looked more or less like this and was called, "Miko." It was acrylic on canvas, I think, but was sold over 20 years ago. I don''t have a good photo of it at all. Documenting my work back then wasn't nearly as easy as it is now. A lot of paintings are lost in that way, either because they sold or were tossed and never properly photographed. So I tried to digitally recreate the image and that, too got some decent attention.

 Had some time before work to finally get started on the next page of City Silent. Luckily, from the taking of reference photos to sketching and inking, it all came together rather quickly AND I left room for the text! Should be able to finish this sometime this weekend.

 Threw some color on this and ended up rather liking it, even if there's no 'proper' tones. Quick studies can sometimes just be fun. This is one of those.

 Also did a little quick sketching this morning. The top one just a selfie so I could draw something before work. My portrait output has been a lot smaller lately and I miss doing them. I did the freehand sketch above then did a quick and dirty in Procreate. There was an inked layer but I deleted it after deciding I didn't need it.

The bottom image was from a portrait I'd utterly forgotten. It's another of British comedian Joe Wilkinson, whom I've done twice before. I was trying to do a more detailed approach. I don't know why I stopped doing it; I honestly don't remember working on it that much but I obviously did. Perhaps I'll come back to it later.

 I finalized these two pages this morning. Hadn't changed them, just decided they were done. The bottom page does rely on people reading the right hand side first, which is awkward I guess, though that text is higher up. It's ok; likely not the first time I've done that in the comic. And if that's the hardest thing for folks, I'm batting 1,000. Haven't drawn much of anything for over a week. Work has been scheduling me way too heavily for my tastes though that's changing next week. Also had a thick head cold which sapped what remaining energy I had. Also, just too damned busy. When I have time to myself, I want to just do almost nothing, which is sad but I'm drained. Here's hoping I can get back on the horse.