Page 53 finalized -- 20 pages to go!
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I’m done with this page…for now.
I woke up at 4 am this morning and couldn’t fall back asleep. It’s 7:30 pm and I’m falling asleep at the keyboard. ZZZzzzzzzzz!
Back to Work...In the Outside World
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In this picture I’m trying to draw a very large, very irritated cat yawning. I’ll try again tomorrow.
Today was a busy day. It started with a trip to the vet for Nacho’s surgery appointment. Yes, he getting neutered. He went through the surgery perfectly and made lots of friends. He was the friendliest pug anyone had ever seen. He was so popular he even got to hang out behind the reception desk and chill with the staff — a first for a pug. He is exceptionally goodnatured.
My contract work began today. After work I had about one hour to make the awesome sketch above. It is what it is — a start. Every drawing is a new challenge for me. I look at Betty and Tuco and I think, “They’re so boringly static. Make them react! Give them emotion! Make them dance!”
Al Fresco Art Club in Suspended Animation, August 22, 2021
/In honor of the Al Fresco Art Club, which is on hiatus, I challenged myself to be patient with Rebelle 4 and try some digital “dry” tools. The tools look good to me. Now I have to practice using them…or not. If I can accomplish the same thing with Photoshop, I would not use Rebelle 4. Phtoshop has the best feel for me.
I’ve been studying from Steve Huston’s awesome and amazing Figure Drawing for Artists — Making Every Mark Count. When I first started drawing six years ago I bought a year of membership to New Masters Academy and Steve’s courses got me excited about figure drawing. Six years later I’m as challenged as I was when I began. I’ve drawn thousands of heads but it’s a rare, magical day when I get the eyes right. As for hands, I’m still a newbie. No matter, though. When I look over my old drawings, I can see that I’ve made good progress. An inch a day may be a slow way to go, but it’s still progress.
Page 49, Volcano Demon Turn Arounds
/I want to give the volcano demon a little more personality so that the reader will understand why she’s such a nasty person. She has her reasons, as we all do. In this picture she’s rubbing her eyes up after Betty has interrupted her nap.
Page 48 Finished, or How Do You Know When a Painting is Finished?
/Today I repainted the Rapa Nui volcano demon, which happens to be a rather large tabby cat. The odd thing about this cat is that it doesn’t have an inked outline like the other characters. I felt that a magical creature deserves special treatment — a magical demon shouldn’t be imprisoned in a limiting ink outline.
This page is “finished”. It’s not that it couldn’t be improved. It’s just that I can’t improve it.
Page 48 Flatted
/Today I re-drew some funkily-drawn hands and then re-inked the entire page. I did the inking in Clip Studio Paint using a simple opaque round brush, then did the painting in Photoshop. Photoshop is my go-to painting application - PS seems to take advantage of my Cintiq’s pressure sensitivity better than CSP. When I make that kind of statement I always keep in mind that I may be doing something wrong. In this case, I may not have my tablet sensitivity configured correctly for CSP.
August 15, Alfresco Art Club Challenge, Sort of
/Pentel Brush Pen with colors by Photoshop
In honor of the Al Fresco Art club, which has been on hiatus since the arrival of the new family member, Nacho the Pug, I held a little private solo session and drew a sleeping beauty with my Pentel Brush Pen. I used a reference photo for inspiration and attempted to capture a likeness, which I did not. I’m satisfied that I made something that looked human. When I was done with smearing ink around, I scanned the sketch with my A3 scanner, then added some colors and shadows in Photoshop.
Aug 8 -- Day at the Dog Park and Revisiting the Self-Portrait Time Machine
/The big event of the day — of the week, really — was a visit to the Pugs in the Park gathering. It was Nacho’s first pug jamboree. When we arrived we found a dozen pugs socializing in a symphony of wheezing and grunting. Nacho was at first overwhelmed and tried to make himself as small and insignificant as possible. When he realized he was among kin, he relaxed and started smelling butts and frapping. I’m proud to say that he was the only pug bold enough (or foolhardy enough) to roll around in the mud by the water trough.
We called it a day when a loose boxer chased him down and backed him into the fence. That was scary.
As for the picture above, it’s another sketch that invokes the “When in doubt, draw a self-portrait” rule. This time I used my Photoshop Self-portrait Time Machine brush, which magically deducts many decades from the image. Out of respect for the principle of realism, I fastidiously drew myself bald.
Page 42 -- When You're Down and Need a Hand, I've Got Your Back
/Page 42 shows Tuca carrying Betty and her bucket up the slopes of the volcano. He’s quite a guy, that Tuca. My inspiration was, of course, is the steadfast Sam Gamgee rom J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. In that book, and the movie, Sam carries Frodo when Frodo has lost all strength.
My Most Recent 14 Pages and Then Some
/Today I revised a few pages to include the poisonous green gas that the volcano is venting. Pages 42 & 43 — the sketchy page and the reference photo — will show Tuca carrying Betty up to the mouth of the volcano. Think of Sam carrying Frodo to the top of Mount Doom. It’s corny, but I like corny.
The reference picture show a first responder carrying a fallen soldier using the fireman’s carry. The interesting feature of this method of carrying someone is that you need only one arm to manage three of the victim’s limbs. Your other arm is free to carry something else. Damn cool, I say. Tuca will need that free arm to carry that bucket of water.
