Memorial Day, May 25, 2020 -- Remembering Taco

I spent most of the day trying to sync my. Window’s Clip Studio files with my Mach Clip Studio installation. Using the Cloud has become a waste of time. It’s much faster to backup my files to my file server than it is to use the very sluggish Clip Studio Cloud.

For the first time in over a year I took the day off completely from working on my book. I was drained and frustrated with the file syncing fiasco. We subscribed to HBO and watched some movies. I missed having Taco sitting next to me. I remembered the simple pleasure of the many times he rested his head on my knee while he licked his feet and then fell asleep. Simple pleasures are the sweetest.

Al Fresco Art Day, May 22, 2020: Taco Sleeping

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Taco is on everyone’s mind. Today we decided that everyone should draw Taco using any media. I chose charcoal and graphite — I’ve been watching Smooth77’s Youtube channel this week — he specializes in traditional sketching and painting. His graphite drawings are inspiring.

I learned that charcoal is messy. Really messy. When I finished this sketch (Taco’s sleeping on my lap), the darks were dark as night. But after I tapped the paper over the sink to release the charcoal dust, the loose pigment fell away and revealed a much brighter, lower contrast image. To perk up the image, I duplicated the image Photoshop set it to 50% multiply to darken the blacks.

Coffee with Taco

Today was a quiet day. In the morning we buried Taco’s remains in a sunny spot in our back yard, next to the chairs we sit in when the Al Fresco Art Club actually meets in the fresh air. Afterwards I was felt a flood of emotions arise. Years of memories overwhelmed me. Everywhere I look inside the house and out, I remember the simple pleasure of his company.

In the afternoon I spent some hours working on my part-time job, which will be coming to an end on May 20. I’ll be working part-time again starting in September. I’ll have three months to finish The Butterfly that Airlifted a Burro over the Border Wall. After that I’ll be starting book three in the series, which has a working title of The Burro Who Escaped from the Circus.

Today I ordered a Cintiq 22. I’m stoked about that. My Huion has been grating on my nerves for too long. I’ll sell it on Ebay.