Exhausted and confused in a dark tunnel

Today is the first day in one and a half years that I considered not posting a word. Of course I’ll post something, but I’m feeling at a loss for words. The picture I’ve been working on for five days — Buddy airlifting Betty — looks worse the more I work on it, worse than the original concept sketch in every way. Painting this landscape is ridiculously hard and the results are dismal.

Just now I looked through the storyboard to see if there’s a light at the end of this dark tunnel. I found this picture of my friendly King Snake jungle guide. It’s been so long since I’ve looked at the storyboard that I’ve lost touch with where the story is going. I’m feeling thankful that I have this guy to paint, some day. I’m really digging his weird hand.

Drawing Club Day

It’s Sunday and I’m beat. As much as I’d like go, go, go 24/7 on my children’s book, I’m weary and my tail is dragging. The thought of cracking open inDesign or Procreate is more than I can deal with. So…I’ve decided that I need one day a week, every week, to turn down the volume and have some fun.

What is fun? Fun is watching videos about historical figures, medieval life, Roman history. Fun is going outside to sketch with the drawing club, or staying inside to practice using Artrage, my current favorite digital painting application. Fun is shutting down at 6:30 pm and watching some kind of corny romantic comedy. Fun is reading a Clive Cussler thriller before dropping off to sleep. That’s what fun is.

And doodling is fun, too.