Inking and sneezing...

 After the pencil work was accepted, bar one small change, I took a short break. I was tired and I kinda let the break extend to an entire week. I wasn't worried as the planning had been laid out in graphite. Using a light box and ink was the fun bit. Although I had left myself only a week to finish it...

Then I couldn't find the light box cable. Spent most of a day looking everywhere I might have put it until finally I found it plugged into the junction box at my worktable. It's now clearly labelled.

The only irritating part is drawing the boxes. However I choose pen & ruler over freehand. A comic strip I'd done previously looked better with straight lines to contain or burst out of:

ILLUSTRATING WORDS AND PHRASES

BY SINEAD O'DONNELL 2016

Using a variety of pens the inking began. Ideas came to me of how to differentiate between land and sea and between characters. 

I work old school, ink on paper so if I make a mistake I begin again. Working for an hour at a time helps before breaking and continuing. This minimises mistakes. I noticed the speed at which I worked had changed, I'd slowed up. And I noticed I felt very cold, my throat hurt and I was sneezing. Wrong time to catch a bug. Sipping hot drinks I worked on.

It took me until 5am on the morning of the final day to finish. I stopped at 3am for some Stilton and pear. Food of the arty gods. I made the decision to physically cut-and-paste a small box on the final page, inserting an improved version. Should be ok as these pages are being videotaped. It was done.

Now, on Christmas eve, I've found a pencilled comic strip from a while back. And I'm itching to ink and colour it...sniffle...

Comic strip...picking up the pencil

 It's been a while...

Fighting a recurring block and now doing what I like to do. A friend and colleague asked me to draw some images to help tell a story. It was difficult. Initially I'd pick up a pencil, sketch some ideas and then get stuck. The only drawings I had been doing before this were doodles of d+d games played. 

But the need to research the story, keep continuity going and feel graphite between my fingertips enabled the work to get done. Kept me drawing. I'd set the timer set at an hour then take a break, do something different. It worked. Now I'm at the inking stage, the fun stage. 

That's about as much as I can share until the complete work is released in Jan'24. But the raven is not only part of the story, and at risk of over-romanticising things, it's like I've found my pencil wings. Hmm, that rhymes...poetry too 😂

Will post again when I've done some inking...

bloowabbit