State of the Book (and Art Night drawings!) (Patreon)

Working on a story - without sharing it with you/everyone in the world immediately - continues to feel weird.

But lately I haven't had much to show for my work anyway, because it's all been research (and scribbling down ideas the moment I get out of the shower!). 

A couple weeks ago I spent a full day with my friend Renzo, asking him questions about his family life and what it's like being Peruvian in West Virginia, as research for Berto.

I just finished reading a 140-page memoir (though he calls it a "manifesto") of a stranger whose life I couldn't have possibly otherwise comprehended, in order to get inside the head of another character (did I name him Nick here? I'm still leaning toward Paul...). 

Soon I'll be meeting up with two more friends to ask one about her unusual freelance job (for Kris), and the other about complications she's dealt with while living in the US that I can't fathom on my own (also for Berto).

I haven't had any Story Poll questions to ask you lately, because I've been working on the broader skeleton; the polls I've sent out so far went into the first three chapters, which I wanted to start early in order to set a tone for the rest of the book. 

I'll write the fourth chapter in the next month (it's also important to set the tone), so I'll get to ask you some new cryptic questions soon. ;)

ANYWAY...

Since nothing I've been doing is shareable, I thought I'd share last night's Art Night sketches instead. :) I started off drawing copies of some of my favorite character designs on Instagram, from fellow cartoonists & animators I admire. It's SUCH a fun exercise to get you warmed up and excited to draw!! I did little portraits of my friends around the table afterwards. 

Here are the incredible artists I straight-up copied last night from Instagram: 

Tuna Snaps

Britterson

C is for French Fry

BlitzCadet (Brett Parson, the incredible artist on Tank Girl)

Phillip Rauschkolb

So that's it for now! My first 2019 resolution is to have an actionable outline of weekly and monthly deadlines for the book, so you'll see pieces of that once January arrives. 

Have a safe and fun New Year's Eve! And if you do resolutions, remember to give yourself a reasonable one that you know you can handle. An accomplishment of any size is still an accomplishment. <3