The Gull's Cry - Concept sketch (Patreon)

I wanted to thank everyone for their condolences on my last post. It means a lot. I had the wind knocked out of me for the week, and was trying to get through the 'life doesn't seem real anymore' stage as things are significantly different without a little squeaker-cat following me around in my day-to-day. The comments helped, and were so kind. Thank you all again.

I finally was able to get back to sketching some ideas out as well. I was lucky enough to nab one of the last portable air conditioners from Amazon before the heat wave hit, and it's made a world of difference. I had never lived in a place with AC before. The old places were ancient, with electrics that were installed somewhere in the 40's or 50's and barely upgraded from that point. I couldn't run a toaster and the microwave at the same time, let alone a whole AC.

That said, it means I can actually have stable temperatures here in the condo for myself and my remaining buddy, Smokey. And it means I won't have whole weeks in the summer that I won't be able to do creative things on the tablet. It's a surreal feeling, as I keep thinking it's a LOT cooler than it really is. I went out on the balcony to water a plant and it was well above 30C here.

I sketched out the Gull's Cry. One of Berrand and Cinders' herd's favourite places to go to watch the seas from large windows on the upper dining area. I plan on drawing some of the people around the area, as well as some of the places as well. There will be a lot of critter folks as it's a haven for everything from the Ithskaari (Dragon Folk), Kobolds, Lorrnathi, and even some of the Javarran (Khulvarri and Khavijas alike). It's very much a port town that keeps its small charm despite being a popular port of call.

The Comic

I had a chance to go back and re-read what I and a friend had written for the comic featuring Cinders and her whole origin story. I admit I've hit a snag though.. I don't like where the story is headed. While there is a canon in my head of her early days that lead to where she is now, it's immensely difficult for me to write the level of sadness that is required. There is nothing brutal going on, but there's a lot of really dark clouds in this sky that I'm having a hard time dealing with.

Taking a look at things, I'm going to shift a part of the story. There will still be conflict, and drama, but I'm removing some parts that I just don't feel comfortable with doing a whole series on. Luckily I haven't done more than a few pages yet, and it's only after those pages that I had a problem. Thus I'm going to shift focus now so I don't end up having to re-work everything later.

Today was the first full work-day in just over a week. It feels nice to be back at it again. I hope to continue this. I have a lot of stuff in my head that I need to get out, and I'm still having moments of mourning, but it's manageable finally.

Commissions and Sketches

I'm back at both of these. I had to pause commissions to take care of Socks when she was sick. There were multiple vet trips, and multiple rounds of medications in hopes it was something treatable. Of the last six weeks of her life, she had three good weeks.

That said I'm largely back to being able to wake up, have coffee, and work again like a normal person. I'll be working on some inks for a commission tomorrow, and in the last week of July I'll be letting the next person on the sketch-list know that they're up for an illustration as well.

But Painting Though

I have a couple paintings on their way. They're in the inking and flats stages right now. One is the 'outside the pub' scene I posted last month, but another is.. Well, it's leading into August, which is when I start going all 'autumn'. This will be my first autumn in my new place, and the scenery around here is pretty amazing in the summer. It's going to be unreal in the fall.

I can't wait to draw leefs again. And Cinders nested and sipping warm things as the days get shorter. Lyssi, and Keelahi will visit, and Berrand is gonna do some boat-building before the weather turns.

Thank you all again for sticking around. I do apologize for how sporadic things have been. Kitty illness and my own illness/specialist visits blew a lot of holes in my schedule that I just couldn't keep up with.

Only a couple months before pumpkin time.

-T.J.