Christmas presents

I made a lot of Christmas presents this year for my family. Let's begin with Daddy's.

My Dad loves the ocean. He really loves it. So I trekked up to Half Moon Bay (Specifically, Pigeon point) and took some pictures in the early morning. It was a good day.

The pictures were fun to paint, as I haven't done acrylic in a while. They are 4x6, so pretty small. And I painted on vellum, so I had to keep the paint thin, and let it dry well. But it was easier than I had anticipated, so I was very happy with the result.


Then there was my sister. She's in the process of getting published, and I am one of her personal editors, using my perspective as the reader audience she is aiming at. So I've read the draft, and emailed her copious numbers of recommended changes. But the key here is that I have read it and been completely enthralled. So I picked a scene I liked and drew it.

I have to say, that I got really tired of the bricks by the end of the drawing. They turned out amazingly, once I had shaded them. Sorry the finished products isn't here--I didn't remember to take a picture before giving it to her. I'll get one later.

And for my brother, who is in medical school, I bought a bear and made it a little doctor's coat. I got it a little stethoscope too! Stu loved it, and got really excited.

Sewing is one of those things I love to do, can do rather well, but never have time for. I was worried this wouldn't turn out well, but it really did. There is a little tag in the back and the button has velcro, and it has a little tail coat!

And that was the extent of creative gifts. Well, except for my other sister, whom I made a book for. It's available here.
Happy Christmas, faces!

Writing

Half of the reason I want to be a graphic novelist is because I love to write. I always have a few stories I'm working on, and recently I've been so inspired, it's ridiculous!

As of today I have 15 stories sitting on the back burner, waiting for me to finish my current piece. I have them arranged by the format I wish to convey them: novel or graphic novel. Of the 16, 6 are GN ideas, 3 are novel ideas, and 6 could go either way.

I categorize them based on how descriptively detailed they are. If they have a lot of detail and description required, I go with Graphic Novel. If they are straightforward enough, I go with Novel. If they could be easily explained, but also make an appealing GN, then I decide later.

If I wasn't in school, I would work on more than one of each at a time. But as it stands, I work on one GN and one novel at a time. My current novel is finished in its first draft and needs revisiting. The GN is Collide, which is going online as I update. As you know.

And that's how it is.

Finals

School frustrates me sometimes, when I feel like it's in my way. Of course, it isn't, because it's a goal of mine to get at least 1 degree in life. But it requires a lot of attention sometimes, and that prevents me from doing other things. Like writing and drawing.

But it's cool. I can handle it. It's finals right now, and I won't be able to draw until they're over. Again, frustrating. I never wanted to be one of those artists who skips a few updates because they have too much on their plate, but it's part of choosing to be an artist. You don't pick up a pencil and become famous instantly. You work hard, and do other things to stay alive. Going to school is what I do now, so that I can work later and stay alive to keep drawing.

I can't wait for finals to be over next week so I can draw again.

I'll leave this here.