Completed 2nd Draft of Book Dummy

Drum roll please...

*DUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUUUU*

*PSHEEEE!* SMASH!

Okay, got too excited. I've never thought of how to write the sound of a drum roll...

Anyway, the 2nd draft of Stitching Butterflies book dummy is complete! Does it need tweaking still? Oh yes. Definitely, but I'm not going to let the incompleteness of a book dummy get me down. In fact it's better to not have fully fleshed out details sometimes with a book dummy. Fully prepared manuscript? Yes. Full, completed illustrations? Yes, but not the dummy. The agent or publisher might think you don't intend to change anything which isn't so as many things should be changed in the process.

Alright, so long SB for a little while! I've gotta start working on Lues and Sues. 

Book Dummy Update

Another post on this, really? Will I ever finish this thing? (HAHAHAHA...ha)

Anyway, the book dummy saga continues. I'm nearing the end of my second SB draft with it being critiqued (with most of the ones critiquing being confused) and have to say that my type of writing is very comic book-esque as a lot of the time I use only dialogue and onomatopoeia.

I don't want to change because the manuscript is a little confusing without the illustrations!

So for me this dummy is extremely important for Stitching Butterflies. I wrote about it on the wordpress. You can find some helpful links in there, as well as here and here. In fact, subscribing to these blogs help too.

Some pieces! Part of the reason this blog exists lies in the idea that an artist has to fail over and over and over again just to get what they want inside their heads on paper.  Still, that may not even happen.

Can I get what I want SB to be on paper? 

The Last Post was a Lie, ALL LIES

I need to step back a bit; perspective challenge will be started AFTER my book dummy.

I wanted to do this kinda challenge to myself and then I realized I was already getting buried alive by projects. Look at this list man!:

1. Stitching butterflies- I have the manuscript getting critiqued this week or the next, plus I have to re-draw the book dummy AND still have to finish Stella's illustration. 
2. Lues and Sues- yep, wrote another manuscript and now editing it. I wrote this one called Lue's Place, but it was missing serval things. I put it away for a year and one day I work I was suddenly writing a rhyme on a piece of scrap drawdown paper that began Lues and Sues. Oi.
3. Nightlander Oil Painting- and nightlander in general as it is an on going novel/comic that is now getting oil paintings because I wan to do a comic in oils and oh boy oh boy, JUST KEEP ON ADDIND TO THE PILE.
4. Critique group- I'm in a new critique group and we critique one manuscript a week.
5. Blogs/monday reviews- I'm writing a PB review every monday on my wordpress, which means it'll take the entire week to write unless I do everything last minute and pull an old review out. Oi. 
6. With Friends Like Us- Oh yes, another PB manuscript. WHY. You know, I have the notebook to write ideas down, it's just when a story pops up into my head it takes over.
7. Oh Yeah, Hello Robot is another PB- oh well, this is my life.
8. ANNND Work, the day job as quality control for inks, no need to elaborate this is takes time out of the day.

I should complete AT LEAST Stitching Butterflies before adding another project. Maybe I can edit Lues and Sues/start illustrating while SB is getting critiqued. 

I'm pretty sure this happens to illustrators/writers all the time though. I know an oil painter tends to start five oils paintings and complete them as they go. Same idea with stories. 

They're all jumbled. 

I've Been Busy...and I'm Starting a Thing and it's Day 1

I need to practice my drawing skills.

Yes.

That means back to the basics and I'm talking specifically perspective.

Take a look at these:

They are both extremely flat and while I love working this way (I have another oil painting in progress) I need more depth in my bigger works, more specifically for all the worlds NL involves. 

I think working on perspective will help with my picture book illustrations as well.

Here is the first perspective drill. 

Got to keep pushing. 

Quick NL Update!

I almost feel like I'm running a marathon because of all the different projects I'm trying to complete (ehh maybe it's because of the large red eye I just finished...

But anyway, I began painting Nightlander in oils, which is what I've been wanting to do for the past two months and never got the courage to just do it.

I'm making a larger painting on this canvas below. All I'm waiting for now is the rabbit skin glue to come in the mail and I'll finish prepping this home made stretcher/canvas!

In the meantime, I've started two smaller ones.

The idea is to paint the comic as an installation in my studio. I like these quick, messy oil paintings and the mixed media aspect of this comic just suits me and it. I'm going to keep at this, writing on sticky notes, making digital paintings, oils, and installation comics until I get this story the way I want it. 

Just Looking Back...

Looking back at SB, remembering that I've been working on this picture book for little over a year, I see a dramatic change in the character design for Lily.

Here's how the first two characters began:

The change begins here. I just had this vision of adorable little girl with pigtails trailing behind her as she creates her dreams. Lily is a wilder character than Stella who likes things neat, a bit orderly, and pretty. 

I have a feeling that SB will go through more change as I get closer to finishing. I've also posted this change on my wordpress because it makes me wonder how many changes the books I'm studying went through.