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Skook WiP #89

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These Days …

I am generally an optimist.

When I was writing this newsletter last Friday, I believed I had caught a cold. I’d been out among masses of unmasked humans and, though I was masked myself, I assumed that I’d picked up and carried cold or flu cooties long enough to get infected. No big deal. I had a sore throat, sore throats were usually, for me, the first sign that I’d gotten a cold and I can handle colds. I’ve had hundreds of them in my life.

However, just to be safe, I got some quick covid tests from the drugstore. Annndddd, yeah, I tested positive for covid. We tested Sarah at the same time. She tested negative. So we masked up and kept our distance from each other and tried to enjoy the four day weekend. As the day went on, Sarah started having symptoms. Maybe she had a cold? We’re both optimists.

Sarah tested negative again on Saturday but it seemed silly to think she didn’t have covid. The tests aren’t perfect.

The four day weekend stretched out. I called the station on Monday afternoon to tell a supervisor that I wouldn’t be in. He told me at least three other carriers had also called in covid. I’m one of the few carriers who still masks up the station so hopefully they didn’t get it from me. The carriers mentioned don’t mask. I’m guessing that if they didn’t mask while at work in a building with over fifty other people, they weren’t masking out in the world either.

I’d planned to work on the Mighty Nizz comic on the weekend. That didn’t happen. At no point did I feel like the sickness was life threatening but being ill wasn’t conducive to either concentration or holding a brush. We just hung out and did our best to enjoy each other’s queasy company. My Big Sister blessed us with a cornucopia of her wonderful cooking so we didn’t have to try to think of how to feed ourselves.

I’m not a great patient. I rather take care of someone else than be taken care of myself so there were some cranky times. Sarah was very patient. She’s currently taking a round of antivirals. Covid didn’t necessarily hit her harder than me but her immune system has more issues so it seemed like a good idea to give it some help. I managed to get a little art done each day. That helped my mood. By Wednesday I felt healthy enough that, if I just had a cold, I’d have gone back to work.

When is it safe (mostly for other people) for me to go back to work? Based on CDC guidelines and advice from friends in the medical professions – five days after onset of symptoms. So, unless something happens after I’ve posted this newsletter that will prevent me, I’ll be delivering mail again today.

Yay.

Mugshots

Who is this lovely lady? Who are the folks in the robes? Every picture tells a story but I don’t always know what that story is. You’re free to make up a story of your own.

Available as:
A mug in my Zazzle store
On a variety of schtuff in my Redbubble store

Before the Rainbow

Below is the scanned black and white art for the latest Oz Squad/Land of Oz design. On the left, Bungle the Glass Cat. On the right, Eureka the Pink Kitten. Pot. Kettle.


After the Rainbow

And here is the final colored version. It’s available in both my online shops. Oz is a socialist utopia overseen by an unelected princess but, since we don’t live there yet, I have some shilling to do.
That’s it for this week!

May your next seven days be healthy and happy and relaxing.

And if they can’t be that, punch a Nazi for Jesus.

Skook WiP #88

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And so we stumble into Friday, some of us tired from the previous seven days, some of us excited by all possibilities ahead.

Welcome! I hope you’ve arrived at today more in the second mood than the first. I’m a bit of both. If you just want to look my latest images, scroll down. Otherwise …

These Days …

I am currently working on a ten page Mighty Nizz comic. I’ve drawn a lot of illustrations of the little beast in the last couple of decades. This will be her first story. It will also be the second comic I’ve finished in, well, a couple of decades. I spent the beginning of this century failing at finishing a new Oz Squad series. I spent a couple of years, prior to getting my mail carrier job, working with a writer who let his need for perfection get in the way of finishing any of the stories he hired me to draw. We have an agreement that allows me to use my art and designs in any way I want that doesn’t conflict with his potential use of the original stories but I don’t expect I’ll ever take advantage of it. I have projects of my own that are more in the forefront of my attention. A series of Nizz stories for example.

Sarah wrote this story. I expanded it. I’m currently inking it. I’ll add greytones with pencil and marker and then color it digitally. Before I started I was a little concerned about what kind of illustrations I’d produce. I felt rusty and unused to thinking in story and in composing a comic page. I try to design each page so that the images in each panel complement and balance each other. This first story is a learning/relearning process. I know that, once I’m done, I’ll see a lot of ways I could have done it better. At some point I may redo some of the panels, possibly even some of the pages. I’ve read interviews with some comic artists who fiddle with each incarnation of their work. If the story is serialized they make corrections for the collection. If it’s reprinted they make more corrections. First I’ll finish it and publish it. Then I’ll do more Nizz stories. Any fiddling will happen after I’ve got enough of a body of new work to be able judge whether the old work actually would be improved by the fiddling.

I’d rather have a lot of finished imperfect art than just a little finished perfect art. Because perfection is subjective.

Also, on Sunday I dropped off Sarah downtown for an appointment. I was supposed to pick her up again in five hours. I haven’t been downtown for anything but appointments in years. We didn’t go downtown before the pandemic. But, on Sunday, we got an inexpensive parking space and I felt like walking around. I had two destinations in mind – Pike Place Market and the Central Library. Pike Place Market was crowded. My ultimate destination was the comic book (collectibles) shop but it took a while to find that. I didn’t buy anything. I just wanted to see what was available. Before my cataract surgery I’d lost my enjoyment for shopping. I couldn’t see well enough to appreciate what I was looking at. I only shopped for things we needed. From Pike Place I wandered up to the Central Library and spent an hour searching through the graphic novel collections. I ended up selecting a heavy pile of books. With an hour until I needed to get Sarah I lightened my load by reading a few of them.

When I was a kid, comic book illustration seemed to come in two flavors – representational art with a lot of hatching for shadows and cartoony art with little or no shadows. Both types had flat colors. In the decades since, the varieties of illustration have greatly expanded. Better printing techniques have resulted in a wider variety of colors. Imported comics from Europe and manga from Japan have added more styles of art. Webcomics added more. Alternate publishers (not Marvel or DC) added even more. These days comic book (graphic novel) illustration looks like anything. Highly detailed. Crude and rough. Everything in between. All that’s important is whether the art tells the story. Any weird concerns I had that I might have forgotten how to draw a comic have vanished and I’m more relaxed when I work.

Also also – I’ve got a cold. I likely contracted it from wandering around on Sunday. I wore a mask the entire time but I touched a lot of things that other folks touched and I’m sure I touched my face more than once, to rub my eyes or adjust said mask. Right now it’s just a sore throat. It feels like every other damned cold (or flu) I’ve had before. I’m assuming it’s not covid but I’ll get tested to just to be sure.

Mugshots

This week’s process GIF features a nice lady and her huge critters.

This image can purchased on a mug in my Zazzle store and a variety of schtuff in my Redbubble store.

Before the Rainbow

No GIF here. Simple before and after versions of this design. Below is a scan of the physical art – non-photo bluelines, inks and greytones.
After the Rainbow

Below is the post-Photoshop version – corrections and colors.
I put this design on a t-shirt in the Zazzle store and schtuff in the Redbubble store. The store links above should get you there.

And I’m out. Today is the first day of a four day weekend – my scheduled Friday and Saturdays off coincided with the holiday and I plan to spend a lot of time working on the Mighty Nizz comic. When I’m not coughing from the cold.

Cheers!

Skook WiP #87

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Huzzah! Hoorah! Hoorray!

It’s been a week.

Not a joke or a subtle indication that it’s been a hard seven days. Just stating a fact.

I hope your week gave you some good times and good memories.

These Days …

While I deliver mail I think about all the things I could write about the job. The quirks of different customers. My pet peeves. Advice on how securely one should pack something to make sure it arrives undamaged. Then I sit in front of my computer and some of what I thought is available but most has flitted away. Time for me to make use of my phone and send myself notes throughout the day. I already use it to remind myself of illustration ideas.

It was a fairly quiet week. Work at the PO. We continue to be shorthanded so I’ve been getting drafted into carrying extra. Mail has been light enough that I’m able to carry some of that extra in undertime. Because of my bad knee I have to avoid routes that are mainly walking. That’s frustrating. I like to walk. I used to always request walking routes. But my knee needs to be looked after if I want to make to retirement so … more driving, less walking.

I’m getting some art done in the time between work, chores and sleep (and goofing off). I’ve finished lettering the Mighty Nizz comic and now I’m in the process of inking it. It’s a ten page piece. I’ve also got those Oz character designs to work on but haven’t managed to do more than letter their dialogue.

Last Friday evening we attended a memorial for Tim Sale. Tim was Sarah’s illustrator collaborator for Billi 99. It’s a gorgeous book. Well written too. Currently out of print. Tim passed away last month after having a successful career, most prominently, illustrating graphic novels for DC and Marvel comics. I never met the man. I heard his voice a couple of times when Sarah spoke to him on the phone.

I knew Tim’s work but not his personality. I only personally knew a couple of the other folks in attendance. I mostly listened and did my best to respond when people talked to me. I don’t hear well in rooms filled with people talking. I have a hard time focusing. Based on what folks said he was a great guy, someone who was kind and generous and enjoyable to be around. The world is a poorer place without him.

Mugshots

This week’s process GIF.
Available –
A mug in my Zazzle store.
Schtuff in my Redbubble store.

May your next seven days give you all the fun (or all the relaxation) you need!

See you next Friday!

Skook WiP #86

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August 19th.

My new computer is up and running. It’s missing a number of programs that were installed on my previous machine. I’m told that the programs couldn’t be transferred. I’d be more annoyed but the only one that I used with any frequency was Creative Suite 6. I have that on disk if I think I need to use it but, since I’ve subscribed to the online version of Photoshop, the disk will probably sit in my desk drawer for a few years before I finally toss it. CS6 didn’t get along with Windows 11. The more time passes the less likely it will get along with upgraded versions of Windows. My main reason for wanting it on my new computer was that I had a function set for turning scans of my pencilled art into inkable blueline prints. After doing some googling (technically duckduckgoing) I think I’ve found a way to get inkable bluelines that will require less clean up than my previous method.

We’ll see. I’ll need to actually rescan the new bluelines to see if this method works.

I’ve converted and printed out bluelines for a ten page Mighty Nizz comic and five Oz Squad/Land of Oz designs for my shops. I won’t know how they work until I’ve scanned in the inked illustration tried to drop out the blue tones. I should have an example or two to show next week. Fingers crossed.

Until then, here are the sketches for the Oz designs. They’re my versions of Steve Ahlquist’s versions of L. Frank Baum’s Oz characters.

Mugshots

This week’s process GIF is of a couple of kids walking their … pet. Or maybe it’s walking them. Either way, they’re all getting exercise.

Mug.
Zazzle.
Schtuff.
Redbubble.
That’s it for this week.

Be good to yourself. Hang out with friends. Pet a cat. Walk a dog. Feed a squirrel. Hug a tree. Punch a nazi.

See you next week!

Skook WiP #85

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It is the day. The day this newsletter arrives in your email mailbox. It is not a physical thing. Not physical in the way a letter written on paper and sent through the postal service would be. It can’t be held by your hands. It is a different type of magic. It is ones and zeroes that follow formulas to present themselves as letters and words and sentences.

I spent a week and a half without my desktop computer. For a few days, I went online using my phone and a tablet. Those devices were adequate for basic web surfing but, to me, thoroughly unsatisfying for spellcasting.

Spellcasting?

Magic is the process of convincing the universe to do what you want. Human culture is a series of spells attempting to work magic on reality. Our technology has advanced to the point that much of it functions like magic. Swipe your finger across an image on a screen and a day later a blender arrives at your door. Push a button on a little box and your car starts up in the garage. Tell your phone an address and a voice will give you directions on how to get there (and make adjustments if you make a wrong turn).

This is all fantastic until the magic doesn’t work the way you want it to. In my case, neither the phone nor the tablet give me the experience or control that my desktop does. I like a large screen, especially when I’m working on an illustration. I like using a physical keyboard. I barely passed typing class in high school. After a few decades of practice, I’m much faster at typing my thoughts than at writing them longhand. (Word processing programs really help this. Being able to go back and add or remove thoughts, correct spelling or perform various other types of editing/writing hoodoo has made my computer my preferred tool for composition.)

Many programs apps only work well on a desktop. I like my phone. I can text and get those directions and check Facebook and even talk to someone once in a while. The tablet is less useful. It’s an Apple product and it doesn’t seem to play well with some of the Google apps I like to use. Magic isn’t magic when it requires effort.

Not having a working desktop hasn’t stopped me from working on art. All my illustrations still start as marks on paper. I’ve laid out the first of our Mighty Nizz comics and begun a series of Land of Oz/Oz Squad designs for my online stores.

The new computer came home on Wednesday. I scanned the pencils, enlarged them, converted them to bluelines and printed them out for inking. Magic!

Once they’re inked (and toned) I’ll color them digitally. More magic!

The Oz designs will get posted to my online stores. I’ll include the images in a future newsletter and post them to the Oz Squad site.

The Mighty Nizz comic will get posted to mightynizz.com and I will include links to it in a future issue.

Magic!

Mugshots

This week’s process GIF stars a group of colorful penguins. Did I have Pride in mind when I did this? Well, no. But I didn’t not have it mind either. Capitalism demands that everything be commodified and that all our dreams and hopes be sold back to us.

Hmmm. That’s not the best way to create interest and close a sale, is it? Let’s try again.

Penguins! Everyone loves penguins! Penguins love penguins! They’re always ready for a formal occasion in their permanent tuxedoes! This bunch is relaxed and ready to party in flying colors!


Available –
On a mug in my Zazzle store!
On all sorts of schtuff in my Redbubble store!

The Colors of Cthulhu

By now you know I enjoy doing illustrations that feature Cthulhu. It (He? She? They? What pronouns are appropriate for an ageless Eldritch Horror?) is the most well known of HPL’s creations. It gets namechecked in a number of his stories but only appears in person in one tale. Lovecraft depicts it as a gigantic creature with a head like an octopus and a body combining features of a human and a dragon.  It is trapped/entombed in the sunken city of R’Lyeh, only able to emerge when “the stars are right”.

Part of the fun of depicting the Big C is that there’s not really a canonic version of what it looks like. Lovecraft’s sketch is of a statue of Cthulhu. The statue was carved by humans who had, at best, only seen it in their dreams. The humans who do encounter it in person all die or go mad. I figure their descriptions of it are suspect. Humans interpret their experiences based on what they already know. Anything truly novel is going to be very hard to describe. Our senses only take in some of the information available to them and our brains are only able to process part of the information they receive.

Cthulhu is described as green. It may only appear that way to human eyes. We see a narrow spectrum of colors. I feel comfortable letting it be whatever color it feels like being. Great Old Ones have powers beyond our comprehension. If an octopus can change its colors at will, why not a being from beyond space and time?

Below is a process GIF of Cthulhu forming in our reality.

Here are the four designs I’ve got available in my Redbubble store. Collect them all!

And that’s it for this week.

Take care. Take rest. Take revenge. Take a moment to breathe.

See you in seven!

Skook WiP #84

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Our Man Friday. Freya’s Day. FDay. Anyway.

Welcome! Glad to see you again.

These Days …

My desktop computer has been having issues for awhile now. It stops talking to my monitor with greater and greater frequency. I know the computer is still working because the monitor will often go to sleep in the middle of playing a video. Sound from the video keeps coming out of the computer’s speakers while the monitor is showing a black screen. I tried a variety of troubleshooting options and none of them fixed it so I took it in for repair.

I’d been thinking it was time to get a new computer but had been hoping that the old one could be propped up for a while longer. The folks at the computer place were happy to inform me that, after nine years, my machine was really too old to try to upgrade. I complained about planned obsolescence and things not lasting and the whippersnapper shrugged. That’s the world he’s always known. So I ordered a new machine. It arrives, hopefully, on Monday.

I took my old desktop back home, thinking I could use it until the new one showed up. Nope. It refuses to talk to the monitor at all now.

So I’m writing these notes on Sarah’s computer. I won’t be doing any Photoshop work until the new machine shows up. I can’t post any of my illustrations to any of my social media either. All my files are on the old machine.

So I’m reading books. Writing on paper. Working on the first of the Mighty Nizz komix. I’ve finished the thumbnails and I’ll be able to lay out the story in basic pencils. If I get that all done I’ll have to work on a different story for awhile. I can’t currently scan the layouts or make and print bluelines. Our scanners and printers are all connected to my computer and my computer is the only one with graphics programs.

Living in the 20th Century wasn’t too bad the first time. I’m currently managing this revisit fairly well.

Mugshots

This week’s process GIF is of rocks. Boulders. Floating in uncharted space. Or something.
This design is available in both my Zazzle and my Redbubble stores. I’m foregoing links this issue. Rest assured, there will be links next week.

Face My Face

I decided it was time to make a new avatar for my online presences, a self portrait rather than a photo or a random illustration. Below is a scan of the physical art.

And here is the final, cleaned up, color version.
It’s not available on anything. I have a healthy ego but I don’t imagine anyone is interested in purchasing a product just because my face is on it. If I’m wrong, feel free to let me know.

Thank you for reading. I hope your week has gone well and next week is looking even better.

See you in seven!

Skook WiP #83

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TGIF! (Because saying Thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster It’s Friday takes too long and no one would recognize the abbreviation.)

Has your week been fantastic? If your state votes by mail or allows early voting I hope you’ve taken advantage of that and cast your ballot. Otherwise, I hope your trip to the polls is an easy one.

These Days –

I have been on vacation all this week. We tend to stay around home for vacations. Travel is fun and educational but it’s also tiring and a bit stressful. Right now I’m a big fan of as little stress as possible.

I got and finished a commission for a three page black and white comic. It’s the first comic I’ve finished in … years. David Mann wrote it, I did everything else. David had put out a call for an artist in his newsletter. I offered up my website and my Redbubble design page as my portfolio and got the job. He posted it to his Tumblr and Twitter accounts almost immediately after I sent him the finished pages so I’m posting those here. I’m leaving it to him to write a process post.

On Sunday I attended a figure drawing class. Live figure drawing has been a good way for me to sharpen my observation skills. It’s easy to get in the habit of drawing things the way I think they look rather than how they are actually constructed. My first figure drawing classes, many years ago, helped my illustration skills improve immensely. Since then I’ve taken classes or dropped in on open drawing sessions when I’ve started to feel like I need a jump start on my skills. It was the first of what will be six in person sessions. The in person part was important both for me and for the teacher. For me, drawing in person gives me the ability to adjust my position and move around so I can better understand how to draw the model. Drawing from photos is helpful but you can’t change the angle if you want to see something better. The teacher was excited because we were in a new building and this was the first in person adult class that she had taught in two years.

The rest of my time has been spent catching up on chores and attending to medical things. I’ve had check ups on how my eyes are healing (and got a prescription for distance glasses), teeth cleanings and the last of my physical therapy sessions for my knee. As these physical issues have gotten handled I’m starting to think of getting out of the house more. I’ll be testing my new night vision for the first time today. Most nights we’re in bed around seven. The sun is still up. Tonight we might be out after dark. I’ll be driving familiar roads so I don’t expect to have any difficulty but this will a new experience.

Mugshots

This week’s image was suggested partly by one of my nephews. He asked me to draw a zombie T-Rex. I wanted a design that would fit on a mug so I paired the undead dinosaur with a robot version.

This design can be found on a mug in my Zazzle store
and a variety of schtuff in my Redbubble store.

Beware the Nizz

I was filing the stacks of art that have grown around my drawing space and I came across an unfinished illustration of the Mighty Nizz staring down a wild pig. I inked it up and colored it and it can be found in my stores. I may still make a process GIF of this one but, for now, I’m just showing the black and white on paper version …

And the final color image.

It’s apparently hot all over the country this week. I hope you manage to stay cool.
Thank you for reading.
See you in seven!

Skook WiP #82

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Friday!

Newsletter!

No process GIFs this week. This week’s designs are abstracts. Process GIFs seem most fun when they are presenting the evolution of a specific illustration from sketch to finished design.











These designs can be found on mugs in my Zazzle store.
And on a variety of schtuff in my Redbubble store.

I hope the previous week treated you well and that the coming week treats you even better!

See you in seven!

Skook WiP #80

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This week I’m going to let the pictures carry the newsletter. Less is more, silence is golden, I’m sure I’ve already said too much.

This design is available on a mug in the Zazzle store
and various schtuff in the Redbubble store.
The large design below is used on the schtuff that have more room for display.


Another glimpse at Kaiju Weather –

And that’s it for this week. In and out.
I hope things are good on your slice of reality. Not too hot, not too cold, just enough kittens.