Sketches and Progress

Hello, folks. It's Monday and I'm back in the writing chair. I spent some time drawing this weekend, so I thought I'd share a few of the pictures. After Jamie and the kids go to bed I usually stay up answering emails, reading, watching movies, or drawing. This weekend I figured out a way to do two at once.

I was watching some random sword-swinging movie and decided to pause it on a few of the striking shots and draw what was on the screen. It gave me a chance to study lighting, especially on faces. I'm most definitely an amateur at this, but it's good for me to exercise this particular creative muscle. Not only do I enjoy it for its own sake, but I want to get my chops up so I can illustrate The Monster in the Hollows.

As for the writing, I'm in the thick of chapter 20. I'm making good progress, and getting close to a few scenes I've had in mind since the start of the story seven years ago. Thanks for reading!

AP

(Click on the pictures to zoom in a little.)

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This one's my favorite. The horse and the bearded dude both look old and archaic, partly because when I turned the sketchpad over to draw the next one it got pleasantly smudged.

The sheik on the left was sitting at a campfire, so it was good to study the lighting. It bugs me that his eyes are too high.

This guy doesn't look anything like the dude I was actually trying to draw, but he still looks like he could beat me up.

By now my pencils were all dull, and I was too sleepy to get up and sharpen them. That's partly why it looks so cartoony compared to the others.