MAY 2016 – When it comes to the creative process, I think it is easy to feel one is completely lost in a fog. What to make? Is it good? Couldn’t it be better? How do other people see it? Don’t have the answers to those questions, outside of the first at least, haha. As I know what I aim to make, but is it any good, ehhh. You know, I did turn a corner with my illustrations this month and feel that I’m on the right track with them. Finally. Has been a rugged road at times, and I haven’t listed any of the drawings as ‘finished’ because I surely will still tinker with all of those that I’ve worked on.
Four of the Eighteen full chapters images exist in some form or other and the rest remain in the conceptual stage. Happily I have them all written out and have found sketching to be a nice entry into their creation. With my trusty .5 mm mechanical pencil at my side, I am armed to continue, and complete the remaining 14+ illustrations that I have in mind. Come to think of it, there is quite a bit more to draw than that, with everything I have planned.
The world has provided me with many opportunities to go hiking and get outside lately, and I haven’t passed them up. Been taking some landscape photographs to document these hikes, and here is a recent one from my view on Monday. The fog was thick, but morale was strong, and the ocean air glorious. These walks might not necessarily be to gain source material for future drawings, yet they never fail to fuel my wishes to be more creative. Whether with writing, illustrating, photography, etc. Suppose that is why my best advice for a creative slump remains to go for a walk!
Finally got around to watching the latest James Bond Film ‘Spectre’, which I surely hope isn’t the last to feature Daniel Craig as the British Spy/Assassin. Funny, I never really labeled him as an ‘assassin’ when I would watch the movies as a kid, that seems almost a term reserved for villains. You know what I mean? Maybe that is part of what makes this latest incarnation of Bond so edgy and entertaining as he really straddles that line between good and evil. Stunning settings abound in this most recent Bond film and between it and ‘Casino Royale’ I could plan about five tremendous vacations, haha.
Closing out the month feeling optimistic and excited for the future and unveiling the latest project that has been under wraps for ages now. I found an early draft of the material that I’m working from that dates back to 2008. So this source material has been kicking around for a solid eight years. Will it be worth the wait? Ah, my friends, I’d very much like to think so!
– CS
