JUNE 2016 – One of the more excitable times of year, lots of transitions to make, and for the writer/artist in me that has meant switching full stop to drawing and graphic design. Pace right now is of about two illustrations a week, which sorted out with the rest of my life and regular job, is about right I’d say. Currently I’m halfway through the illustrations (a number which will remain secret at present, haha) and for all the math wizards out there at home, no, I haven’t kept up that exact pace of production for the last two months to be able to sort it out, haha.
Quite happy with the look of the drawings I do have coming together. I keep pushing back closer and closer to ‘my’ style with them and adding more detail. Is kind of interesting to see the characters on paper after imagining them in my head the whole time while I was writing. Rather like being able to take something that is only imagined (or real in the mind) and making it real in the physical world. Wouldn’t say they overlap 100% as I am making subtle changes as I go. Read the sections in the book that I’ve selected to illustrate again and again for details. To make sure that the description matches the illustrations. How many times have you noticed in a book where they don’t exactly match?
Imagine there are some parallels to the process of adapting a book to the film screen. As characters will morph in the process. Whether due to the actor not exactly matching the description in the story or due to (more so in the past than the present) limitations to create the visuals the book describes.
Outside of writing, I have gone on a few trips of local inspiration. Most notable of which would be to Cape Cod (pictured in this post), which was absolutely fantastic. The miles of beaches for wandering, the enormity of the sky, the deep fog that would roll in every evening, it was as magical as I might have hoped it to be. Brought some books and games and felt I could have stumbled into Narnia at any moment in the old house that we were staying in, haha. I cooked waffles, had local salt-water taffy, and saw dozens of seals. Really really nice time.
Have been reading the works of Brandon Sanderson lately, finishing the MIstborn trilogy (likely at some point this week on one of these long weekends), which for any Sci-Fi/Fantasy Fans I’d surely recommend it. Alchemy is at the core of the mechanics in this universe that he has crafted and it is an extremely enjoyable 1300 plus pages to grab hold of. And surely makes me much more excited to take my vitamins everyday than I ever was before, haha (if you read the series you’ll get the joke).
That is where I shall leave you now fair reader, as well, I have two illustrations to get to. And they won’t draw themselves, I may or may not have already tried this approach! Take care!
– CS
