Return to Never

My newest comic project is actually an old project revamped. Again. The characters of this story were first created when I was a teenager, rewritten into a finished book just after high school, then rewritten into another book as a NANOWRIMO project, and finally turned into a comic. As is the nature of this story, I've decided to redo the comic. The last version of Never had lost its way. I was taking much too long to get to the point and in the process the plot got completely lost. Combined with the fact that the illustrations weren't consistent in any way, size shape or ability, I figured it was time to give this story another shot.

Why not move on to something else? It's a comfort thing, I guess. These are characters that I grew up with. They are the first thing I think of when I'm considering writing a new story and it's always a difficult decision to move on and try something new. However, rewriting the novel for NANOWRIMO helped me to start writing again, and this time I'm hoping it will help me start to draw regularly again. My goal is to update with some sort of regularity. But I've promised that before and have failed miserably, so let's just say that I will update as often as I can, generally on Monday's. I can promise that the month of November will be consistent.

A face in shapes

While we were at the gallery doing the drawing thing, we spent some time drawing a head that had been sculpted by one of the artists. It was very interesting using geometrical shapes to try and recreate something 3D. It's much easier (in some ways) to copy someone elses painting or drawing, because they have already found the shapes for you, all you have to do is see it how they did. With something real like a statue, depending on which angle you view it, it will have different shapes and lights. I never got to the part where I'd shade this drawing in and make it look more realistic because I really liked how subtle this turned out. I'm going to have to do some of my own observational drawings using technique I think.

In a Cafe/Gallery

Yesterday I went to the monthly drawing session that the Confederation of the Arts Gallery hosts. I met up with a couple of friends and we drew our own versions of some of the work that was on the walls. Same sort of deal as last time, but this time the focus was on finding the shapes rather than on the shading. Despite the fact that I teased one of my friends for stealing my 3b pencil leaving me with a 7b, I actually really enjoyed using the softer lead. I'm so used to drawing my comics that I don't often use anything more than my mechanical pencil which is limited at best. Apparently I just want everything to be dark and smudged.

This sketch is based off Kathleen Munn's drawing "In a Cafe." Apparently she was one of the first Canadian impressionists, long before the Group of Seven, but she was never very well known since she was a woman.

A little silly

Sometimes the day just needs a little silly to help you get through it. Today seems to be one of those days for me. Of course, along with the strip above, today is NEVER update day. Click the linky to the righty. Or something.

Edinburgh Castle Gate

Apparently I haven't drawn anything new in years. Either that or everything I've drawn I've already posted online. Anyway, this is a sketch I did while sitting on a damp bench at Edinburgh castle, waiting for the rain to start up again in 2007. It seemed like every time I went to Edinburgh castle it was raining, which you might say "of course, Christina, it's Scotland, and you were there in the rainiest summer they had had for years" to which I'd reply, "but it never rained when I went to any other castle."
I think there's a message there, but I'm still not sure what it was.

Today I also posted a HallHogs comic. This seems to be the week of comics for me. Probably because  I've been avoiding doing other more important things. I think there might be a message in that too, but I'm avoiding figuring out what it is.