SPQR Blues et cetera

Like a lot of artists and writers, I have trouble with a blank page. Sometimes, that blank page is a beautiful, perfect sketchbook, an actual physical object I might ruin. I find having a new sketchbook to be encouraging at first--this or that paper or shape or size or heft looks inspiring, or the brand was recommended, or it was a gift...Then the sketchbooks lie in the art drawer for years. I don't have a nice little sitting room or atelier where I can display their prettiness to visitors, so the books stay unseen (plus I don't actually have visitors). Say someone asks whether I've used the gorgeous, lovingly selected drawing journal they gave me--I try to find a way not to say outright that, well, I did a little bitty drawing on the first page and the drawing wasn't worthy of the journal's beauty so I was too hesitant to sully more of the book's pristine perfection with imperfect nonsense.


Edepol! The cover's been creased and its perfection ruined! How will I bear to look at it now?

( Sketches of the Day... )
 
Semi-Related Recommendation: If you love the love of history and archaeology and discovery, and are in the mood for a quietly (and sometimes outrageously) funny comedy, try Detectorists, created by actor/writer/director Mackenzie Crook (The Office, Pirates of the Caribbean). It's available in the US on Netflix. It gave me all the feels there are. It made me want to stick with something I love, even if it breaks my heart sometimes, even if it means ruining a perfect sketchbook cover. @detectorists

Today is practice quick-sketching hand poses, and some test lettering for...some other project :)

That's a tattoo I don't actually have.

This pencil is so smooth and dark, I might try drawing a whole comic with it (no inking), see how it goes. It's probably very hard to erase--I haven't tested this pencil recently.

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This is what my self portraits usually look like:




Well, that's what they look like when I'm in a charitable mood.

For some reason I decided, as long as I'm on a watercolour kick, to try a fancier self portrait. After I scanned it...

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Does it actually look like me? I dunno. Marginally?
 

ETA: I only just heard about the earthquake in Italy. I have nothing profound to say, just needing to acknowledge something a lot closer than 1,937 years ago. 🇮🇹

Today marks 1,937 years since the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius that buried Herculaneum, Pompeii, and assorted other nearby towns, villas, patricians and plebeians, unfortunate animals, barrels of fish-pickle sauce, and so forth.

I was going to do some perky watercolours with some brush pens I recently dug out of the art drawer, but ended up experimenting instead with only the grey and even greyer Kuretake Fudebiyori Brush pens. Grey seems appropriate for today!

I tried to make Spendusa look less forlorn, but she says she knows what day this is.

Damon says he just always looks like that.

I'd like to post a comic tonight, too.

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