From bumbling comes success!

Sorry I haven't blogged in a few days. I've been working on donation sketches and I decided not to share them. Those things are special and I want them to be pleasant surprises for my donors. It's for a good cause, but it doesn't give me much to share if that's all I do.

Well, today I nearly finished off the donor sketches! (One request to go, not counting the few requests that haven't come in yet.) With the sketches in a good place, it was time to get back to the big boy commissions!

I've been really stressing over these. Today I had to get the inks down so I could get my watercolor on. Yes, I'm tracing, but there's still no room for error - and I have to make sure the line quality works as well.

You see three Tiffany Suicide Kings drawings because that's my test image. As soon as I started working with them, I found out I was in trouble. My super-expensive watercolor paper is great for watercolors... but not so much for tech pens. The line quality was not good, and that meant going back into the work and trying to correct places - doubling the time needed. This would not do.

Fortunately, I *am* a former printmaking major and I *did* bring my old portfolio with me to Savannah. My old printmaking paper is just fine for watercolors (I hope), and the tooth is much less harsh. So I tore apart my meticulously-constructed setup for tracing the big piece. After clearing my area for space, I measured and tore a new sheet of paper. I once again meticulously constructed a setup for tracing. I turned the light table on... and realized I had constructed the piece upside down. ONE MORE METICULOUSLY-CONSTRUCTED SETUP LATER... The bumbling and crazy was over?

Ha, no. That's when the swarm of insects descended. I was working on a light box on a warm summery night in an apartment in which the windows are full of gaps to the outside. I should have seen that coming. The little guys were numerous, but the biggest worry with them was resisting the urge to smoosh them, which would goo up the piece. Didn't see the big guys coming, though. I was drawing with my biggest, thickest tech pen when the largest of the bug assault smacked me in the face. I jumped. My hand jerked. The piece... was ok? I have no idea how I didn't leave a big black smear across the thing.

After all that, the piece came out looking just fine! I tempted fate all night. I bumbled like an idiot. Thanks to stress, I was so tense that my finger is now KILLING ME even though I only drew a moderate amount today. But it's all ok, because I didn't screw up the final piece!

Yet.