Off to the hospital today, so you get this a day early*:

Title character of Nodame Cantabile, available in English from Del Rey. Check it out!

Still practising my brush technique. Like (I think) I’ve said before, I’ve not had much experience inking with a brush so it’s slow going trying to pick it up. Lots of fun in trying, though.

*Getting fairly major surgery, or at least I like to think so as it’s a whole bloody organ getting removed. So yeah, God willing, I’ll be recovering and getting my shit together (see what I did there?) for the next few weeks. In the meantime there’s plenty of studying to get back to.

Also, let me say: Colonoscopies work. If you’re getting on in years and have never been checked, please do. I’ve seen people (and have myself)  put off getting examined due to the pain, shame, humiliation, and so on. Yes, there is plenty of that to it. However, none of those things makes regular colon screenings not worthwhile.

I wanted to throw a Man-Thing joke in the title so bad, you don’t even know. <_<

Sorry for the unannounced hiatus. I’ve actually had a hard time producing much of anything worthwhile after the debacle that made up that last post.

[Not so much the picture itself -- while I wouldn't consider the page Thoroughly Pleasing, I'd like to think it's more than Good Enough -- so much as the content. A thrilling romance featuring a black slave and his white mistress circa 1830? And in a Hollywood film? Yeah, that'd end up being suuuuper classy. Still kicking myself for taking that.]

Anyhoo, I recharged my creative batteries via novels and anime, decided I needed to learn to use a brush (which, yes, had nothing to do with the issue bugging me, but was a fantastic distraction , and went up to the mountains for intensive training. I grew a beard and everything.

Fuzzy wazzy had a bear, which made for a pretty mean stew.

I came back down, ready to put my new skills to the test, and this is the result:

Luke Cage 4 February 2011. Watercolor & ink

And this was my SECOND stab at watercolors. I am ashamed. Could have been so much better. Ah well.

The first attempt, because I said I would:

Superman 25 January 2011

I confess to being Somewhat Pleased by this. And last night I was working on this:

Loose Pencils

Tightened up with color pencils

Used a light wash of yellow as the initial base, then worked more med. washes over that.

In retrospect, should have stopped here. Taken a nap, whatever.

... Whoops.

Yeah, that crimson washes didn’t work out so well. The last time I used watercolor, lo and many year ago, it was on a super nice block that could hold 8+ washes easily. This paper… maybe 3? So it wasn’t long before I noticed there wasn’t much tooth left in the paper (the pigment getting lifted off while I was working it might have been a good clue <_<). So yeah, whoops.

Luckily, a gallon of ink covers a great many mistakes.

So. Could have been better, but it could have been so, so much worse. Luckily, it also just so happens to be FUN, and who doesn’t like that?