Emperor's new clothing

Taking a break from edits and working on some more drawings. I realise that my first drawing of Gemmy in his uniform is the one that I'm definitely go with. after drawing and redrawing it I keep going back to the original. There's the magic of discovering a new character in it that I just can't recapture.

Anywho, I spent the morning pouring through old sketch books to see if there were any other magical moments I've missed. I came across a drawing of Mhetli's coat that I'd forgotten about. It's a nice drawing and I think I want to do a finalised version of this for the book.

Mhetli's coat - ballpoint pen

I love all the small pockets that conceal various weapons that may be less than deadly until coupled with Mhetli's power. All the clasps are made of metal to he can electro-magnetically manipulate them at will.

Enjoy!
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Picture Diary: Gestating nicely

Sometimes words aren't enough to express a feeling.

2013 has had a bloody awful start (to put it mildly). But, I'm taking my time to get back on my feet and I'm learning the value of just keeping myself to myself, keeping my head down and getting on with my own business.

I think I learned self-insulation as a teenager (as most do). And, while I tried to shed those surly teenage trappings I'm finding that it does serve a purpose sometimes to tone down the gregariousness and just be in your own space. It's like a gestation period.

Some people might look at this drawing and think it's grim, but to me it's not. Yes, there's a pile of shit at the top. But, there's a sun somewhere behind those clouds and rain is falling which will nurture the seed and eventually out will spring a new me (or I'll get water-logged and root rot. Who can say?). Who knows, maybe some kind gardener will come along and help cultivate me, but if not, I'll still be growing wild and free.

Enjoy!
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And so the big edit begins

This is it! The final push!

I've been sitting idle a while working on other projects, doing lots of reading, drawing, making origami. I think of it less as procrastination and more as "inspiration gathering". And now the time has come, I'm going to do my final edit of Book 1.

I got a bit stumped doing the outline of Book 2 and I think, as with writing the first book, going back might be the best way to go forward.

I'm meeting with my mate Pat next week to do a final map of Arbea. And, I'll hopefully be enlisting the help of another friend to rationalise my pictographs.

Then, at the end of the month, I'll be cat sitting for a friend. This means I'll be living away from my computer. I'm going to take that time to turn Gareth's flat into my writing studio and spend my evenings writing (by hand) and thrashing out the last bits of Arbea. Hopefully his cat, Martha, won't mind and maybe I'll find some unforeseen inspiration for the Rh'ezans. :)

Wish me luck!!
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