What a difference a smile makes

A long overdue blog posting.

I've been working non-stop on finishing the edits for Emersus Project Book 2 and this month I've been participating in National Write a Novel Month. As I've only got 3500 words left and 8 days to do it in some space in my brain pan has opened. So I started work on my 2015 Holiday Card.

This year I wanted to go for something serene and simple. I realised that since 2007 The Mighty Orange Peel (Gemmy) hasn't had a card all his own. And, there's something nice about that. Every year I think about what I want most for my holiday and to know that having friends and loved ones around me has been part of that wish is pretty awesome. No man is an island.

However, this year, there's something encouraging for me to think I can do this on my own. Friends and loved ones are all still there. But, I'm focussing on me. Also, the other thing I want this year for Christmas is a nice pair of warm socks. So, you get TMOP in a giant sock.

So, as always I do different versions of the drawing for the card just to test out how it feels. I wanted to portray that happy serenity through TMOP's expression. So I produced two versions. One with a big open grin and then an alternate version with a sly peaceful grin.

Well, what looked like a sly grin in sketches in the final wash looked more like an indifferent smirk. I have to say, when I did the final editing in photoshop I couldn't stop laughing at how cynical it looked. So, I produced my alternative holiday card for 2015.

Ugh... why bother?

Ah, it still cracks me up looking at it.

Well, rest assured that this is not the final product. There will be appropriate levels of holiday cheer and merriment applied to the final product. But for all of you bah-humbugs out there I hope this will suffice.

On a separate note, the difficulty with writing a novel at the same time is the characters from that series were trying to creep in. I genuinely considered having them share the spotlight with TMOP this year. Maybe next year Ash and Ana.

Hope you enjoy!
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