I haven’t posted in two months.

I fell out of the habit of posting everyday really quickly when I fell ill. It’s been a horrible couple of months, physically, and sort of emotionally. I’ve just been feeling gloomy and like general shit about everything for reasons too personal to go into over the blog. Regardless, there it is. FWP to the Nth degree.

The good news is that over the past two months where I’ve been practically nonexistent, I finished my contribution to Toronto Comics volume 2. I illustrated, inked, and lettered a story written by Daniel Reynolds and got it in the day before the deadline, February 28th.

On the art front, I have a couple of things to mention.  I’m working on the Red Surge again and hope to finish that soon. I’m doing the inks in Sai and the background line work in Manga Studio because I really dig their perspective tool.

As far as other art is concerned, I’m working on a Totoro piece for a dear friend of mine. He commissioned three pictures of Totoro for his young boy: Totoro on a train, Totoro in a car, and Totoro in the Cat Bus.

I’ll make Totoro on the train a daily drawing pic, even though I did it a few weeks ago and it’s still a WIP. Cheating, cheating.

I’ll try to post everyday again.

Habits, habits

I need to form the habits again to be posting every single day.

It’s amazing how when you stop doing something for as little a time as a week, the habit just falls away. I was writing and drawing everyday and posting both and then after the week before Christmas, stopped. I will commit to this again.

On the drawing front, I actually HAVE been drawing on a daily basis, but I just haven’t been posting anything for it. I’m working on the Surge still and I’ve finally finished the concept drawings for Toronto Comix vol 2. I just haven’t been posting them because I’ve actually been ill the last few days.

Even as I type this right now, I have the chills while sweating.

Last night, we took the tree down and I did a good chunk of the work while sitting. Sweeping and bending over took a lot out of me and when it came time for bed, I passed right out.  I had another cramp attack earlier that day, too, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as before, which leads me to believe that it might’ve been a symptom of what I have, considering that Alex had the same cramps a couple days ago.

Or, it was psychosomatic.

Anyway, Alex came home early yesterday to get Nick to Beavers because there was no way in hell I was in any condition to drive.

Today was garbage day and we didn’t get anything out last night. I was in no condition to carry anything up and down stairs and I can’t really blame Alex for not wanting to be alone in taking out all that trash.  Instead, still sick, I took the trash out today. We missed recycling again.

Sunday was a great day. I went to Cindy’s house for a few hours and blended/carded some fibre I’ve been meaning to take care of for a long time, now. I also did some work on a sock that’s been a WIP but put it down after about five rows out of frustration of fucking up. When I got home, I had to cook dinner, and the rest of the evening was spent playing Grey Warden Sparkletwat in DA:O.

That’s that, I suppose. I’m going to get some drawing done, fold some laundry, then stretch out and try to recover until I need to get Nick from school. I have to cook dinner again tonight and I just feel like shit. Still, I have to do it.

Feh.

Bummed.

First off, this is my blog and I am allowed to bitch and whine and complain here as much as I want. Here’s your preemptive warning to leave if you really don’t care and don’t want to read it.  It’s also your invitation to not post a comment or criticism about it below because I don’t give a fuck that you don’t give a fuck, so let no fucks be given and no comments about such fucks not being given be posted.

I miss my friends. I really fucking miss my friends.  That’s not to say that the fine folks behind Toronto Comix aren’t my friends because they are. What I mean are the friends I’ve been seeing just about every week for the past three and a half years at my knitting group.  I’ve not seen them regularly since October. I’ve seen them maybe five or ten minutes since November. Once. I had to drop something off and leave.

Tonight is our annual gift exchange between friends, and guess what? I can’t go.

This sucks. This really fucking sucks.

This work schedule of Alex’s is the fucking worst. I’m upset and I’m fed up. I am at home with the kids all the time, other than when I have Toronto Comix or classes. I get out seldom.  Alex and I see each other maybe two hours a day. He sees the kids less. And one out of two days, or both days, on the weekend are usually sacrificed so he can take care of stuff and unwind from the stress of his very high stress job.  Which means, I have the kids. Last weekend was the first weekend in a very long time where I had two days to get shit done without one or both anklebiters constantly biting my ankles.

Alex needs time, too, I know. He needs it as much as I do… but there aren’t enough days on the weekend. What’s worse is he’s working this Christmas so he doesn’t get time off to hang out with the family.

Nerves are wearing thin.

Yesterday was Comic con’s Christmas sale. I shared a table with Toronto Comix and helped them sell 19 copies of the comic. I autographed a few with the others and sold a couple of prints. I spent $55 on prints and sold $50, so I almost broke even for the printing costs. What I *didn’t* break even for was the cost of parking and admission. At least I got my card out, though, and got to talk about the process with some people.  The best selling print was my Poison Ivy. I also lost my big yellow sketchpad there, which is a real piss off. Luckily, I had barely done any art in it so if it is gone for good, I didn’t lose months of sketches and work for important things.

It was a long day. I couldn’t go out for dinner with the other artists and writers because we’re saving money. I came home to make dinner but Alex wasn’t hungry. I had perogies, then he went out, and when he got home, he had a pizza. I feel inadequate.

Then, sleep happened, sort of. I’ve been increasingly uncomfortable, which I suspect has something to do with — you guessed it — stress. I woke at about 5am with a migraine, then again at 6 to take care of Russell, who had puked all over the bedroom. Then up again at 8:30 because the alarm got turned off instead of snoozed. Bravo. Nick was sick this morning, too, so now I have both boys all day, gifts for scouts to buy, stuff to bake, and no time to get other important shit done.

I have a migraine. Again.  Gonna go feel like shit, now.

Posting again tomorrow. Have a great day.

So much to do!

Well, yesterday was busy. I inked 1/3 of page 2 of The Red Surge. Today, only one panel, and not even the whole panel. I just have too much to do, plus my children are wild animals who are crawling all over me like parasites. SO, I got an hour of drawing in, but that’ll have to be it.

Tomorrow is my major focus. There’s a Comiccon one day event and Toronto Comix has a table. I’ll be going to sit at the table and am bringing my art supplies, some old paintings to sell, and some prints. I have to get prints made today to sell tomorrow. I think $10 each is a fair price.

Other things to do today: Get Alex’s gift from the boys. I have something thoughtful in mind and it’s a cheap gift. Therefore, all good. Also, his gift from Santa, which is the basic yearly gift he gets of underwear and socks.

I got to sleep in today until 11, which was an amazing treat. I wasn’t expecting to be able to sleep so late.

Anyway, with so much to do, I’d better get my prints on SD card and ready to bring to Staples. Happy Saturday!

It just HAD to snow…

It feels like every time we get really bad weather, I have to go to class. Of all days, it’s always when I am going to downtown Toronto in the middle of rush hour.  As I mentioned yesterday, we got some snow. By some snow, I mean 15cm of snow. For my American readers, that’s about six or seven inches.  Add, on top of that, the wind blowing it around.

It made for some really treacherous driving, as the roads were slippery and the plows can’t be everywhere at once.  I left home at 3:30, got Nick from school, and got to my husband’s workplace at 4:15. After that, it was actually surprisingly smooth sailing.  I was really pessimistic at first, but I suppose that more people than not decided that they’d stay at home and NOT drive.  All the better for me. Greg and I got to the Korean restaurant at 5:15 and waited an hour for the others to show up. Then, it was a matter of SHOVELING our food into our pieholes and arriving at class just when it was supposed to begin. At least we made it.

I got some really good feedback on my story and have some significant changes to make. I’ll sit down with Alex this week and make those changes. Also on the list, lots of stuff. Here’s a checklist, mostly for my own reference.

 

  • Work on Red Surge inks
  • Work on pages for Condo story
  • Get prints made for the table at comic con this Sunday
  • assemble craft for Nick’s teacher
  • draw picture for Nick’s principal
  • knit cowl for Nick’s librarian
  • knit for my mother
  • knit for my cousin’s son
  • knit for my niece
  • laundry — dear god, the laundry
  • dining room table
  • drive out to a secret location to pick up a secret gift for Alex
  • go giftmas shopping for the kids and get gifts for Alex from the kids
  • bake cookies with Nick

So much to do with such little time. So much to do that I don’t wanna do it… but it has to get done.

Off I go to knit.

Still Ploughing on!

Well, I’ve finished some art today. Page 1 of The Red Surge is finished, all inks and lettering complete. I need to do some of page 2 today, and I need to do some knitting in the worst way.  I also need to draw a picture for Nick’s principal sooner than later and finish his teacher’s Christmas craft.

Oy, vey. Have I taken on too much?

It snowed last night; how rude. About a foot of snow on the ground and probably an extra hour to and from my class as a result of it. I’ll be leaving home right after Nick gets out of school and braving the terrible drivers. Snow, I can deal with. People? Not so much.

So, yesterday a few things happened.

I spent the day drawing and inking, as I usually do, and Rusty didn’t nap. We went to get Nick, then went to CostCo because Nick had no more snack foods for his school lunches. Once that was taken care of, we went home, only to find that the gifts that my mother had sent us were left on our doorstep by UPS without a signature or confirmation. Just left out there for anyone to take, should they desire. What a piss off.  I brought them inside, then I dropped off the groceries, and then we went back to school, the three of us, because Nick had his Christmas concert.  Alex was stuck in traffic because people are morons but made it JUST in time for Nick’s performance.  I didn’t properly videotape it with the phone because I was distracted, but we amusingly discovered that he’s the kid who yells the lyrics of the sounds, rather than singing them. It was adorable.  He was also very into the choreography and whole ordeal. Such a good kiddo.

During the show, Rusty decided that he was gonna be a terror, more than usual.  He got out of his seat, pushed past the people in the aisle, and made his way right up to the stage where the kids were doing their show.  One of the teachers grabbed him and brought him back to me, then the lovely librarian took him to the kindergarten room so we could actually watch the show.  Later during the performances, she had brought him back to the gym where the Principal was keeping an eye on him.  Unfortunately for him, he took his eyes off of Russell for ten seconds, during which time Russell made another dash for the stage, and was once again apprehended.

I was just glad it wasn’t my fault that time, and thankful that the little bugger didn’t make it ON the stage, as he knows exactly how to get up there.

We had Harveys for dinner afterward because I had a coupon and Nick took FOREVER to eat his burger. I’m talking, 40 minutes to eat a kid sized burger. Bloody hell, kid, seriously? We spent way too long there cos all Nick did was fuck around.

The last stop was the dollar store for some candy canes for our trees and for gifts.

When we got home, Alex rushed in and I took care of getting the kids inside. One of our letters in the mailbox was from the dentist’s office and they had misspelled our last name, meaning I couldn’t mail in the claim. That, coupled with the kids being wild animals, I was happy to get Rusty and Nick ready for bed. After the kids were in bed, Alex and I worked on my homework and I think we have a nicely solid story in mapped format.  We’ll see what kind of subplot Ty will throw in there for us. Tonight, if class isn’t cancelled, Ty will also be teaching us how to write a roast, which will also be awesome. I can’t wait 😀

The last thing I did before bed was work more on The Red Surge. Sometime while drawing, the layers got merged down. I didn’t notice until I was out of Undos. OMG, I was PISSED. I put the work down for awhile and played PVZ until bedtime. This morning, I rectified the mistake and finished the work.

All good, all good.

Oh, I also stepped on what used to be a banana, all mushy and cold and slimy, on a chair which I was resting my foot on. A gift from Rusty.

How thoughtful.