I've been making digital inroads this month. I can confirm that drawing on the iPad feels "right," I just need to get more comfortable with it and with using the tools Procreate provides. Otherwise I feel like I did not make very much art this month. Is that true? Possibly? There's a very specific set of circumstances that makes it easy for me to draw on my lunch break at work, and every time I'm assigned to a different position or my schedule changes it disrupts the delicate balance that allows me to produce Natashas on demand.

Currently, I have the script for the first chapter of Dimestore Novel written out and ready for art. I have events for the first few chapters laid out but I don't want to get into writing the script until I can see how the first script is working out. Once I have a better feel for how things need to be paced out I'll feel better about planning further ahead.

It remains to be seen if the iPad and Procreate will be helpful in getting me from random Natashas to actually drawing a comic. I need to do some test art using 3D backgrounds from Sweet Home 3D, if drawing digitally directly over the pre-made background works for me that will greatly simplify the the process of producing a comic panel, and once I have panels drawn putting them together into a comic page ought to be a fairly straightforward process. Will 2024 be the year Dimestore Novel finally starts to happen? Hope so.

This month did not see a huge amount of art, but I'm proud of what I did accomplish, especially the "cold on the beach" and "daydreaming about reading while reading" ones.

In other news, I picked up an iPad and Apple Pencil, so I hope to play around a bit with Procreate and see how that can fit into my workflow. Hopefully the coming months will see more art and more "finished" art posted here.

When I started writing this post, I wrote "January" in the title. That about sums up how it's going. I've been working a lot of overtime lately, which you think would be good for making art since I do almost all my drawing at work. Except I've also been doing a lot of training lately which throws off my schedule and makes drawing less likely.

Still, I managed a reasonable array of art for this slightly longer than usual shortest month, including a rare fanart of Senshi. Delicious in Dungeon is good. I recommend it.

Well I set out to draw at least twice as much art as I did in November and December of last year, and by all accounts that is what I did. Is it mostly just Natasha looking cute and awkward? Yes. I have my limits. When the going gets tough, the tough draw comforting things. I'm sorry that this is all I have to offer you, but stay tuned because perhaps I will have something more to give soon.

Please note among the various cute Natashas I have included Friend Allison's David, teaching us all how to say "bullshit" in American Sign Language.

Happy Holidays! Let's open the present, what is it? A handful of artwork!
We've got Ramona Flowers, present thanks to that excellent new Scott Pilgrim anime. Natasha, Natasha and Virginia, Natasha and Mr. E, and a mysterious young girl with suspiciously Natashaesque bangs.

So. what happened?
Well, we're coming into the holidays. I do most of my art during breaks at work, so when I'm off for things like Thanksgiving that means I'm less likely to put pen to paper. I've also been in a bit of a funk, earlier this year I made some concrete progress toward the comic I've been stewing for ages, but then hit another roadblock, and it's hard to shift off that and back to drawing for fun. Anyway, it's a meager offering but it's better than nothing at all. Despite everything, Natasha is still cute. Maylea has gained some foxlike characteristics, and that girl with the magic staff? Don't worry about it. She's fine.