Halfway there!

First, this!

Danielle Feliciano is one of the most talented, free-thinking illustrators I know. We both graduated from SCAD and I esteem her, and the brush she wields, very highly. Her art has a crystal clear voice, and it's beautifully amplified through its execution. This is different than the past 2 projects I've plugged, which is why I think you should take a minute and watch the video. Support her if you can. This is going to be a brilliant project to follow! Click the image to watch!

So, I hope everyone had a great holiday break. I really wanted this announcement to be a video update, but couldn't make it happen. Maybe next time!

The past couple of months have been quite the trek for me, artistically. The holidays never seem to perpetuate productivity, and these past two months have been no exception. But, with only a couple of days left in 2011, I'm extremely pleased to announce that Dust Bunny has finally hit the half way point! With (roughly) 80 more pages to go, plus a handful of revisions, this story is well on its way to actually being told. I've read this thing more times than I can count, and at the end of the day...I'm really pleased with it. So, here's a snippet from the (in-progress) midway point in the book.

With that being said, I wanted to once again express my gratitude to everyone who has financially backed this project. Because of your support, I have been able to dedicate 5 months (interruption free) to the production of this book. Truth is, I don't know if this story would have ever taken its first breath were it not for you. That's a blessing I still can't get over, folks. So, here's to Dust Bunny's 160+ adoptive parents!

Subsequently, the start of 2012 marks my leap back into the freelance world. In order to keep the book going, I have to keep myself going by taking on work. It's hard to tell how this will affect the book's progression. But I have every confidence in its completion in the beginning months of 2012.

So, thank you all, again! Here's to being half complete! Or...half incomplete, depending on your outlook on life. But really, isn't it all about what's in the glass that counts?

$#!& with a capital $

Frustrating week for the novel, I'm afraid.

This isn't worth a full update. But it's probably a healthier way to handle my frustrations than putting my head through a computer monitor...

Getting my fix...

Growth as an artist is a wonderful feeling.

From time to time, you'll have that 'eureka' moment right in the middle of your process, acknowledging to yourself that you just learned something new - whether it be a coloring technique, or just the way you decide to hold the pencil. But for me, more often than not, I find that my journey is lived in hindsight. I rarely know what I've achieved until I go back and look at where I might have missed the mark the first time. That's what creative development is all about. And it's what this post is all about.

Above is a snippet from page 15 of Dust Bunny. Incidentally, this is also Mite's very first appearance in the book. When I first illustrated this panel, I was happy with it. Excited, even. But as nearly 80 pages have come and gone, I've found myself becoming more and more invested in these characters. Subsequently, I've become more intimate and familiar with how they work, both physically and emotionally. And though the script was done before a single stroke was made, each character has found an individual voice throughout the evolution of this book - void of any script. And it's amazing to watch.

Just in this one panel, so many things have grown from first run to revision: the perspective on the goggles, a cleaner skull structure, better black placement, a tighter pose. Even Mite's "burst" that you'll often see him contained within has become cleaner. He just seems to better encompass my original vision for the character at this point.

As rewarding as this small change is to me, the challenge is to keep myself from going into a complete overhaul with my first 30 pages. This panel was a glaring exception in my mind. And there are a handful more that I plan on revising. But I have to be very selective. Part of the joy of this book is witnessing its inception, its vitae, and ultimately its end. It's the terminal nature of the whole thing that makes it so precious to be a part of. I want the life of this book to be real; imperfect. I want to look at page 1 and then at page 101, and see a clear advancement in my craftsmanship. As it has already proven to be, I want this to be a visual diary of my growth as an artisan. White-out and spilled ink have little to nothing to do with the oversights of story telling, or graphical aesthetics. And as Dust Bunny has gone completely digital at this point, I'm realizing that more and more.

I hope you're all enjoying watching this baby brave the world as much as I'm enjoying holding its hand while it does so. This has been an incredibly satiating experience for me so far, through both the first-run successes, as well as the lip-biting frustrations. I'm eager to see what this child of mine decides to be when it grows up. And I'm glad it has such a great starter family to encourage and nurture it through its growth. You all have been amazing platforms of inspiration throughout this whole process, and I can't thank you enough.

After all, it takes a village...