Picture #26, Introducing Bernie the Buddhist Dachsund

Bernie the Buddhist Dachsund owns the house with the deadly chimney. In this picture, he’s startled when Jimmy and Buddy start yelling for help inside the old stove. I spent lots of time on Bernie’s ears, but I’m not happy with them. He looks like a rabbit. Tomorrow I’ll make it obvious he’s a dog. I’ll redo the ears, work on the mouth, and shift his head to a 3/4 view. I’ll give him some canine teeth, too. I think I’ll decorate Bernie’s house a little, perhaps with a nice Persian carpet and some bookshelves to hold his many books.

Bernie the Buddhist Dachsund is my favorite Deadbeat Club character. I thought it would be fun to bring him into the world of the Steller’s Jays, perhaps as a regular character in future stories.

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Bernie is getting a makeover tomorrow!

Picture #25, Jimmy and Buddy Are in the Belly of the Beast

The “beast” is the bird-eating chimney, of course. This is another 100% digital picture done with Procreate and my iPad Pro. I’m impressed that Procreate can handle a 285MB image without any sign of sluggishness. I can’t say the same for Photoshop on my iMac. I think I’m falling hard for Procreate!

“Are you okay?” asked Buddy. “Yes, except for my mussed up hair,” replied Jimmy.

Picture #24, Which I'm Not Sure I Like

This is one of the few 100% digital images in this series. My original pen and ink sketch didn’t cut the mustard. I decided to wing it and get a picture in the hour I have to work. I decided to do it all in Procreate, and this is what I came up with. In this picture Jimmy has just landed at the bottom of the chimney and he’s wondering what kind of a mess he’s got himself into.

I’m going to sleep on this one and see how I feel about it tomorrow.

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Picture #22, Jimmy Jumps Down the Chimney

On Sunday we tried to watch “The Agony and the Ecstasy”, which has a 4+ start rating on Amazon. It was a boring mess, and cowardly. I say “cowardly” because the writers gave the 50-year old Michelangelo a girlfriend, even though he was gay. That’s the Hollywood of my parent’s generation, turning a blind eye, heads in the sand. I hated the movie so much that I actually took the time to write a 1-start review.

Back to my children’s book. This picture shows Jimmy disappearing down the chimney as he goes to rescue his crazy friend. Now that I’m at this point in re-inking the illustrations, I realize that I need another picture before this one, a picture of Momma Jay shouting to Jimmy, telling him to get away from the bird-eating chimney. So it goes. I’ll put that picture on tomorrow’s TODO list.

Picture #21, Jimmy Hears a Cry for Help

Everyday I’m another picture closer to starting to paint. I’ve finished 21 re-inkings and have about 12 to go. I’m getting excited about laying down some color. I’ve noticed that I tend to get cocky when I’m excited and enthusiastic. It’s at those times that I overestimate my skills and underestimate how long a job will take. Since I started working on being a little more mindful about my wild thought, I now have a sensible voice in my head that says, “Steady there, fellow. Don’t get cocky! Take it one day at a time, one painting at a time.”

After many decades of self-sabotage, it’s good to hear a helpful voice coming from inside of me.

Image #18 Redux

This picture, which I call #18, needed fixing. Buddy’s wing was blocking his gleeful smile. Every time I looked at the picture I knew it needed more work, but I also felt that I couldn’t go back to it without falling behind schedule. Then I got to thinking that this picture would just keep bugging me until I fixed it. So, instead of moving on to image #20, I re-opened #18 in Procreate. I moved Buddy’s head, made him a little smaller, shifted him to the left to improve the composition, and in doing all of these things, overcame my frustration. By going back a couple of steps, I moved forward an inch.

Image #19, Buddy Showing A Less Appealing Side of His Personality

Yes, Buddy is a jerk sometimes. I really need him in this story because all of the other characters are sweethearts. Though, I’m not so sure about those two mice. I believe that some children’s stories need a foil to work against the grain of goodness. Jimmy Jay is a really good kid, and Buddy Butterfly is a little rebellious. Compared to Jimmy, he’s an outlaw. But that’s his charm. I put a little thought into drawing his mouth. I love hatching, probably too much.

Speaking of hatching, my copy of The Complete Etchings of Rembrandt arrived today. I bought it used for cheap. I was pleased that the book was in perfect condition, and the extra poster inserts were included. All of the reproductions are full-size, some of them are smaller than the palm of my hand. They’re amazingly detailed.

Image #18, Buddy Butterfly Doing the Unthinkable

The “unthinkable” act that Buddy is obviously relishing is disobeying Momma Jay’s first commandment: stay away from the murderous chimney! Buddy has a big problem with authority. We’ll see where that attitude gets him!

I made some changes from the previous version of this picture, mostly with Buddy’s wings. I’ve been struggling with his wings since the first time I drew him. I made him smaller, fixed his wings, and moved him to the left of the chimney. Now that I’m looking at this picture a little more objectively, I see that his wing is covering too much of his face. I have to move his head a little to the left to show his rascally grin. I considered fixing his face in Photoshop as I was creating this JPEG, but damn, it’s so much easier and faster in Procreate!

#17, Jimmy Apologizing for Being a Respectful Son

With this image, I’m about half done with re-inking all of the images for my children’s picture book. Sometimes I don’t change anything, and sometimes I have to move arms and legs around. Mostly I’m just tracing. I may have mentioned that I’m using a built-in Procreate brush called the “monoline inker.” It’s doesn’t have much character, but it does produce a consistent line.

#15 Bored Kids Do the Devil's Work

Jimmy is bored with his life. It happens to all of us, unless we’re living on a higher plane. I’m talkng about the plane where we look within ourselves for meaning. Jimmy isn’t there. He just needs some excitement. Fortunately, his friend Buddy is a wild child who’s going to disrupt everything. Hooray!