Today I Moved Two Inches Forward

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Page 23

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Page 24

Today I put in a solid six hours of work and finished two pictures. I feel that working with the Cintiq is many times more productive than working with the Huion pen display or with the Wacom Intuos tablet. Really! I used to scoff when artists claimed they worked twice as fast with their Cintiq’s as they did with the Intuos tablets. I’m a believer now.

By the way, I use the word “finished” cautiously. I’m painfully aware that, in my case at least, a picture is finished only when I can no longer bear to look at it, or when I realize the every “improvement” I make is pulling the picture further off track.

I started page 23 yesterday and completed it today. I started and completed page 24 today. I’m giving myself an encuraging pat on the back. There are 50 pages in this book, so I’m about half way there. “There” is June 30, the deadline I’ve set to get this book published.

Still Working on the Picture of A Jaybird, a Butterfly, and a Burro Eating Vegan Burritos

One inch at a time was my motto during the year it took me to write and draw my first book, The Jaybird That Jumped Down a Chimner. I thought the second book would be easier, but it’s just as hard as the first because I’m trying solve harder problems. I’ve been drawing in Clip Studio Paint for a few months and I feel more comfortable every day. I’ve noticed that whenever I’m learning something new and feel frustrated, I blame the equipment, the graphics program, the computer, the watercolor paint, the brushes, the paper. I buy lots of stuff that will magically make the task go better. But I never get better at painting or drawing just buying a new brush or pen. A new drawing tablet doesn’t do it. A faster computer doesn’t do it. The only thing that helps me get better is drawing, painting, and more drawing and painting. I know that’s obvious, but it has taken me a long time to realize that practice is the only thing that makes you better.