Page 42 Revisited (Buddy Delivering Sad News)

This image is a backtrack to an image I couldn’t complete the first time through. Sometimes finishing up a picture is hardest part. Adding the finishing touches can be overwhelmingly tedious. Putting all the shadows in the right place, adding highlights, and creating the background sometimes seems like an impossible task. When I feel bogged down, I move on to the next picture. I keep moving.

What works for me is to do my best the first time through, then forgive myself for not finishing the picture. When I come back to it I’ll see it with fresh eyes and be able to finish it with more joy.

The Kids Strike Out on a Trek Through the Jungle (rough sketch)

Today I began working on the “trek through the jungle” picture. I have to draw trees that look like they belong in a jungle. The kids will be walking through a patch of sunlight. The background will be dark and scary. The little jaguar tracking them will be hidden behind a tree trunk.

I’m hoping that I can finish the picture quickly. The previous picture (view from the top of a temple) took a week, and the picture before that (the kids eating gigantic burritos) took almost two weeks to complete. The hurdle I face with every picture is that I’m trying to do something I’ve never done before, which means I have to learn new skills before I can take a step forward. I’m learning as I go. It’s my only option. If I had to wait until I know what I’m doing, I never would have completed my first book.

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.