Started to feel a bit ill today. Hoping it's just allergies. I feel like even if I did get you-know-what I would be able to handle it. I guess we'll see what happens.

Finished inking this today and got a good chunk of it flatted out. I used a simple solid digital brush instead of the watercolor brush this time, except for parts where there was no outline. I don't think much is lost by using that method. I also tried using the fill bucket for most of the leaves, and my plan is to go back in and fill any white spots. I'm hoping it turns out to be a faster method than manually outlining everything. I'm also hoping the shading brings back some of the depth that the sketch had. I think it will.

I recorded my work again so if something goes right or wrong I'll be able to look back and see just what I did.

Still working my way through inking this. Hopefully this is the most tedious step, since coloring is all just a bunch of green strewn this way and that. I was worried that the lines were starting to lose some of the personality compared to the sketch, but I think it will still shape up nicely.

With all that's going on, this past week has been unusual. Starting a few days ago I've been working from home, which despite the grim reason for doing so has been a wonderful experience thus far. I do not miss driving to and from my office each day and I love being able to eat lunch in my own kitchen, step out for fresh air, and be with family who are also staying at home. Unfortunately I don't think this will stick with our workplace after this is all over.

Even more somber, starting next week everyone's work hours are being cut in half. I'm not worried... yet. I have a reasonable bit of money saved in the bank for this sort of occasion, but of course the rent still comes whether or not I'm getting paid and the uncertainty of the future can be foreboding. On the bright side, it's finally warming up again so our electricity bill should be much smaller.

For now though, I'm going to make lemons into lemonade and use the extra time to hopefully churn out more artwork. I'd like to start doing commissions, but I want to get a good set of images to show what I'm capable of making, and also what I would be comfortable making for others. I'm going to have to learn how to be comfortable asking for money too.

We'll see what happens. As dark as it sounds, there's a sort of comfort knowing everyone's in the same boat.

Finally getting started on inking. Going well so far.

I don't really have anything to say this time. I feel like everything's going well in my life right now and I don't have any sort of profound thoughts to pour out.

I know I keep saying this, but I think now I'm ready to start inking. I can't think of anything else to add, except maybe some rocks in the dirt, but I can freehand those.

I keep thinking I'm ready to move ahead to inking but then I keep remembering other details I wanted to add. I drew some flowers, though not too many since this is getting pretty crowded already. But then I remembered I want to bury the main vine where the secondary vines are coming out as some gardeners do, and also draw some dirt on Ray. So we still have some ways to go before the next step. Oh well. Hopefully it's worth it.

Also sad news - apparently the convention that I had designed a mascot for has been cancelled thanks to the virus, so that farmer lady will not be seeing the light of day. Hopefully they use her for next year, but no guarantees.

Busy work week and busy weekend meant I haven't had much time to work on this, but finally tonight I sat down and managed to get into a groove after some resistance. Sometimes you just have to force yourself and before you know it you're in it.

More leaves. I got finished with the session and realized I completely forgot about adding flowers and bulbs, so that's next on the list. Trying to take this one step at a time. Hopefully once it's colored Ray will stand out a bit more. I think he's starting to get lost in all the minute details.

Now that I've had some practice with the leaves and the overlaps are all taken care of I think this is starting to come together pretty nicely! I'm going to keep adding more layers of detail, specifically the tertiary vines (apparently they're usually trimmed to keep the vine healthy, but those little curly vines are too pretty not to include) and I'm going to bury the bases of the secondary vines in mounds of dirt like some gardeners do. Maybe try drawing some dirt on Ray too.

Now that it's entered the grind portion I've tried to keep a steady pace without trying to rush to a finished product. I think I have a bad habit of going for the sprint when I should be going for the marathon.

I still have that piece for Athena planned after this. That sketch turned out so well that I've been anxious to use it. I also have another idea for a piece after that. I don't know how long I can keep this naturism train going, but as long as they're coming it's not like the practice hurts any.

I managed to get my hands on a leaf that looks very similar to what I was trying to draw, so now I have a real-life reference as opposed to just photos, which is a big help. That said, drawing these is officially a grind. So much for the magic feeling. Oh well. 1% inspiration 99% perspiration as they say.

Today was a very productive day. I got my taxes done, got groceries for the week, and worked more on this thing. This has turned less into a feel-good meditative session like the initial sketch was and more of an iterative, comprehensive exercise, but I suppose when things get more complicated than a single person and you start having overlapping objects and whatnot you have to forego the relaxed atmosphere in favor of more thorough planning.

It was frustrating a bit today and my mind started to clutter up, but then I remembered that I'm not exactly an expert at drawing pumpkin plants and I'm specifically trying to go for finer detail than a quick once-over. Of course it's going to be difficult. But I think I've finally reached something that I'm satisfied with enough to start inking. I'll probably add more leaves in the background, but that can come later.

I think the feel of the piece is turning out how I want as well, which is also important.

Kind of a loose night. I wanted to work on art but I wasn't quite feeling it enough to get into a focused mindset. I wound up doing more thinking about the story. If I'm being honest, I don't know what I'm going after, really. I thought I had a story, but in the end I feel it strayed too far in a direction I didn't plan on taking it. At its core it's about these two characters, how they meet, how they interact, and how they part ways. How that happens has evolved over a very long time - almost a decade, even. My tastes have changed since then and I think it's affected the kind of story I've wanted to write, to the point where who these characters were back then is different from who they are now. I feel like everyone has "that story" that they want to tell, but I have yet to discover just what mine is. But I'm getting there.