Hi hi, hello. Much waffle awaits us today so no time for syrupy-sweet welcomes. The fruits of work must be harvested without sweetened nothings getting in the- wow, I'm really hungry all of a sudden.
We begin with something which is just as much a surprise for me as it is for you. Having announced in the last update that the one thing you shouldn't expect from me is comics, well... here's a comic.
The story behind this comic (its creation, not the smooching) has its roots in anxiety, as most of my adulthood actions do. Having finally booked a dental appointment after 2 years of procrastinating, I'd convinced myself that treatment would be required and earmarked payment there-for. However the companionship of anxiety has, for the first time in my life, been focused into actually looking after my teeth and lo and behold no treatment was required! ✨
With a little spare pocket change I spent a giddy morning trawling second-hand charity outlets and art supply shops for cheap craft supplies the sort of way you'd reward a toddler with a gold sticker and lollipop to reinforce good behaviour. My pavlovian perusal produced some cheap fabric for tailoring, yarn for crochet and, more relevantly, inking supplies. Yes this comic you see above was sketched and inked physically, both the black outlines and the purple lipstick having been brushed onto the paper by very my own jittery hand.
This hardly comes out of nowhere since I've been dipping my toes into watercolours of late, very much continuing through the Pokemon RPG and yet more boyf doodlage. So perhaps I oughtn't have been as surprised as I was at how cheerfully I took to the budget ink brush. At least more cheerfully than I did the accompanied dip pen nibs, anyway. 😅
I fully intend to keep chasing the tail of physically-rendered comics where possible, however long that road may end up winding. Then again who travels a long road by standing still?
On the B-side let us not forget why I'm attempting to work physically in the first place: My drawing tablet remains unusable having now sent off the 17th warranty email in our ongoing 39-day volley. It included this lovely video showing the state it's in, if you fancy a gander. Still little progress on that front but never ye fret gentlefolk and friend-likes as it can always, always, get worse.
When preparing for Saturday's stream the week before last I booted up my backup computer to help alleviate the load that Elden Ring places on my CPU, when our good old friend the Blue Screen of Death pops up. And keeps popping up. They remain, to this day, popping up. I have spent a totality of two and a half days trying to diagnose and fix whatever issue is causing this: Restoring backup states, booting safe mode, trawling log files, removing RAM chips, uninstalling drivers, all to no avail.
Naturally this is a problem because all the time ol' Bluey is squatting here I cannot stream CPU-intensive games like Elden Ring or the modern Hitman series. However it shouldn't interfere with my workflow at all. It was, after all, a backup computer. But the psychological impact of observing so much expensive tech spontaneously dismantling around me didn't go un-fretted-over.
Three consecutive days in my work journal have been allotted the in-depth summaries of 'Nope', 'Nope Again' and 'Oof'. Add to this the anxiety leading up to the dentist visit (oddly enough slightly undercut by the tech frustrations) and the disruption caused by having to have a new boiler fitted right beside my left ear, and it hasn't exactly been the smoothest of work experiences. I haven't even had time to bake! Truly the end-times are upon us.
So what did I do while my noggin was in such a disrupted and uncooperative place? Bees.
I've long harboured a sparkly-eyed wonder at the whimsical low-poly tableaux present in the nooks and crannies of the Katamari Damacy games. Clearly the developers modelled a bunch of animals, people and objects and had a nontrivial deal of fun smooshing them together like dolls. So I did that. I made dolls and played with them.
Now that I've birthed yet another shiny into my life, I'd like this to be strung along as a little ongoing safety net hanging loosely beneath me when I need some time to let loose and fall off of work. So expect more whimsical tableaux whenever I'm in a huff. Also Dutch. It's good practise.
In unrelated news I've also worked on a silly self-portrait (which I might pivot into re-attempting physically), expanded the functionality of my social media organiser, posted consistently to social media, regularly undertook yoga, and wrote 88 alt texts for past illustrations, doodles and comics.
You'd think that, without access to easy digital art processes, I'd spend my time working on all the things I said I needed to do that weren't drawing. October Noir and Outliers: Now In Colour need writing, games need programming, music needs composing, bingo squares need ticking off. And here I am playing with bees.
Streams! They're still on the go, it seems. At least when equipment permits.
Having cheerfully sprung our way through the gardens of Botany Manor and reaffirmed our belief that women deserve to be in STEM (heh, botany puns) we circled around into the dotty worlds of Obduction, an enigmatic exploration through Cyan's balls. I love accurate explanations that sound like nonsense.
When permitted, friend streams have seen us aan het springen into the afterlives of Valheim, having finally passed on into a fully-featured release, resplendent with several million greydwarves. Thence we wend forth to the comforting blanket of collaborative Sunday doodlage.
So where next, I hear you wail? Well things are still up in the air technologically but commissions still need slowly forging forth with. I endeavour to keep my momentum going for inking and sketching physical comics, so hopefully one or two smaller strips shall seek their way to you when next we meet. Besides this it's been almost a month since that last highlight video and its companion shouldn't dawdle too far behind. How much of this will actually see fruition remains to be seen, but I'm resolute that I'll see it all through eventually. Writing this update induced in me an uncharacteristic optimism and verve which I'm determined to perpetuate into the week. 😅
For now all that remains is to thank you all for your support, emotionally and financially since you did quite literally pay for the most recent comic to get made. My debit card couldn't have done it without you, and hopefully I can make you proud with what I can do with the rest. Remember to keep yourself in touch with the physical world every now and then, it's apparently good for you.
Look after yourselves,
Crispy 💜