Elf Blood

Even though work and secret-project-x (not nearly as exciting as it sounds, unfortunately) are keeping me incredibly busy, I’ve been able to start ramping my creative output up a bit more. While I’ve not quite reached the same levels I used to be able to, I’ve definitely been doing a lot more this week than I have in recent months! Let’s take a look;

Storywriting: I’ve been picking away at a short story, and tweaking my novel (again). Again, it’s not a massive amount of work, but I HAVE learned some good lessons about the conservation of detail, and pacing. One of the impacts that working mainly in a graphic novel format has had on my writing is that I have a tendency to do a lot of visual description and info-dumping up-front rather than allowing the physical universe of the story to evolve.

What hadn’t been helping was that I don’t tend to read novels much anymore, and so I don’t have as good a frame of reference for style as I should have. And so, I decided to read some of my favourite authors again, with particular emphasis on Lovecraft (for the science-fiction short stories) and Gibson (for the post-cyberpunk novel). By analysing the structure and narrative style of each other, I was able to enhance my own storytelling. Of course, I’ll have to read my stuff over again to make sure I’m not directly aping those authors, but I’ve definitely gotten a huge boost from them!

Comic Work: I’ve finally gotten round to re-writing the synopsis for my script submission based on advice from the writing group. I’ve even provided an arc synopsis to give the single issue some context. I’ll review it, and then have somebody give me a good shove so I’ll actually start sending it out! I’ve also refined and finalised the plot for the next Mei Wu issue, and I’m quite pleased with the content and feel of it. Should be a blast, but I’m going to have to really practice on my backgrounds for it if it’s going to look as good as I’m visualising it!

Skyline

Acrylics:
I completed another painting last weekend. It’s not one of my favourite pieces, because of the brushwork, but again I did learn a fair whack from it. What I did particularly like about this one was the execution of the contrails in the sky; they actually turned out more or less like I’d imagined them, so I think I’m getting better with the brushes!

This weekend I’ll be doing some more painting; I’m torn between two concepts that I’ve sketched out this week. I have an abstract painting idea that represents descending depression (cheery stuff, I know!), or a more well-formed but difficult idea for a rendering of The King In Yellow (again, quite a cheery subject). Any thoughts on what I should tackle next would be welcome!

And, of course, check in tomorrow for another dose of Slimblog!

Toodles for now, and I’ll catch you on Monday for more Elf Blood!

M.