Month: August 2018
Wood Duck
I heard a wood duck in my street while walking home tonight. It might have been scoping out an appropriate nest site? In any case, my attempts to locate it failed. So I drew my own.
reference:Â http://forum.backyardpoultry.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=7985693&start=15#p383594
Phone
Not much today. Just a small fragment.
Candles
Spending so much time on the scraps of paper made me ponder about numerous possible stories about paper and the messages on them that might make for interesting illustrations.
Presenter
Inspired by the news reader on tonight’s ABC news.
Familiar
This little buddy is a bit angrier than I’d planned but I like it. He gotta fite that tail.
Shelf
I’m kinda enjoying indulging a bit of time on background elements, rather than rushing to complete an image. Here’s tonight’s progress.
Chair
So it seems like I’m doing this thing, huh? I even realised I have an email with an art request from the Owl so maybe that email chain I asked for yesterday might just get off the ground.
During Blay I inked and flatted a picture. I didn’t touch it again during the month, and opening it up tonight I just felt so lost on how to progress the image. But I figured it won’t go anywhere if I don’t at least try. Here’s a corner of the piece, progressed slightly.
The Blaug Rides Again
Well I really had pretty firm intentions to remain quite deliberately un-productive for a little while longer yet, but I can’t shake the nagging feeling in the back of my head that says that hey if I can just spare a little time, why not log a post for the first day of Blaugust? That way if I decide to keep up with it, I won’t have missed a day.
And I rather regret not posting anything at all last year; Blaugust 2017 completely blindsided me. So even if I don’t post again for the month, I’d like to leave this little waymarker here.
In some ways, I guess I’m a little wary of our ol’ annual blogging tradition. Nowadays, it doesn’t feel like Blaugust is for me anymore. The coping habits that I used to use to get through old Blaugusts don’t mesh with the new “rules” defined by bloggers with so much more dedication and commitment than I. I don’t feel like I belong anymore. In some ways, I envy The Leaflocker for finding the adaptability to join the new wave.
In May, Staircase Witch challenged us to revisit our roots with a classic blog fest. It felt good to be blogging aside others once again. I tried something different for that challenge; actually creating the art that I posted each day. I burnt out fast, and the decline in posts from my colleagues left us without much further inspiration to continue posting. Each of us did get a bit back on the bandwagon but it was too late; the magic of a blog festival was gone.
Maybe the Leaflocker is right. The best Blaugusts are ones fuelled by camaraderie. Maybe I shouldn’t be so scared of “new Blaugust”. Still, I cling to the roots of the event and eschew the Facebook groups and other communities that steadily build stronger as the Blaugust tradition grows each year.
I think I just crave a good 100-deep email dialogue with my old co-conspirator. Send me an email sometime, Mr Owl?