Thursday Art Walk 228

So, this is a very late Thursday Blog indeed, and I'd like to apologize for that. It took about... 4.5 hours to do the background? Yeah, thereabouts. Whew. What a rush!

Yeah. That took over 4 hours to do.
Aaaaand it's maybe NSFW.
Oops. I'll fix it!

"Trippy Dedbert"; permanent marker on printer paper, 2019

The background may have taken 4.5 hours, but Dedbert here took another 40 minutes, because he wanted freckles in his feathers and bands on his wings. I'm not sure about the crown chevron...

What do you guys think?

Also, I may have had 3 cups of coffee today, which was necessary because I woke up at 5:30 and couldn't go back to sleep, but I also couldn't work because my eyes kept crossing from exhaustion. I started working around 10AM after the first two cups, then I had a third between the background and the Bird.

I think I'm going to do more cut paper work in the future - that was the most fun part! Also, I gave Dedbert eyeliner. His request, not mine, lol.

The sunburn is recovering nicely from the Fourth as well!

Now, you may be saying to yourself: FC, why were you so tired at 5AM?

Well, my friends, that's because I was up until 3AM writing. The bug hit me and I got 1600 words done in one sitting! It wiped me out, but man, was that a great feeling. The story that got me really revved up last night was the one I was calling Butters Ridge, but since that's kind of a not so great title, I've changed it to the much punchier The Gimmicksmith. I might, if I'm feeling positively Victorian, add to the title at some point and make it The Gimmicksmith of Butters Ridge, but that feels too long.

I didn't just get one or two actions into the opening scene, either - my main character sews, thinks, watches people like a creeper, texts, and even... socializes. It's like there's a real story in there and it wants to happen!!!

I cannot wait to get more down.

However, I should probably take a nap at some point - this caffeine high can't last forever and 2 hours of sleep is nowhere near enough for a mere mortal like myself.

I might work on some other stuff later - like the interminable Skull Shawl, or some video gaming...

I'm hoping to get more work done on the story today. I think I know where to go. Beau, the main character, has just gotten into a conversation with someone I'm currently calling Suit Guy, who is going to turn out to be one of a small group of professional wrestlers hanging out at a crummy small-town nerd convention and have just been booted from their hotel due to overbooking. And possibly racism... but mostly just bad management.

I need to get the wrestlers into Beau's space, and not just his booth at the convention. I need them to interact with him. I also need to figure out who the rest of the wrestlers are, because I'm seeing Suit Guy as kind of an analog to both Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks - a ring veteran born into a wrestling family, starting his own promotion out of frustration with the companies he's worked for. I don't think he'll be the first one to learn about Beau's deep connection with wrestling, however.

I might have to come up with identities for the other wrestlers. I know there's going to be a tag team of brothers, but I want them more like Harlem Heat and less like the Bucks. I know there's a luchador, and that he's a masked Exotico falling somewhere between Psicosis and Sonny Kiss. I know there's a Big McLarge-Huge guy who has been in the business the least amount of time but everyone views as an innovator of scary-looking but very gentle moves. That leaves three more. I want at least two women, one of whom will be Hawaiian. I want an Australian or Brit. I want someone to be Canadian. It's gonna be fun learning who these guys are, how much they know about the legacy of Yokai Gonzo or Yokai Shiroi (the wrestler my main character is connected to), and how they'll react to finding out that their weird temporary landlord is really, really good at making things relating to wrestling.

I don't think these guys are starting their own company when they arrive at the convention, either. I think the convention (and their being kicked out of their hotel before even checking in) will be the tipping point for them to throw up their hands and say "for God's sake, we could do a better job than this booker!"

I'm just super excited, guys!

Now... how do I make text messaging look right in a book...

Go Enjoy Something!
FC