Brain Leak

Brain Leak 12/03/09, originally uploaded by Callista's Artwork.

I haven't written in quite a while - pretty much since I crossed the 50k finishing line - and it's starting to make me feel empty and gross, like I'm some sort of soft, wrinkled shell of a human being.

So I did this to let my brain loose. I just picked up the pen and started moving it. Person in background came first, then a random eye that I built a face around. Not sure what's going on with it, and it's not exactly high art, but it did give me a bit of a warm up.

I think I'll read a bit. :P

"Winning" NaNoWriMo.

I reached 50,000 words last night, effectively completely the NaNoWriMo challenge. I was at the write-in with the locals, and was jokingly(?) referred to by one as a "lady of leisure." I'm trying not to feel bad about it; no, I don't work, no, I don't have children, so, yes, I suppose, it's true. It just seemed to trivialize the achievement.

Anyone can write. Writing is not an innate talent. Some may have a natural affinity for words, that creates a desire to read, and then to write. It comes by practice. I have practiced for years. So when I have an easier time writing than someone else, it's not that I'm better, or have more time. It's just that I've put in the hours of practice. And I need to keep practicing, keep writing, until I get good enough that someone will eventually feel like publishing the crap I write.

That's what's important to me right now. You make your choices.

The Marathon Weekend.

I totally wrote nine thousand (and some change) words today. I would push to ten thousand, but my arm is acting up from sitting here all day typing furiously, and I'd like to be able to dress myself tomorrow. Story is going amazing. Not sure how I managed to pluck such a fun idea out of the idea ether, but I'm so glad I did. I'm hoping to wrap it up tomorrow, I've got just under 10k to write in order to "win" NaNoWriMo, but my ultimate goal this month is to get a workable sketch for the rewrite.

Besides, I haven't even started people's Christmas presents, and I need to finish this story so I can do those. Arrgh so much to do. :P

30,000

I'm just past 30k. The story is getting that hot-from-the-oven-needs-to-cool crumbly stuff. I'm trying to just work around it and not worry about it. I plan on getting a good chunk done this weekend - am even pushing for a finish. I'd really like to start rewriting it all ready. Strange, isn't it?

I've promised covers to a number of people in order to entice them to win, but to myself I'm withholding treats: my favorite tv shows are all lined up on Hulu, ready to watch, but I cannot watch them (I've told myself) until I'm done. Does that seem fair? :P

Halfway and a Restructure

Hit 25k last night, which means I'm halfway done with my 50k word goal for the month. I'm about halfway done with the story as well, so it's going to be nice to have a finished sketch by the end.

I'm attempting to restructure the way I think about writing fiction. Before, I would write my first draft, then try to edit the same file I wrote in - erasing and adding words right in the text. Now I'm beginning to think of writing on a parallel with drawing. When I draw, a make a sketch, then I take a NEW sheet/layer and ink over it. The sketch, quite often, gets deleted, or, at the very least, shoved in a box where I forget about it. Its purpose has been served; it let me get my ideas out in a rough shape, and I can pick the best lines from the lot and only show those.

Why, then, do I try to force the sketch I've made of words to also be the final image? If I did that with a drawing, there would be nothing but smudges where I erased over and over again.

This time, when I go to edit, I'm going to start a fresh file, and ink on a new layer.

Tenkaaay!

Hit the 10,000 word mark today, just three days into NaNoWriMo! I "hosted" a write-in today at my favorite local pizza place. They do gluten free pizza, and it is just amazingly good. I've met so many wonderful people by going to the write-ins. Who knew there were so many awesome writers in Dover? I haven't been drawing anything since November started, but I'll get back into it soon.

Just wanted to keep up the habit of posting on the blog.

Thirty Minute Character Mock-Up

30min, originally uploaded by Callista's Artwork.

Just decided to break the ice on drawing and sketch this. It's a character from my NaNo this year - the main character's mother, actually. She's going to be a French model living in Milan in 1981 when the story starts. Then she and her roomies get into some bad stuff, and the story takes off from there. Or it doesn't, whatever, I've got a backup. :P

Reference on DA

A Skin Study

skinstudy2, originally uploaded by Callista's Artwork.

Finished with this study for a while, I think. I feel pretty good about it. I feel like I learned a lot while I was doing this, and I'm pretty proud of the results. It's not a finished work, but I think I've gotten what I can from it.

Some things I realized while doing this:
1) The line between the lips is not the bottom of the top lip, but the top of the bottom lip.
2) The reflective point on the eye is where the light hits. It spreads a cone of light onto the iris.

For those interested, I did this in Painter 11 with my Wacom tablet.