Who would have thought that Twitter would become enjoyable for me, once again?
Was it all just a matter of sharing my creativity in a fitting ( and somewhat creative ) way on there, as well as avoiding the drama, repetitiveness and overwhelming, neverending feed as much as I can?
Possibly.
In all honesty, that is the tactic that keeps me sane on a place like Hive too and - in a way - a metaphor for mental health in my life, overall. Although, in life you can't avoid everything. It's about priorities though and how much time you spend on stuff that actually makes you feel good.
So here is what I did just now:
I opened my Hypersensitivosaurus and Cold Turkey story at the end of a scene titled "THE CHASE - PART 2"
This is what I had written down in my document:
INSERT DRAWING
RAPTOR CLAWS AND JAWS CLOSING IN ON BIG BIRD
and, on the previous page:
INSERT IMAGE - RAPTOR SHORT ARMS CLOSE TO TURKEY
It's pretty clear that depicting this moment in the story felt important to me.
I picked up my fineliner, some watercolor pencils, water and brushes and moved to the attic of my house, where I seem to be more creative.
I then started drawing hypersensitivosaurus, using the dino I drew days ago, as can be seen in my previous write up A Raptor Looking for his Family as an example. I then added Cold Turkey, after browsing the Internet for some pictures of turkey hens, for some added realism. Last but not least, as a little inside joke, I gave the dino a little green baseball cap ( I am wearing one myself, almost daily, to protect my nose and face from the Portuguese sun ).
I then started coloring the piece and added some cartoonesque details to give the scene a more speedy feel. It reminds me somewhat of roadrunner but then with an awesome raptor instead of an unfortunate coyote.
Photographing it, I tried some different filters on my phone. I was especially interested in the black and white look, as that is how my drawings will come across on an E-reader screen.
This is what it looks like in black and white ( according to my phone):
It looks alright, but I kind of miss the red and blue.
In fact, I might go for the close ups that will follow in a bit. The colored version / full picture, depicting both the raptor and turkey, might still end up in the actual book.
In all honesty, everything I share might or might not end up in my book. The good thing is that I am starting to feel better and better about the style, look and feel of my current dino/turkey art. So let's hope that I will reach a point, in the not too distant future, where I feel I can go through the writing one more time, select the pictures that will make it into the actual book and decide that it's good enough to publish.
I'm pretty happy though, that I am managing to enjoy the creative process more and more, once again. In the end, that is what it's all about. Especially if you aren't a prolific, fast working artist like me who is constantly distracted by whatever is going on in his mind and outside of it ;<)
I will leave you now with a small part of the scene that inspired this drawing, with some visual(s) that I created from this single water color piece.
The following is pretty much what I shared on Twitter today and how I shared it. I might make this a habit, if I can keep up the consistancy.
I hope you enjoy it and I'm sure we'll meet again soon! If not, I know where to find you.
My raptor arms might be small but my legs are big, muscled and pretty damn fast.
Was signed,
Hypersensitivosaurus ska (sometimes known as ) SuperZENsitivosaurus
( A fragment of ) THE CHASE - PART 2
An hour or two later, the sun had already set, the chase was still ongoing.
Hypersensitivosaurus was getting awfully close...
So close, in fact, that he had come into an arm’s length - and raptors have pretty short arms - of his poor, feathered prey.
The big running bird, in turn, seemed to have given up all hope.
Even though it was still running, it had clearly slowed down. In fact, it had already closed its eyes and appeared to be accepting its fate.
It seemed like it was merely awaiting the moment when the predator’s jaws would close around its neck ( knowing this instinctively, without ever having experienced it ), having made peace with this being 'The End'. It had served its life purpose and all was well.
TO BE CONTINUED...