July has pretty much come and gone. It’s been hot, and we did get in the pool a bit, but I fear that we might not get there again before the man goes back to work. The boy, however, has no work to do, and is antsy. He’s crawling and wearing us out! Oh, pool, I wish you were right out my back door. Maybe the sprinklers will do?
I’ve made some progress on the B. Tull Mysteries, a collection of short stories starring B. Tull, Private Eye. I thought I would have finished illustrating it this Summer, but I’ve only completed this piece (above), and I’m still working on revisions to the text as well. It’s always slower than you think!
My saving grace this last week, when the boy was screaming and teething and writhing around, was this podcast, Creative PepTalk. Making art is lonely sometimes, and childrens books take a really LOOOOONG time, so it’s bound to be challenging. Even though I love it, no one thrives on multitudes of isolation and concentrated efforts. Sometimes I wonder what the heck I’m doing. Does anyone care? Do I even care anymore? I think that’s the tiredness sometimes, but it’s also the isolation, which comes along with “working from home”.
Alas, artists make progress, though, and one day we have something to share with others, and we get an “Oh cool!” or “This is fabulous!” and our hearts kind of melt like the doldrums were worth it! I’m making this book for my baby boy, and I cannot wait to read it to him. :) He makes it worth it.
Here’s another image I made for my tech company, fly.io. I do feel like that I get to draw cartoons all day.
Have a wonderful rest of your Summer, and a longer update on the new book is coming soon! Here’s a recipe of my favorite snack/breakfast before I go. It’s from a cookbook I just bought and LOVE, and is geared toward athletes, so it’s got lots of power-packed treats.
-Annie
