itesser ink: progress, uncensored

I'm so proud, yes I am. Part of me expected that I wouldn't get to posting today.

Today's sketches are even less censored than usual. I also have this new practice (that may not last tomorrow) of making comments in my sketchbook on each doodle as I finish it. Some of them are visible.



Pretty even mix of unreferenced, Italian Film, and a couple quick ones from the West Wing epsidoes I watched. It's been at least a year since I've watched episodes, so I'm starting at the beginning, and am happy to see I still love the characters and stories as much.



I did a pretty good job predicting when this would be posted, eh? Less rambling, as scans were waiting for me instead of the other way around, but I'll add a couple highlights from the past 12 hours.

Dinner Zucchini stuffed with ricotta and minced salami & roasted. It looked like sushi, with the pink and white inside, the band of near-white, and a ring of dark green on the outside. The zucchini innards were mixed with basil, tomato, onion, balsamic vinegar, and a tiny bit of oil. This was on top of the zucchinis for roasting and on top of noodles for the eating.

Leather I needed a notebook for taking notes on my epic fantasy awesomeness, and Reagan let me splurge on a refillable travel journal. Soft, and very good-smelling. I look forward to marking it up on my day off "tomorrow".

Labels: fantepic, food, italian film, sketches

These is a scan composite from yesterday. I'm getting close to the point where more of my days do not align with those the rest of this coast experiences. It's 6pm (wow), and I'm still in "starting my day" mode. "Today"'s scans will likely be posted in about 12 hours.

Reagan is so clever. The subject line for the email containing this latest round of drawings was "scannies". :D



For good measure, here are a couple snaps of the Eggplant Lasagnettes I made for dinner last night.



I'm no food photographer, but the the way it looked coming out of the oven was so close to my vision (minus that the mozzarella got ripped off in a couple places from baking to the foil) that I wept with joy and grabbed my camera.

The only other news I've got is that I had an Epic Fantasy breakthrough while at work. If this keeps happening, I just might keep going. The project needs a working title, a code name. An identifier of some kind. But I'm at a loss!

Labels: food, italian film, photos, sketches

I spent too much of the morning being internet and too much of the evening in pain for today to be terribly productive on drawing. There are no less than six sore muscles in my right arm and shoulder, so I should try to take it easy.

Drawing is the epic love story that I will live. The past 4 years are enough to prove how on-again, off-again it can be. I hope that my relationship with that part of myself always remains more fraught with peril, frustration, and uneasiness than my marriage. Today I made a note in my sketchbook that in the epic tale of my art, the days when I am into it, and have the time, but cannot partake for soreness in my drawing muscles... these days are the painful throes of a long-distance relationship. There's the facsimile of sketching with my left, but it's just not the same.

The more satisfying creative experience today was cooking dinner. It wasn't anything super special that I spent a lot of time on, but that didn't stop us from eating every bite. Our stable of flavors doesn't vary too much. I think it's cheaper to simply use our standard ingredients in different ways, but don't quote me on that.

Reagan and I have our little rituals surrounding dinner. When I cook, he likes a little bit of notice so he can wrap up his projects and "set the table". I try to give warnings a dozen minutes out, but at the very least he gets a heads up when I'm at the "plating" stage. Yes, every day I cook dinner I place food on plates and try to make it look good. A few nights a week I'm even so proud of the visual aspect of dinner that I'll ask R to turn on the overhead lights so he can see the marvelous creation he's been smelling for the past hour.

Very rarely is he allowed to be in the kitchen while I cook, and on the occasions he is, the Husband is closely watched so he doesn't peek at the ingredients I have laid out, or the dishes that are being cooked.

Scans are in!



I somewhat liked this session of waiting time. Knowing I'm going to post and waiting for the files to be scanned puts me at my computer with a blank screen in front of me and a day of life behind me. Some psychology might say that the compulsion to fill a void is not exactly a good thing.

Fourty-six pages to go in this sketchbook. Not the number I wanted to be announcing at the end of today, but it's less than the number I said yesterday.

Labels: cooking, food, italian film, sketches