there are shadows because there are hills

Ok, so here’s the deal guys. I am at Ragdale (which is gorgeous and wonderful – I wish I could stay forever), and I don’t have a scanner. Before I left, I drew two new comics so I’d be sure to have enough for my two weeks of residency. LITTLE REALIZING that the residency start and end dates each fell in the middle of a week, and thus the residency actually spans three.

Long story short: it was either this or nothing.

And actually, since being at Radgale I’ve had occasion to describe the graphic novel project I want to work on to a number of people (since the provenance of the idea lies in the urban decay of Detroit, and there are a couple of other Detroit aficionados here. $10k houses, everyone!), and doing so has reinvigorated my interest in the whole thing. Which means I will eventually have to start drawing people. I know. Anathemic (as it were) to my entire pen and ink universe. Maybe I can figure out a way to do it with rabbits or something, but there’s already an actual dog (of the classic-human-and-dog-relationship variety) in the story, so I don’t know. That could end up being awkward.

Due to this aforementioned looming need to draw human beings, I thought I would look back to my great ape sketches, which are as close as I usually come. I must say, I think I like the sketches better than the comic I drew from them. Also, messing with the levels (as I’ve obviously done here) draws out interesting characteristics of the paper – you can see ghosts of other pages in the shadowy areas, like a pencil rubbing.

So there you are. Some ghosts for your Wednesday. Mine are in the Ragdale attic, and occasionally on the prairie at night.