Wrapping Up the Year With A Marathon of Crowd Scenes

Dear Secret Readers, I set myself a goal of finishing this difficult sequence (in the images attached) before the holidays and wouldn't you know it, I've only gone and done it. This is important because now I will be free to focus on other important projects, like swimming my way to the bottom of the jug of homemade egg nog I'm hoping my friend Michael will be making for us. He usually does. It would be a crime if he stopped now.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS MORE RECOMMENDATIONS

In the past, some of you have recommended Naomi Novik's Temeraire books to me. Welp, none of my libraries had those on audiobook, but I did find one of Novik's other books: UPROOTED. I do not recommend the audiobook, but I think it says a lot about the story that I enjoyed it despite the narrator. Great classic fairy tale quality, and I loved our hero's friend Kasia. I might have appreciated it most because it felt at times like Novik could have made some Game of Thrones-style choices, but fortunately that's not the case. I felt like she knew what I was enjoying about her story, and she respected that. If you're a Robin McKinley fan (as I am) and this somehow passed you by, definitely take a look.

After effusing about Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series recently, I wondered how Horatio Hornblower (the other Napoleonic War nautical hero series) would seem to me now. I'd always liked them better, but what if my tastes have changed over time? Finally, curiosity got the better of me and I opened up the first Hornblower book. I'm not very deep at all, but I noticed two things. One, that Forester's prose feels much more, um… story-y to me. I've been struggling with how to explain it; the best I've got is that Forester is to O'Brian as Tim Burton's Batman is to Christopher Nolan's Batman. This, I'm sure, is a meaningful and relatable analogy. Well done, me.

The other thing I noticed is that I was turning pages fast. There was no friction (positive). Coincidentally, Austin Kleon made a comment on that theme in his newsletter this morning:

I do some of my best reading this time of year, when I ease up, stop reading what I think I should be reading and start reading at whim, sticking with what’s making me turn pages. I trust the turning of pages!

Trust the turning of pages, indeed. Maybe that says it all.

It makes me wonder: have you had an experience like this? A Forester/O'Brian experience? Maybe revisited a thing beloved from years past and found it changed (because you've changed)? Or found it shines even brighter than before? I think this change over time (or lack thereof) is fascinating. I haven't seen my beloved old Transformers animated movie in a long time… I wonder…

One more quick recommendation: I think Abrian Curington mentioned the BBC Radio comedy-history series YOU'RE DEAD TO ME, so I checked it out. If you're looking for something light and illuminating to listen to during the holidays, why not start with this episode featuring comedian Dara O'Briain chatting about Florentine loafer Leonardo da Vinci.

Briefly, a note on last week's post: I had recommended a book I enjoyed, then found out the illustrator is, as we say these days, problematic. I've updated that post, leaving what I wrote but removing the bookshop.org link and adding informative links.

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"MELE KALIKIMAKA" EXCEPT IT'S A PUN ON "INKING"

More crowds this week. I'm happy with how this turned out (below) — I feel like the crowd is distinct enough that it doesn't look like an abstraction, but not so specific that it's distracting. It was fun drawing all these little faces.

I'm also very happy with how this panel turned out (below). I feel like it satisfies a lot of classical composition itches. I'm a bit worried that seeing so much of the stairs and manor façade over and over throughout the sequence will be dull, but, on the other hand, I'm planning some very theatrical lighting, which should keep things lively.

WON'T SOMEONE PLEASE SYMPATHIZE WITH VIGNELLI (below)?

 No (below).

Nice drapery in that panel above.

And some new avian friends pop in for a little surreal magic (below). I really have to remember to include something later that makes this seem less random, more comprehensible.

 With that sequence inked, here's how Chapter Five looks right now:

Finished, inked pages on the top shelf; uninked pages below. I'm a little under half-way through, and looking forward to getting back into it in the new year, not least because I think there aren't any more crowd scenes, and I don't need to draw those steps to Vignelli's manor for another few chapters.

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Friends, when next I write to you it will be — ulp — the year 2025. (At no point will "the year 2025" not sound like it's a sci-fi future year.) I'm going to very specifically and pointedly not do any work-work between now and January. Then I'm going to slam back in here like the Kool-Aid Man and finish these pages and if all goes according to plan, Chapter Five will make you cry. So that's something to look forward to!

In seriousness, though, thank you all for helping to keep this project chugging forward, smashing through brick walls. A lot's been accomplished this year (the story is complete!), I've loved sharing all of it with you (it really does give me a better perspective on what I'm doing, and the project is better for it), and it's exciting and/or terrifying to be staring down the slope toward PRACTICAL DEFENCE's conclusion. Everyone hold tight!

But first: holidays! I hope you have some, that yours are everything you could want them to be, and that you are surrounded by exactly the quantity and quality of friends and family that you wish. And egg nog, too. Don't let me down, Michael!

Until next year,
I remain,
Y. H. & O. S. etc.,

TC