Fresh fields

I've got one page of Steeple volume 3 left to draw, the 154th page. The book, due next summer, encompasses Christmas With Clovis, the Author Unknown crossover, and the four parts of Clotted Crime. Between the start of February (when that 154th page runs on the website) and volume 3 coming out in bookshops, I'll be taking a break from the series.

While working on Steeple, I've pushed myself very hard drawing, along the principles I set out for myself drawing the first issue for Dark Horse. My hope was that I could draw it as well as a "proper" comic book is drawn, with consistent backgrounds, strong posing, decent composition, reasonable anatomy, attention to inking line weights, and a basic understanding of how to put large areas of black on the page. 

I am confident that a. I have now achieved this within the bounds of my limited artistic ability and b. no review will credit me with it so c. I hereby renounce this exhausting dedication to tidiness. 

My next project (I'm still choosing what this will be from a now-intimidating list of options) will feature weird, wobbly backgrounds, loony tunes posing, half-arsed composition, unreasonable, stylised anatomy, precisely two line weights or maybe three if you're lucky. Colours will frequently be garish and hastily laid down in my traditional style. I will, however, retain the basic understanding of how to put large areas of black on the page, as I've come to enjoy swathing the odd page in darkness.

In preparation for this chaotic new frontier, above are some Giant Days sketches I inked this morning to begin to loosen up the old madness muscles. I've not reached full power yet but I feel a new energy building up.

Below, some Lottie and Claire sketches (plus an Esther) I did yesterday, reaching for the same thing.