Finally got the whole composition filled in. I’m still in the early stages of this, though, as one might be able to discern due to how underworked the values are. While there will be a lot of hard whites and blacks in this piece, there certainly won’t be this much. Or at least that is my plan. I guess you never know what curve balls a drawing has in store for you until you’re in the thick of it.

I can’t wait until I get done! I sketched out my next piece for the Taiga Series and it’s going to be a coyote! I really, really want to work on the coyote, so I admit I’m feeling a bit in a rush to get this one done!

Life has felt strange lately. I think it’s because of how transitionary everything is right now. I walk into the grocery store and suddenly I see visible faces alongside masked faces. I drive through downtown during rush hour and find myself in a grid lock because… I’m now no longer one of few people who commutes to work. I see crowds on the TV, in person, I see people out and about. There’s more energy. But also confusion, like… what?

And then there’s just my own self. My own body. I feel like I’m in some kind of transition, too, like I’m trying to acclimate to my post-pandemic self. Maybe I feel like I’m some kind of in-between person. Like there was Pre-pandemic Me, and then there was Pandemic Me, and now here’s Post-pandemic Me, and I don’t really understand her yet. Like she sometimes thinks she can go right back to being Pre-pandemic Me, but then she remembers that Pandemic Me came along and changed her in ways that are permanent. Pre-pandemic Me is somebody she can only have remnants of, not all of, and Pandemic Me is somebody she must accept and invite in, even if that person scares her on some level, because that person was sick a lot. How to integrate the experiences of the last year and a half? How to navigate now? How to just be okay with where I’m at, and where I’m going?

I’m hoping this all gets a little easier with time, both personally and societally. Much of it will depend on the nature of the pandemic here. Will things get bad again? Or will there be steady improvement?

Anyway, that is all I’ve got.

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