Original Art Sundays no. 370: Sharp Invitations: Esther's Hands: Interlude, last page

 And now for the conclusion of the graveyard interlude.

So I made it home after a mostly homeless summer, and started another chapter. How I came to the homeless status is part of the Dad story, coming after the Mother story. College was completely unexpected, a new adventure. 

While working on this, I'm prepping several projects for print and sale at Autoptic in August. Quite excited about this!

Story notes: there were other people there when I walked in the door, notably Grandma and a cousin I'm particularly fond of- almost a sister, really. But in the interest of narrative flow, I streamlined it a bit. Again, no overt trans content this week, though that remains the overarching theme of the book.

Along those lines, I'm only including one page of my junior college years. That's next week, a moment of timidity. 

Art notes: used gouache for the whiteout where necessary. Graphite stick for gray values.The scan is- what's the technical term? - oh, yeah. Crap. A lot of the subtle graphite textures are washing out.  I will rescan on better equipment ASAP. Restore gray values and pump the background tones. The lines are very light. This page is all graphite and markers.I worked from photo reference on panels 1 and 3, and took poses from the graphic novel Left Turns by Joshua Ross on panels 5 and 6. If you haven't read that book, do yourself a favor. It's a great study of quiet intimacy and introspection. 

I really like the embrace in panel 3. Overall, I'm pleased with this page. Decent flow, tight storytelling for such a simple yet eloquent moment.

Tools used on this page:

• Papers: tracing paper, various sketchbooks, Canson Bristol board
  
• Pencils: Lyra 2B graphite stick, 4B lead and holder, 2B Ticonderoga classic, tech pencil and 4B lead
  
• Erasers: kneadable, vinyl eraser, Click eraser
• Hand Tools: 6" and 14" straightedge, triangle, T-square, French curves
• Inking tools: Tight Spot correction brush, Holbein white gouache
  
• Markers: Copic 0.25, 0.3, 0.8, 1.0, Faber Castell brush, LePen brush, Copic Brush and Micron small brush
  
• And of course, Photoshop

Next: a moment of cowardice watching TV.