Day 23 - Starting To Draw A Little

I have simply not been in the mood to draw lately. I don't know why.  I suppose the drawing muse retreats into the subconscious sometimes too.  Or maybe it's because I have avoided losing time browsing for references on the internet.

If that's so, it explains why I suddenly feel like drawing again.  I spent way too much time this evening on my Tumblr feed, which is full of pulp fiction covers and artists.  I also discovered a model on DeviantArt who publishes reference pose photos for artists -- and not only licenses them pretty freely, she sells thumb drives packed full of references.  (I will post the url to her site sometime in future. Don't have it handy now.)

Today's Progress: about 600 more words on In Flight.

It should have been more. That was just my afternoon session, but this evening was eaten by art.  Worse, eaten by art research rather than actual drawings.  All the same, I think the 600 words are goo progress because I hammered at some things that have been tough.

I figured out how, in particular, to prise apart all the people and things that have to be introduced so I can introduce them one at time -- and take my time with each.

I also had a huge epiphany for the Starling and Marquette stories, especially George's furniture problem.  I realize it will still be an issue in the third book -- and that is the solution to the whole problem of how George and Karla meet the victim in that.  The victim is selling the contents of her house.


Eating, Watching, Reading: Shrimp Roll-Ups and Peter Gunn.

"Shrimp Roll-Ups" is not a particularly good name for the dish.  We used to have a Korean Sushi place that made this really great fusion roll: Spicy Shrimp Tempura.  It was a roll of spicy shrimp, cucumber and cream cheese sushi, very lightly battered in tempura batter and fried. Then after it was sliced, each piece had a dot of a different Korean hot sauce added to it.  It was these most amazing roll ever -- and nobody seems to be able to make anything that comes close, even with very similar ingredients.

So I started experimenting, and even though I never came up with anything that was like that, I came up with my own, weird combination.

It's a Vietnamese rice paper sheet, moistened and then I place a small square of nori (sushi seaweed) on it.  Then a little rice, a strip of cream cheese, shrimp with Sriracha sauce, shredded cucumber or carrot, and then the thing that makes it all work: you know those canned fried onions you put on the top of a green bean casarole?  I toast those in the oven so they will be hot and crispy, and put them on top of the cream cheese, and roll the whole thing up into something like a Vietnamese summer roll (goi cuon) or a Thai "fresh eggroll."

See you in the funny papers.