Take a P

Padre Porko to Pocketwatch.  Patrick is from an incomplete short story I published here, When He Woke Up. Pecos Bill should rightly be riding a catfish, but whatever. Right now the universe is p'ing, as my nephew would say. I'm glad to have done this much.

Ooo!

Sometimes when I look at my own drawings I think of this line from The Golden Voyage of Sinbad: "These pictures tell the story of a legend yet unrealized." For some reason Grok is being very generous today (10 second animation instead of 6 seconds) and, umm, creative in their changes of points of view. All 'O' subjects today, from On Guard to Ozma. Our Noble Lady is of course You-Know-Who.

Some "Oak Tree Tea" Errata, Corrected

Pages 17 and 21, 17 for the picture (the old page had them obviously in a garden, not a treetop), and 21 for the text. It corrected the misspelling of 'vanished' easily enough, but I practically had to tie myself in knots to get it to remove an extra period. I would like to have kept the bats in 17, but the editing had me so frazzled that I was glad to get what I got and left it there for now.

Oak Tree Tea, Revised and Illustrated

I hadn't used ChatGPT for a few days, and when I decided to make an illustrated edition of Oak Tree Tea, I discovered I did not have to keep inventing the wheel as I built each page. I loosened up a bit about my original vision, and that, in turn, allowed me to make a few variations on the verse itself, variations that subtly improve it, I think. The 'chubby chum' originally was dressed in a robe; the 'withered witch' looked more aged and less charming than she appears here. The background made some mutations that I did not realize at first; I may especially point to Page 17, where the venue changes from a treetop gathering to a garden party. Also that the expressions of the characters were a little monotonous for several pages. By the time I noticed, I had closed the project and 'returning were as tedious as go o'er.' I probably will correct it sometime. Here is the character sheet I accepted for the project before I began, from my original prompts: 

NNOOO! That Is, Ns and Os

Lest anyone feel too much sympathy for Nessus, he was a rapist who was carrying that lady off to, ahem, 'tickle her feet.' Disney's Hercules has a much bowdlerized version of the tale. I find the quiet moments like Next or Office Work strangely compelling, sometimes more so than more action-y scenarios. I was very happy with Ogre Ages and Ogre Attack, compared to some other animations I had made of the scene. I wouldn't now draw an Ogre with a beard; they are not quite mammals. I couldn't get the proper "Scree-hee-hee!" on Old Kate; we know what it really sounds like in our heads. It's rather like trying to gild the lily to animate the Old Masters from Pom Poko, but here's my effort.

Tolkien Tuesday: Some By Me, Some By Others

Earendil and Ancalagon is more of a 'visionary' illustration; I used bald eagles because that's what I knew. Gimli Walks Through the Shire is one of my earlist drawings; I seem to remember making it in Mrs. Rector's class; I was more relaxed there and subsequently paid more attention and did more work. Don't know why the AI put that little hitch in his walk. Gothmog is the Lord of the Balrogs, and not the one in Moria. The Healing of Faramir was entirely produced from a prompt. That might be why it looks so 'movie compatible.' I am most pleased with how the animation of Hurin turned out. Into the Fire and It Calls Me (both from outside sources) proves that AI has trouble making a ring any smaller than a saucer. AI also refused to give me a third head for Watchers at the Gate.

Diary 2021: The End of April

2021 Diary

4/28/2021: Up at 4 AM. Prayers and Bible. Took a shower that led to me cleaning the shower and around the toilet. Man, those Clorox wipes really do the trick! Had 4 eggrolls for breakfast, washed dishes. Meanwhile had METV shows on (Dragnet, My Three Sons, then cartoons); with the cartoons on I was relaxed enough to take a little nap. At 7:30 AM I took out the bathroom trash and the recycling. An overcast morning again.

Started rosary while waiting for bus with Kam. Andy left a little late today. Finished rosary by 8:30 AM.

 

4/29/2021: What a damp day! Up, prayers and Bible, and out with Kam at 8 AM, where, thank goodness, it wasn’t rainy, though rain was predicted on and off all day. At 9 AM went out and waited for my HEB order (it was all soda and a pain to lug in).

Played a bit of DQ8. At 1 PM waited for Kam to get back. E-mailed John, and he’d been having diarrhea and sore joints as well. At 2 PM or so Andy called and said not to cook supper, they had BBQ plates. And so it was at 6:15 PM. Puttered and tooted around all evening and then Rosary at 9 PM. Think I’ll play more DQ8 till sleepy.

 

4/30/2021: The last day of April, and a rain-filled soaker, especially when I had to go out. Ate too much today, which led to nausea when I tried to go to sleep at night. But I go too fast.

Prayers and Bible. Waited with Kam for bus. Had spaghetti and meat balls for breakfast. Fried Taters and fish for supper. Had a few sodas and played DQ8. Real soaking rain all night, and my knees were killing me, with pain zinging through my left foot. Ate a plate of meatballs with ranch dressing, even though I was already feeling queasy, then spent a few hours with a cook-pot next to me in case I barfed. Rosary. Spent much of the night twixt 2 and 5 AM playing DQ8 to distract me.