Continuing

Life Happens

Springtime for Foobville VI

Yeah, yeah, I'm just being silly with that whole "stitch & bitch" quilting thing ...

We're Ba-aack...

So the sketchbook took a holiday, and got a couple of gifts. As in non-photo blue pencils and a thin liner pen. There were some experiments, one of which came out OK:
So this would be included as part of 25 December 2009. I should start Boxing Day tomorrow or Monday (yes, Liz' "people to meet" will be interesting, but not as drawn-out as the Christmas Eve arc).

I may or may not be able to do penwork regularly. One of the non-photo blues is waxy and hard to work with, so I effectively have to draw with the pen. The other draws more like a regular pencil, but isn't quite as non-photo in the results. Plus my liners are frustratingly unreliable - the lines feather - some of that stuff up there was overdrawn with a second pass of the pen, and the couch's outline is of unreliable thickness. In all, it's like drawing twice over... so there may be plenty of pencil-only episodes. But dang, the B&W contrast in the photo comes out nicely.

24 Dec 2009: pause for a breather

I really ought to have put a narration box: With further conversation pointless, Mira offered some help with the potatoes and Wilf retreated

or: After venting, Deanna calmly went back to work on dinner while her parents retreated

Ever since I ended the initial Foob's Paradise un-wedding arc, I've mostly thought of vignettes of what would happen next - not a continuous flow of a story. So I don't think I'm giving a smooth, continuous flow of the Christmas Eve From Heck story here. Maybe some narration boxes would help.

As for Grandpa Jim, a little looking into aphasia indicates that there are many levels of verbal and written-word impairment. There can be major difficulties with both, or just one, and I expect the therapists would have worked hard to give Jim as many ways of communicating as possible. It's not unrealistic that he could write some things.

24 Dec 2009: somewhere in here, Elly must have gotten her coffee, right?

I expect somebody pried it away from Mira while Jim & Iris were getting settled. Possibly Mike while retreating from the kitchen - because it's not as if Mira's busybodyinsuggestions have been laid to rest.

Yes, Jim and Wilf have something of a Battle Of The Vests going. In my defense, they have both been shown to wear that clothing style.

UPDATE: I haven't been putting in people's names just to be sure they're IDed, have I? That's Liz, last seen in Nov 13's post (the first Christmas Eve strip). I try to make sure the dramatis personae is on the post labels.

24 Dec 2009: Gather Them In (II)

... and given that it's about to be Turkey Day south of the 49th, it's doubtful that I will get anything else up this week.

Oct 8: Isn't Family Togetherness Fun?

First, a brief interlude...



... then it's time for immediate family