November? You were barely here...

November is one of those months that just zips in and out, or so it seems... So, did you vote? Of course you did. I did too. I always do. 

The polling place is about a mile from my house, and I have a history of showing up at the wrong times (when I don't have to stand in line for 20 minutes is when I consider it to be the right time)... so, instead of showing up:

 when it opens - people on their way to work are there then...

 9am-11am - people who run errands and shop are there then...

 noon - lunchtime - everyone is there then...

 after 3pm - school is out, workplaces begin to close...

So, sometime shortly after 1pm seemed like a safe option. Ha! I stood in line with 100+ other people for 45 minutes.

For the record: I'm a democrat, I've always been a democrat. So, you know, in the 3 whole minutes that it took me to actually vote — I filled in the circle next to Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Would have taken less time if the lead in the #2 pencil hadn't been broken. Yes, we have scantron style ballots. No levers, no punches. Just a bunch of adults filling in circles on a piece of paper.

Anyway, that's done.

Are you still reading this? Good. Because that last paragraph wasn't the end of the world, and I'm pretty sure I've mentioned my political leanings before... 

Anyway, November, I hardly know ye as a month, because you fly by every year while I'm trying to wrap up a bunch of illustrations. Yes, I have 6 illustrations to finish for the calendar — and I only managed to totally change my mind on a couple of them at the last minute and totally start over from scratch, ha!

So, in all honesty, there's nothing that looks super exciting about the sketch phase. Plus, my current sketchbook sat in the trunk of my car and I pulled it out because I ran out of sketchbooks, and well, the paper is kinda lumpy. It's usable, but warped... the usable part is the important part. So, yes, sketching and scanning and inking scan print-outs is what I have been doing fiendishly for the last 2-3 weeks, when not sleeping or cleaning.

I finished these back in June - for father's day.

male eastern bluebird

female eastern bluebird

It was interesting to take renderings that I had done at a certain scale and blow them up to fill in the details. Technically, it's something I do all the time, up until I started these - I hadn't drawn any birds that were quite that big.

I have some other bird portraits on the docket, but that's all on hold until I finish the calendar. So, I guess I should get to work finishing those pictures, and then maybe Christmas will be here and done and over with, and I can finally just relax, right? Until it snows and I have to drive to work in it...

Anyway, Thanksgiving is tomorrow — so HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!