Oh, hey, remember I was doing this? So I probably went too thick with my preferred electronic nib here, but anyway. It’s a picture of the central cast of the comic strip I used to think was going to be my life’s work and which I would still drop everything to do if someone wanted to fund its creation at a livable wage.

Their names are, right to left, Wally, Ace Terrier (the strip’s namesake), Dornford, Mulligan, Miss Klara. and the Professor. Mulligan’s ears are not supposed to look quite so much like devil’s horns, but then again that’s not entirely out of character either.

To read the (often genuinely terrible and in a couple of places actively racist) strips I produced eight to six years ago as a dry run for telling any stories I’d be satisfied with (which never subsequently materialized), you could click here. But I’d prefer it if you didn’t.

This is the second day in a row that I’ve published the first drawing I did, without opening new layers and taking a second or third pass once I’d got the general shape down. I still fussed over it a bit in quite large magnification, but for once I’m moderately satisfied with the shapes I laid down, which is either progress or a lowering of standards.

I’m still drawing on the iPad, clearly — it’s so much more convenient than clearing a spot on my desk, shaking dust from paper, mixing ink, erasing the pencils, cleaning pens, and scanning the whole thing in in the other room. I still think I can draw better with physical tools, but at this rate I’ll never be able to prove it.

I actually wore this suit yesterday, by coincidence. Charcoal checked three-piece, lavender shirt, blue stitched tie, mahogany shoes, brown and blue pocket square.

This week I’ve been doing all the drawing freehand on my iPad, which is a new way of working for me. Each time I’ve gradually worked in more and more layers of underdrawing and sketching and even photo reference in order to get the effects that I want. (Not that you can tell; it’s still all been extremely loose and, put kindly, gestural.) This is about as tight and finished a drawing as I’m capable of or interested in doing on the iPad, and it took me well over an hour to complete. I’m thinking that next week I’ll draw on paper and see how much more (or less) control I have that way. In subsequent weeks I may even attempt color.

As always, thank you for your indulgence.