thelifeandtimesofadreamer
The.B&C.Project
Hello, and welcome, to a secret place. Here I will be sharing with a select few, a private look at my book in progress. When to check back here for updates, you ask? Whenever you see an Instagram story post @agentbear with either of these two and piano music, there will be something new here for you to see. Thank you so much for being here with me. Some of you have been for many years, some of you more recently. I want you to know that it means the world to me. Yours truly, -Bear
The main characters of our story. For now, you will know them as B and C. Just a girl and her pup against the world.
v Newest Post v
3.27.24 - My favorite page so far. A true feel of the book.
3.17.24 - I apologize if these updates are too few. Each page feels a little easier. In the early stages it felt like swimming against the current. What’s been really helping lately is listening to calm acoustic music. It’s Regina Spektor at the moment. Really helps me zone out and draw. This is also a new workstation. I needed something larger to draw on since I started drawing on a larger paper size. I’ve also decided to expand on the outfits for our main human character. Not sure why I had her limited to one outfit. The variety adds something fresh to each story. Hopefully. I’ve been teasing with these early sketches of pages, but each one will be highly detailed with lots going on in the backgrounds that have space to allow it. As always, thanks for being here. Agentbear, signing out for now.
2.29.24 - This book is shaping up to take a lot longer than I thought it would. It really gives me a new appreciation for all the comic books I’ve read before. Usually there is a whole team of people who work on one book. A writer, a penciler, an inker, a colorist, a letterer, an editor, and whoever else I missed. For this one it will be just me. Right now, I’m illustrating the rough drafts of the pages and making sure the story flows well and makes sense. I keep having to remind myself that what I see now is not the final product and that there will be much more to the finished pages. I do this so I do not go mad thinking the pages are too plain. Haha. I think things will really come to life once I start inking the pages. We’ll see how long it is before that happens lol. Thanks for being here with me. That’s all for now! See you soon!
2.15.24 - Agentbear, reporting in. The change to drawing on 11x17 paper has really brought new life to this project for me. There is more room to illustrate details and things don’t seem so smooshed. I still remind myself not to overthink it and just put my ideas on paper, rather than waffle ideas in my head and getting nothing done. It’s already the middle of February and I am behind on the goal I set myself for drawing pages. The unforeseen challenges have forced me to learn and evolve to be able to move forward. Hopefully that means I come out of this process a better artist too. In any case I am determined to see this project through. I hope it turns out good. I hope people read it. I hope people enjoy it. I hope, I hope. Agentbear, over and out.
2.8.24 - Ahoy, mateys. I’ve hit some walls here and there with this project and had to do a lot of reflecting. I’ve been harboring too much doubt in myself and my abilities. This has slowed me down, but I have hopefully gotten over that hump. There was a lot of overthinking which led to images that were very stiff and boring (in my opinion). I went back to looking at a lot of my own artwork and what I’ve done in the past and was like “You know what? You can do this. You’ve already kind of done this and you’ve improved since you’ve done these older ones.”. Things began to move along much smoother since. I also think I might be drawing too small and am going to move forward on larger sheets of paper. This will allow me to illustrate larger images in more detail. So your boy is trying his best to draw loosely and with confidence. Trust the process and believe in the end result. Let’s do thisssssss!
1.23.24 - Sorry it’s been a while since the last update. I was flying through pages, illustrating them quickly. But then I realized I wasn’t expanding my horizons. I continued to draw angles I was comfortable with, and everything was beginning to feel so flat and dull. Taking a step back, I came to realize that I wanted more. I wanted to be better, I wanted to make something better. I’ve been studying perspective to illustrate more dynamic point of views in hopes of creating images with more depth. The process has slowed me down, but I’m hoping the end results will be something I can be proud of and something you’ll enjoy. Still pushing forward and pushing through my current limits. Plus ultra.
Leave Note
1.23.24 - This here is a pizza pillow I made for a friend years ago. I have always enjoyed making things. Especially when I’m making something for someone. There’s always something I want to make, but truly never enough time to make everything. I’ve been trying to indulge in as many of my creative ideas as possible. It’s a nice break from current projects. The most recent venture was making a menu for a pretend restaurant named after my friend’s street. On it is all the things I’ve cooked at their house. Hopefully it will be a nice keepsake we can look back on fondly. Do these little tokens bridge a connection? Maybe just a forget me not? I really should get some sleep. Haha.
1.10.24 - I’ve finished penciling the first short story! Pictured is page 3, wouldn’t want to spoil the ending after all. I plan to pencil out the whole book before going back and inking all the pages. That way I can go back and add something in later easy peasy. My hope is that I also get better at illustrating by the time all the pages are drafted. Then maybe when I ink the pages, the illustrations will be a little better than they would’ve been. I’ve already learned a lot by drawing these 4 pages. They’ve force me to draw scenes and angles I normally would not have but were needed for the story telling. Something I still haven’t decided on is if I want to draw the speech bubbles in traditionally or digitally with the coloring. What to do, what to do.
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1.10.24 - A return to self - After a long, long time I finally feel like myself again. I had some health issues that took about 3 years to recover from. The experience really crushed a part of my spirit. I didn’t want to be around anyone or talk to anyone. Things became stable right before the pandemic struck, which added to the isolation. When that was finally over my health also finally began to improve and I was able to put on weight. When the world opened up again, I began to be social again, but it always felt like a part of my energy was still missing. I think it took all of 2023 to find that energy I had before the health issues, but like a switch I woke up in the new year and just felt so much better. Thank you, everyone who helped me find a lost part of myself every time we shared a laugh, every time we met just for each other’s company.
Photo - From my train ride from San Francisco to San Diego about 10 years ago. Paper crane from a gum wrapper. I was obsessed with paper cranes after watching the episode of Ghost in the Shell where the little boy made paper cranes for the girl who survived the plane crash with him, hoping she would get better.
1.7.24 - It all begins here. First page drafted of our duo. The idea is a comic book of endearing and humorous short stories. I have a short list of ideas so far but I’m trying to embrace whatever comes to mind. I’ve been hard on myself lately, like most if not all artist, and fall into the void of self-doubt. I’m not ready for that yet. I need to get better first. The kind of thoughts that keep you from taking that leap forward, into the unknown. I decided this year that I’m going for it, for better or worse. If the book doesn’t come out good, maybe I will learn enough to make the next one good. And if the next one isn’t good well then dammit I’ll try again even if the next one is terrible. Haha. I’m hoping that trying is better than not doing it at all. I guess we’ll see, eh?
1.7.24 - Bonus footage. My super sophisticated drafting of the layout.
1.4.23 - Concept sketches of B, the less furry of our main characters. Someone relatable(hopefull, maybe). Keeping with the simple design mindset, I had her in just a regular t-shirt, but it felt too vanilla. I thought about the great and iconic character designs like Kiki from Kiki’s Delivery Service and Louise and Tina from Bob’s Burgers, just to name a few. They were all simple in nature but just had that little extra something like Louise’s hat or Kiki’s bow. B’s off the shoulder top was sketched onto her and I stepped back to take a good look. B felt complete.
And I’ll be real with ya’ll. B’s shoes are black in this concept artwork because I initially drew her barefoot but her toes looked weird and I was like no I can’t post this. Haha.
1.2.24 - Concept sketches of C. 360 view with bonus nap and loaf formations. His appearance was inspired by a mix of several breeds: Corgi, husky, and pomeranian. I wanted to keep him simple but not toooooo simple. After illustrating his initial form, I felt he was missing something, something subtle. So, I added the black on his tail, like a brush dipped in ink. C felt complete.