Over December I travelled to see family and friends that live in the snowy Eastern and Midwestern part of the U.S.

I did sketching when bored, which I am beginning to categorize now. I am realizing that categorization is a big part of art. Knowing where things are, how to present them, and when is a challenge. Recently I have worried about presenting sketches and "unfinished" work at all. Perhaps I should only present the "best" work. I think this is typical of most illustrators, but not of most comic artists like Lynda Barry. Many New Yorker cartoons are deceptively simplistic, a trait I admired even as a child.

Process is part of creation, and I think it is an important part. One of the reasons I never thought I could be an artist is that I only saw people's finished products. I assumed they only produced "perfect" pictures and words. Every masterpiece was once a shitty first draft... and that is what my blog represents. It is a window into every day life, not into the high register of portfolios and sales.

The title of this sketch is "Party Swans." I wanted it to have a bad photocopy look, which from working in offices that run out of ink, gives me a certain sense of nostalgia.

I am imagining the elder swans harassing the younger swan, telling her stories of yesteryear, telling her how it "is," and how it should be.