August is here, which is the funeral bell for summer. I noticed it today walking to my car: the acrid smell of grass cut and baked in the July heat, settling in for autumn. Kids are a little less joyful. Teachers are mournful.

But for me, August is the end of the beginning.

I'm settling in on the new graphic novel, which has taken longer than I would like. July was productive but also hesitant. Starting a new book means making a lot of new decisions. What brush should I use? Should I color this one in full color?

I want to get to the point where the time from getting to my desk to actual drawing is frictionless. Meaning I make a lot of these decisions beforehand and they are my limits, my guardrails that I don't cross. I use 5-10 brushes, each one for a specific purpose. I am using two colors, but it will mostly be monochromatic. Page template will remain the same as See You In Hell. All these decisions add up to many hours saved in time spent making a graphic novel.

I also did some housecleaning with See You In Hell by posting the last two chapters in the Patreon store (reminder: members get to download them for free). I talk about how my lack of decision making on the cover process prolonged this for longer than it needed, and how I need to incorporate that into The Shape of My Son. I go into more detail on all of this in a video. Worth a watch if you want the full breakdown.

One more thing.

I rebuilt my website this summer, and the latest post up there is a short one about my neighbor Chris, five bucks, and something my son said that I still think about. Read it here: Chris Money.

See you next month.