At least enough to function. My nose is still stupidly stuffed up and I get really tired after only a small amount of work. But I have enough energy to go to the mailbox and cook dinner and not feel like collapsing. Sit down for two minutes between maybe, but no more than that.
For full honesty, I will disclose that some of that is my allergies kicking in. I have an allergy to small furry animals. I may have had it as a kid and simply ignored it because I was stupidly healthy in every other way. But I first noticed it when I borrowed an angora sweater my mom had when I was 16 or so and I itched like hell all day. It got worse when I moved out and got fur babies of my own, of course, and then settled as my system became more used to them. One thing that my body simply won't put up with though is having my cats knead my bare flesh... Of course, that is the only place they ever want to knead. I make it easier for them by preferring to wear tank tops and shirts that leave my arms bare.
At any rate, finally healthy.
For my edit, I haven't gotten as much done as I had hoped... I've been lazy. But I did finish the chapter 3 rewrite and have edited it in. I've also finished the rough draft of chapter four which I'm in the process of doing now. After that, the editing should be faster for chapter five and then another wait for chapter six which is a new chapter from scratch. I'm finding that new chapters because they have to fit in the spot I'm dropping them perfectly, it's taking more time, to write from scratch and then fill in the extra holes with the information it needs and then going over it a few times for editing to make it as good as the rest. The other chapters are flowing and I'm able to do one or two chapters a day. Fortunately, after this chapter is done, I only have four more complete rewrites.
So, what else have I been doing? Well, I got obsessed with my redraw from 2014. I finally finished her a few days ago, and I've got to admit, she looks amazing. I've gotten some criticism on her hands... but considering that they are very difficult to draw and I included them regardless, AND they actually look like hands, despite my errors, I'm considering it a win regardless.
The one on the right was done on my tablet of the time, a cheap-y Lenovo with a stylus. While the stylus cost $15-$20 and had some pressure sensitivity, it still wasn't good enough to actually get much detail with. The newer one on the left was done with my Surface and MS Stylus, which has a very good tip and pressure sensitivity that I can actually use. In addition, I've figured out how the body works as a whole. I figured out how to do hair a lot better, although the new hair is definitely something I still need to work on... the location of shine and shadow still isn't perfect The face is more realistic while still being animation. I think you can tell my anime beginnings from this, though I think I have grown out of some of the anime tropes... the eyes aren't anime large anymore, just slightly larger than normal. I had no shading on the old one, partially because I had no idea how to add shadow and highlights. I've picked up some of that now, though I still lean heavily on my references, which is something I would like to keep working on.
I'll be honest though, a lot of that is just nitpicky. I really do love the way this turned out. I need to speed up a bit on my digital work though... this picture took me twelve to fifteen hours to finish still. I was going for an adequate "here is my current skill level" but I would like to figure out how to draw a bit faster... fortunately, that will come with just sketching and using it for more art, which is something that I will be doing.
If you're interested, let me know if you want me to make copies of it available or even just the lineart, in case you want to play with coloring it in yourself.
And I think that's where I'll end it today. It is definitely time for me to get editing if I want to finish those two chapters tonight.
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