19 Years Ago

I'm either going to be called super dedicated to one story or really crazy because I write myself into a loop trying to finish one, long, epic journey.

Recently I've been working on the illustrations for the republication of the re-write of Key. It's all coming along wonderfully, and I'm really excited as the typesetting and formatting is looking beautiful!

One of the reasons why I wanted to go back and rewrite Key was to really go back and reground myself in the originality of the world I had created as a teenager, to find that freshness and childlike wonder of imagination that I had. I didn't care what people thought, I didn't care if the science made sense, I didn't care if it was logically possible or whatever - I just created. Everything was possible with my imagination.

And I really rekindled that wonder. Writing was fun again. I'm grateful I've had the opportunity to do this.

In Chapter 12 of the new rewrite of Key there is a scene in which Zinkx wakes up and really see's Sam for the first time. This scene came from an old picture I drew nineteen years ago that really began to cement Sam's (and the Zaprexes) design down as tiny little green cybernetic fairies.

Here is the 2002 picture I drew. I maybe went a little overboard with his glasses being huge and his antennae being super long - but as you can see, the basics of his character design are all there. At some point along the way I lengthened his ears, shrunk his glasses, and I just recently altered his antennae design.

The new 2021 illustration for Key - 19 years later - I really love greyscale illustrations, and it's probably something I have come to find myself specialising in over the years. I absolutely loved having illustrations in novels and I was determined to make sure I could illustrate mine to the best of my ability and I finally feel like I have reached a point where everything is falling into place to look how I always wished the books to look.

It is taking me awhile, so you know, maybe I'll be sixty by the time I finish this series, but, at least it'll have kept me entertained my whole life! Personally, I think it's pretty amazing to be able to track my progress over the years.

Ever onward my friends!

Ever onward.