Blessing(s) in Disguise

I'm here, I'm here!! I didn't fall off the face of the earth...although at times over the past month it seems as if I might.

A few weeks ago, with no warning, my hard drive on my 2 year old computer died...kaput...just like that. Since that happened earlier in the year on my previous much older computer, and since I was able to save my files that time, I wasn't too worried. Well, ignorance can be bliss...  After friends and family attempts to check it out failed, I brought it to a PC repair shop and waited for word... Word did come, and it was NOT the word I wanted to hear. The files were unrecoverable...totally gone. My art that I had been toiling over (if you can call doing art "toiling") was simply non-existent...

This is gone (the full version):

...and this one too...

...and another one from this cottage series that I was almost ready to preview. Plus a new logo, and files for Universal Designs, and photos and so on and so on... I was just sick...

You might be asking, "but Becky, don't you do back ups...?" To which I say, "NOW I do!!!!"  Truth is, after the last hard drive crash, we bought an external hard drive, put all the rescued files on it from the previous computer, and promptly set it on a shelf where it remained for months.... Oh how stupid can I be?

But, a funny thing happened while I was waiting the 10 days or so for my computer to be repaired...I rediscovered my sketchbook and colored pencils...

I typically do a bit of minimal sketching before I create an illustration, but I rarely do color studies in the sketchbook. I simply do all that on the computer on the fly as I draw. But having time away from the computer, and being determined not to lose momentum in my preparation for the CHA Trade Show in January, I worked through a whole new series of girls that have been in my head for a long time now. It was so therapeutic to draw and color old school. I developed all of their various accessories, borders, patterns, etc. and it was so fun! Those of you familiar with my cartooning style may have noticed that I rarely draw open eyes on my characters...

Basically, I've done that because I like the smiley, joyful look of it, but frankly, it's also because it's just plain easier to draw them that way...

But eyes are so important, and I knew I wanted these new characters to have really pretty, big eyes and more detail overall than I typically do. Plus, I wanted them, and their colors and accessories, to have a bit of a 70's retro vibe. I really had the time to sketch and sketch and get it just right...and here's a little snippet of how they are looking so far...

I am having a blast creating these girls and their stuff - there will be four girls for starters, representing each of the four seasons. (above are the girls for Autumn, Spring, and Winter - Summer is waiting her turn next). I'd love to make a whole calendar of them eventually. For now, the goal is to get them to the CHA show for their debut...I can't wait!

So, what are the "blessings in disguise"  that I alluded to in the blog title? Well, one obvious one is the time I was able to spend sketching and coloring my new series. Another one was a bit more subtle, but important... 

When I look back at my journals from late Spring and into the Summer, I see one distraction/situation/problem after another that kept me from drawing time...my parents and my MIL each had a stint in the hospital, starting on Mother's Day...we were evacuated for a week due to wildfires...and so on. Plus, I noted several times in my journal that it seemed as if I were drawing in molasses - I was moving SO slow and wondering aloud what was wrong with me, why was I drawing so slow...? Well, as it turns out, if I had had an incredibly productive Summer, I would have lost that much more artwork! So my slowness and distractions and delays were all blessings in disguise! Even the original hard drive crash earlier this year was a blessing because when we got the external hard drive, we put all of the art files from the old computer onto it first, and even though I put those on my newer computer (and thus lost them), they were still safe and sound there in the external hard drive. Losing those completely would have truly been pretty hard to bear...all my Illustration Friday files, all my calendar files, all my photos, all my Aimee Asher artwork, all my Universal Designs artwork, etc. But they are all OK...overall my losses were fairly minimal...

BTW, I am going to re-do those illustrations that I shared at the beginning of this post...I just didn't have the heart to jump back into those first thing when I got my newly repaired computer back, but I plan to. They may not make it to the show in January, but they will be ready at the right time, whenever that happens to be...

Through all of this I have even more awe and admiration, and more understanding of this Scripture favorite:

"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."

Romans 8:28 (NLT)

Oh, one more little blessing to share. I thought I had lost my coloring pages that I created back in July...like this one: 

...but I remembered that I had burned them onto a CD when I took them to Kinkos to make sample coloring books, so I still have them! That was a nice bonus...  Come to think of it, that Scripture is pretty applicable too!  :o)

Have a wonderful weekend dear friends...oh, and back up your files please!!