I forgot to post this update before I went on vacation, but I'm back so here is my final update from mid August!

Hi, I just got back from a trip to the West coast. Expect me to be jet lagged the first few days of school. I'd love to talk about the trip and some of the art I saw (including a Serra piece that was pretty cool), but that's not what I'm here for. I'm overdue on my updates for the pieces, considering I mostly finished them before I left on the 15th for the Pacific.

So, I "finished" the first piece with the woman. I have some regrets about the craftsmanship of my water coloring, which is messy and granular in parts. I have less experience in watercolor than I wish I had, and it is reflected in the work. However, it was pretty therapeutic to do it, for it gave me a chance to slow down and sit with the work instead of breezing through. Maybe later in the year, I will revisit the piece and make edits to it, but I think that I'm currently at a point where any changes I make will just make it worse. Consider it less-so finished and more 'on pause.'

Next is my beautiful ugly son. The original idea of him was stupid simple --- since my 2D to 3D work in the Fantastic Four project was a mask, I should make a mask of a man wearing a mask. Initially, I was going to be basic and just depict dionysus again, but the more I worked on him, the more I realized that Dionysus doesn't fit the bill for what I was working on. So, it changed to being based on Hades. I consider Hades a misunderstood deity in myth, since he is often depicted as wrathful and mean, when truly hes just a lonely guy whose job is to watch over souls in the afterlife. Poor guy is denied any companionship for most of the year, despite him being one of the only gods that doesn't abuse his wife (besides the whole kidnapping thing but I digress). So, the work is meant to show him wearing a mask of wrath while he himself is truly just a sad little guy. What frustrated me with this work, however, is that I can't help but make my life harder for myself. Hades, unlike Dionysus, has a beard. Beards are complicated. Yet, I am not too dissatisfied in how with turned out. So, yeah!

I'm excited to show these off on Tuesday, and I can't wait to see you all again soon. Also, Masters of the Universe just came out on Prime, so I'm hoping to watch it with my dad soon. :D This has been your monthly update about

your jetlagged and sleep-deprived friend,

Theo

(I'm too much of a chud to not keep the Henry Jekyll letter bit going, don't judge me.)