Inktober 2019 - Days 20 and 21

Had a little glitch with my computer, and work hours have been piling up lately, so I had to combine entries again.

Well, the important thing is that I get the artwork done (even if this is just for fun, it's still good practice for finishing what I start) and that I have a good time with the art itself.

And I'm sure not complaining about more hours at Kneaders! I remember the dark days of WinCo (okay, not that dark, but definitely less pleasant) when I was hardly working and making anything at all.

My old boss kept promising me more hours for more than six months straight, and nothing happened. (Yeah, boss, talk of extra hours still leaves me and my expenses unpaid, and it's easy for you to talk when you get a nice cushy 40 hours each week because you're in charge.) And on the few times when I was there, the boss would get as much work out of me as possible as fast as possible, as if I were a machine rather than a person, and breathe down my neck the entire time.

Granted, he did have a knack for keeping things running smoothly, and being a manager sure ain't for the faint of heart. I know for a fact I couldn't handle that kind of pressure. All the same, morale would take a serious blow whenever that guy was around, and I wasn't the only one who didn't like him and wondered how he got to be in charge. I hear he's still around, and the coworker/friend who's keeping me informed tells me he's a real jerk and has lost several more deli workers since I left, meaning the whole store has a very high turnover rate, which isn't good for a business in the long run.

Not trying to villainize my old boss or the rest of WinCo's management or anything. Like I said, I understood where he was coming from (even if he didn't understand where I was coming from) and there are much worse people than him out there. But if I may speak my mind, he's by far the worst boss I ever had and I can't say I miss WinCo all that much. Sure, it was a good experience for me (that place really teaches you to control your temper), I made a few friendships there, and it's still a nice place to shop.

But I have no intentions of working there again. Once was enough.

In fact, in hindsight, it appears that those guys were discriminating against me on purpose; Mom thinks I could have taken them to court if this had gone on for much longer. My former coworker believes it was discrimination, too.

Oh, well. All I can say now is good luck to those guys (and good riddance!) and their loss is Kneaders' gain.

Kneaders has its share of hard work, which I don't mind; I understand it's a bakery and a cafe rolled into one, and at least I'm getting more hours, which means more money, and management is a hundred times friendlier. I've been happier at Kneaders in six months than I was at WinCo for two years, and I plan to stick around Kneaders for a good while yet.

Now that I got that little rant out of my system, here's day 20 of "Inktober": Tread. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be "tread" or "thread," since I saw entries from other artists for both words. But I went with "tread" and the best thing I could think of was treading water.

I'm hardly a swimmer myself but I'm always looking for an excuse to practice swim art. As scarce as the details are in this drawing, there's plenty to see below the water, and this gal's only up for a fresh breath before she dives down again, since a snorkel is all she's got. I get a real kick out of drawing wet hair, and there's something about people in snorkel/scuba gear that gives me pleasant shivers.

Day 20 of "Fantasytober": Headless Waiter. I don't have a strong stomach for decapitation scenes, least of all with blood involved. So I went for a plain skull, but the grin on that bony face still creeps me out! Hey, as long as you're here, waiter, why don't you fetch me a triple cheeseburger with extra pickles, onions, and bacon, along with a heap of fries, a large Dr. Pepper, and a hot fudge sundae?

Now, on to day 21! This day for "Inktober" presents: Treasure. There's a myriad of ways to interpret a prompt like this. I ended up settling for sunken treasure, which gave me yet another excuse to draw a girl underwater, this time with full scuba equipment.

Yes, I show boys underwater, too; I love to draw Reid swimming in his backyard lake. He's every bit as passionate about the water as his ancestor Terence was, and even invents a "water mask" to protect his eyes, so he sort of introduces Daire to "scuba diving," or the fantasy version of it. Those shells they use to breathe (which Terence himself got as a gift from the merfolk; details of that story still pending!) let you breathe underwater all you want, but your eyes are still exposed. And as we all know, a mask traps air in front of your eyes, which not only saves your eyes from pain and irritation but also vastly improves your underwater view.

And finally, here's day 21 of "Fantasytober": Two Dwarves and a Ghost. Not only do I really, really like this image, but I think I might use it for a story later. Sometimes I draw an illustration to accompany my story; other times, like in the case of Reid's story, the illustration sparks the idea for the story!

For the record, this isn't an evil ghost. Mischievous, yes; evil, no. Sort of like a more naughty version of Casper.