As Requested...

As promised, I'm interrupting the story to send you more dogs. Models graciously sent in by Hal Garstein (who suggested the whole idea of soliciting dog photos - Thanks, Hal!), Nomi Seltzer and Gabriel Mendlow. My apologies if the resemblances aren't spot-on. I'm drawing them direct in ink and doing my darndest. I hope they offend neither you nor your fine upstanding pets. More dogs coming soon.

To see how they're being used in the story, click right here to download a PDF of the story so far. This preview includes the image I'll be sending out with the next Not-So-Daily Dog, as a special bonus.

Next up, more pages. Then, yes, more dog pictures! In the meantime, please send me emails or make some comments on the blog. And yes, please keep sending in dog pictures!

It's a Brooklyn Thing

Here's an interesting point. I set this story in Brookyn, specifically in a Brooklyn brownstone. And I wanted the first time we see the couple to be right in the entry hall, so you could see the differing attitudes of all the characters immediately after our hero walks in. At the same time, I make a big deal about what a beautiful home this is – art, rugs, whatever. But the entryway, even with the Picassos & the Braques I've put on the walls, doesn't look like much, nu?

Here's why: Brownstones aren't like houses in the rest of the country. They are crammed up right next to each other, with no space between them. Almost none of them have any green space in the front yard, and the backyard is about the size of four Ford Explorers parked abreast. By and large, the entry is usually the least impressive part of the house. Space is at too big a premium to waste on what is at the end of the day a mere passageway. Better to use the space for a closet, or (luxury of luxuries!) a bathroom on the first floor.

When you tell people from outside of the city that brownstones are among the most desirable residences in New York, they look at you like you're crazy. When you tell them that a brownstone in the Heights can sell for $3 million dollars, you just confirm it.

By the way, in case you're wondering, I would kill or die for a brownstone. I think they're beautiful. But my sanity is not up for discussion on this forum.

Next up, more pages. Then, yes, more dog pictures! In the meantime, please send me emails or make some comments.

Call it a character flaw ... plus a call for more dogs!

Yep, I've decided to go back and redraw some pages. I'm drawing them faster than I'm sending them out, by the way. I'm a whiz when it comes to the pencil and brush, a sluggard when it comes to the email. But since this is the first time the type will be legible on the emails, perhaps it will come across as brand new for some of you.

In the meantime, I have received a ton of dog pictures from readers of this email. Thanks to everybody who has done so, and please send me more! I have a deep need for dog pictures. Because I need tons and tons of reference photos to finish this book. Not because I'm a weirdo or anything. I don't know why I feel compelled to keep mentioning that.

(By the way, do folks who have sent me pictures want their names and their dog's names mentioned when I send out pages with their dogs? I would, but then again I'm a shallow egotist.)

Next up, more pages. Then, yes, more dog pictures! In the meantime, please send me emails or make some comments right here.

Yes, Yes, Send Me Your Dog!

I got more response to my last mailing than any other NSDD email thus far. Everybody said roughly the same thing: Loved the dog pictures. Will you draw my dog?

To which I reply: Thanks, and yes! Send me your dogs. I will immortalize them. I'm studying taxidermy. 

No, no, no, dog owners -- Relax, that was only a joke! Send me pictures of your dogs and I will draw them and put them in the book. I need tons and tons of dog pictures, and your dog would be perfect, thank you. No dogs will be harmed in the making of these pictures. I promise.

In the meantime, I got such a good response to my pen & ink & computer color drawings that I have decided to proceed in the book using that technique. Here's the revised page 1, which I had to redraw anyway because of the shift in format. I haven't decided whether the rework what I've done so far or press on, but I'm leaning toward pressing on. 

More soon, I promise. In the meantime, please, please send me emails or make some comments on the blog.