Updates!

Hello everyone! Have you been? How did 2023 start for you? 

The new page is coming, I couldn't make you wait any longer so exceptionally the WIP is in the post today, before it is uploaded to the site (and then removed from the post), because I want to have a chat with you about this location!

Meanwhile, I must say that building this scene gave me a hard time. I drew all these characters for the first time so I don't know how to handle them yet and at the beginning it's hard to respect the models of everything, from the outfits to the hair, the faces... the proportions.

Then I thought about how to insert them, their movements, their poses, in the right way following the perspectives.

Outdoor environments are more difficult for me than buildings and interiors, because I feel I have to use more realistic brushes, I can't leave flat foliage, just with an outline and a fill. Bushes, earth, leaves... they are my desperation because I can't handle them ... T_T

Then there's perspective, drawing dishes, chairs... and you have to use rulers.

There are still some things missing, cutlery on the table, glasses... and plants potted, but the most difficult part has been done.

Among the most difficult things was finding the perfect model for William's family home, with many pictures to understand the map.

It must have been a Sicilian 1800 house, an manor with an orange grove and land. The house only on the ground floor, divided into work areas, a kind of rustic but valuable, for a large and wealthy family of workers.

The manor is inherited from the paternal grandfather, who died.

The family business (Tarocco oranges) is managed by the maternal grandfather and the eldest son: Antonio.

So...the last character you'll know is William's older brother, older even than his sisters, the heir to the family business!

So the thing I absolutely want to share with you today is the REAL manor that I took as a model!

I searched a lot, it had to be a Sicilian manor and of the right era, with the right mix of rustic and wealthy.

I practically searched days and days on various holiday travel sites! XD

In fact, this is a prestigious villa called Villa Badia a Pozzillo, which overlooks the sea and is located on a hill, from which you can see the Etna volcano.

Although the location I had in mind is different, more towards Catania, the manor is perfect, with three large annexes, smaller buildings that serve as a complement to the main one, which are perfect for the large family and their employees.

Today there are no employees because it is Sunday, and Sunday is the day off for everyone and for the family to get together and talk freely! :)

So what you will see is inspired by this magnificent Sicilian villa, which today is a luxurious hotel (which I will never be able to afford LOL, but I took it to let my characters live for free haha!) from which I will remove the modern elements and I will leave only the period furnishings.

In this way you can maybe immerse yourself in the real atmosphere since I don't know if I am able to draw such beautiful images, and you can imagine the things I don't draw, because not all the pages will have backgrounds, I have to alternate simple pages, of dialogues, with pages of the ambiences.

So what do you think? :)

When I'm not around, it means I'm studying! XD

Ah and I leave you with good news, we know how many pages are missing at the end of this first "book" of PBB-Next: 13! Thirteen pages to the conclusion of the first book!

How wonderful :)

Vanessa