It's Hard Being the Third Wheel on a Unicycle
The Idea
I don't even remember what I was doing when this random idea suddenly came to me.
It was kind of perfect, in a way, since I was trying to describe the way it felt sometimes to be tagging along with someone when everyone feels like they're in their own little bubble, warning not to be disturbed. But with my lack of awareness when it comes to social cues, I often miss those telling signs meaning "go away" or "do not disturb".
Now, here's the thing. I'm not singling myself out as some outcast that doesn't fit in. But I'm a wheel that can't necessarily function to my supposed potential without something to work with. A wheel can be useful, but it's far more useful when the wheel is on a bike.
But a unicycle only needs one wheel. A spare wheel can be nice, but no one KEEPS the spare wheel. That's like changing your tire on a car to use the spare after getting a flat, and then saying you'll keep the spare! It wasn't meant to be a wheel that's used all the time; it was meant to hold the car up until you go get the real tire fixed.
I'm happy bouncing around between friends, but sometimes I can't help feeling like I'm a backup plan. Am I really just there until the better option comes along and takes its place where it belongs, pushing me aside? I never noticed before recently that everyone seems to walk down the hallways at school in pairs or groups.
I notice that because I'm not engaged in conversation of my own, unless I'm talking to myself. And that happens a lot. Maybe I'll address that in a future piece...
A crop of the sketched-out piece! I still have to measure it, but it's a longer piece than what I usually work with. I started it in the school media center (the library) and got a surprising amount of work done on it.
The sketchbook page I scribbled the idea on, as well as the page I did a quick study on!
The wheels on bicycles/unicycles are surprisingly more complex than I anticipated. The spokes are in groups that are layered over and around each other, making almost some sort of web! The tire has two parts, and the inner rim is attached the the end of each spoke!
This is how far I got on this piece after working on it for only about forty-five minutes. I was tentative to do the words, but after sketching the figures and such out, I decided to just go for it. I like how the words turned out! It looks similar to the one piece I did in a Dr. Seuss style, actually. I did this all in the media center at my school, which is the library!
The Process
I did all of this in one study period, from sketching it out to penning the words. I felt so accomplished at how much I managed to get done in that period! That time I have sometimes really does seem to work miracles.
I started penning the piece in the media center, but I didn't get all that far before my study period ended. After all, I was working on my math assignments for quite a bit of the period!
I came in before school to try and pen out the figures and whatnot a bit more, but I woke up late and didn't get a ton of time to work on it. Not to mention I was still working kind of secretively with it!
It felt really nice to start using watercolor again! I've always wanted to have that sort of (what I used to call) "mature watercolor style", and I feel like I kind of achieved that! I barely had ten minutes to throw down some watercolor before my study period ended, so I didn't get to do much with color, but I feel prepared to use my colors the way I've always wanted to!
No one in my class has actually ever seen me paint before, which is hilarious considering that watercolor was my main medium before I discovered the wonders of Bristol paper and the ink pen.
After getting all the hair painted (which was a bit of a struggle the day it was super rainy and the moisture in the air made it hard to manipulate the paint properly) I made such everything was penned the way I wanted before I started adding more color.
The water kind of looks like some sort of lemonade. Lucky for me I brought a lemonade juice box to keep me from accidentally drinking paint water. Also, I was pretty happy with the colors I was able to create (like those yellows).
All the outfits I drew myself in are outfits I actually own! That purple jacket in specific is a classic (and one I constantly draw in the Elppaenip Detective Agency comic).
I actually stopped working on this piece earlier than I wanted to, since I had to get my next two pieces done for the test! The bright green paint makes me really happy, especially since I was not using liquid watercolor (which is much more vivid than "regular" watercolors).
Close-up from when I first started putting watercolor on!
I've had these water colors since maybe 5th or 6th grade, when my wonderful art teacher Molly Neves taught me the ways of watercolor. (Thank you, Mrs. Neves! Sending a lot of love your way!)