Like most swinging bachelors in New York, I’m sitting in on a Saturday night watching an Eddie Cantor movie.

And for my final shameless tracing, here’s a panel from a series of strips in which Mickey attempts various methods of suicide. (Spoiler alert: he doesn’t succeed.) This time I went with warm, comfortable digital inking.

My mom asked if I was getting arthritis from drawing too much; actually, I think what’s happened is I’ve come to rely on my graphics tablet so much that I haven’t developed a lot of manual dexterity. With digital, I can zoom in to my heart’s content and use my whole arm to draw tiny details or letters.

On paper, even if I’m drawing on a large scale, there are bound to be some details that require fine movement of the wrist and fingers.

One thing I discovered when taking my oil painting class is that I’m actually capable of some fine motor skills, but, in a way that’s kind of hard to explain, I have to get in sync with my breathing. There’s a certain pace at which my trademark wobble disappears, and I can hold a brush by its back end and paint an eyelash in the spot I intended.

I think there are a couple of factors at play. One, I tend to rush. Second, I pace myself better when I’m standing. I think tomorrow I’ll try a round of conventional inking while standing, and see if I can’t recapture some of that magic.

Another attempt…think I’m getting worse! Actually, Mickey’s not so bad, but my hand cramped up by the time I mangled his telephone and tried to letter with a brush pen. Ouch.

I’m such an awesome Disney employee, I go back and re-do work dating back to the 1930s!

Actually, I was thumbing through the copy of the Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics and marveling at the level of detail Mickey Mouse cartoonist Floyd Gottfredson was able to cram into panels printed less than 2 inches high. I did a little research and found some originals for sale, their descriptions indicating that he drew these panels at a whopping 5 3/4" tall! So, I printed the panel at what was probably the original size, traced it in blue pencil using my light panel, then inked it with several of my Zebra and Pitt disposable pens. I added the halftone digitally in Manga Studio.

No, it’s not creative to trace other people’s work, but it can be good practice. Reduction helps my inking a whole lot, which is kind of the idea, but even full-size comic inking has a sort of confidence that I’ll only be able to match with lots of practice.

The title could refer to the way I’m carefully navigating icy sidewalks, or it could refer to the pace at which I’ve been drawing in 2013. I’m torn; I know I need to practice continuously, but I’m more likely to draw every day if I have a defined project in mind.

So, I do have a couple ideas, which I may expand upon this weekend.