I stayed in again to read and write for my thesis. It's still vague, but taking shape every day. I have this sinking feeling that the only way I will be able to free my mind and make some new images for the story, though, is by finishing my other art projects first.
Tonight, I read The Art of Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind: Watercolor Impressions, which is deceptively named, as it contains ink work, preliminary sketches, quick art given as gifts, and a lot of valuable interview material from Miyazaki in addition to a host of watercolors. It would be really nice to own this book.
I felt a great sense of relief reading about Miyazaki's 3 year incubation period, where he read the work of others and created a library of motifs and sketches that would later become 4 of his films. He had so many changes of direction with Nausicaa, and times when it looked like it wouldn't turn out well, it was actually inspirational to see that he had doubts, too, and yet it turned out so well for him.
Though Miyazaki was humble throughout the book, he seemed genuinely upset by some of the covers he produced on Nausicaa. He particularly hated images of Nausicaa looking at the camera and smiling, since he thought those were so contrary to her character, that is, disconnected and hard to approach.
He also hated anything that screamed 'I AM A COVER!' :P
These were two of his favorite cover images:
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