Friday 26 August 2016

Painting Over

There recent was a news report that stated exactly how many years less one lives by engaging in "bad habits". Six. GROAN!! Upon hearing that "uplifting" information on a day when I was already feeling a bit low, I thought I/we needed a pick-me-up and "dashed off" this comic.

Pretty nice. I initially drew an old style (1040's) radio sitting on a table, but realised that might confuse the viewer as to what era we were in. Also, the dog was sitting with it's front paws down and was more in profile. I thought the dog could be funnier, so I drew it begging, widened the hips and voila, funnier dog. When I changed the radio to a transistor radio, I had to put it on something and then the idea of the exercise bike popped into my head. The only thing I should have tried was to draw dust heaped on and around the bike to suggest it hasn't been used in a long time.

I was planning on inking it as I have the Orchid Society cartoons, but I'd also started watching videos on digital painting and thought this would be a good piece to try painting. Once I started, I couldn't stop.

When I said I "dashed" it off, well... it took about a week. Not constant work, but if I did it day after day, hour after hour, I might have been able to do it in a day and a half or two days. Gotta work on that speed!

But honestly, I'm pretty pleased with the results. 


I like how you can "feel" the volumes, the guys arms, legs, body have roundness. I like how his bottom teeth are visible and following the arc of his lower jaw. I like the shading on the burger and it's clam-shell package. I really like the chair's painterly quality and how punished it looks. I really like the fur on the dog - it helps to describe his forms and volume.
I have an idea now how I could have painted the dust, and I next time I'll add texture to the chair and some to the guy so he doesn't look like he's rolled in a bowl of buttered popcorn. Anyway, not bad if I do say so myself!

5 comments:

  1. Holee! That's amazing!

    I love the colour and the painterly quality of the thing. It's still cartoony and funny but it's also so slick!

    The chair is perfect and the unhealthy colours you've chosen for the guy are great -- and the dog DOES look funny!

    Okay, but...

    ... but you know I have to be picky, right? I think you could pull the whole thing together a bit better by adding a textured "blush" to the background. Just a low opacity cloud of colour and texture behind everything, a'la Ren and Stimpy illustrations, you know? And forget trying to render dust. How about a spiderweb?

    Amazing, amazing piece. You should keep going with this style. VERY sweet!

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  2. You ARE picky! But, as usual, you are right. I didn't think at all about doing a background, and you're exaclty right. It needs it.

    I also like your spider web idea. that would have said the same thing.

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  3. Hey, ANYBODY can make a (perceptive, insightful, brilliant) comment. Only you could produce that great piece of comic art.

    It really is great!

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  4. Head swelling, windpipe closing off... skin ballooning over eyes and ears (insert expanding balloon sound fx). Going into Johnny Depp zone of feeling impervious to ruin.

    Quick, get a pin!

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  5. Or skip the pin and allow yourself to float high, high above us mere mortals. Gaze over us and bask in your superiority.

    Or... just grab a pin already...!

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Thanks for your input!