Use the Knife

There was a period of about a week between doing drawing #1 and doing the inking (#3). On the same day I inked the final, I did another rough - drawing #2.

I did drawing #2 because I thought the initial concept (which, incidentally, didn't change much between rough and inked) because I thought the woman was cruel and the whole cartoon was mean. I showed it to my editor (my Christine) and she liked version #1 the best, so I went with it.  True, I didn't have the kid's word bubble/joke worked out, but it would have been something like "How do you like my orchid-chain tiara?"  Not much funny there.

One great thing about working on these is that I think I am learning how to be funnier and I can see that this one works and is funny because it is mean. Sometimes it is satisfying to see someone doing something awful, something hurtful because sometimes we want to be mean and hurtful. Odd business this humour thing!

I think the man's hands should have been raised, or somehow out of the way of the orchids to better show their lack of blooms and perhaps I should have pushed the woman a bit to the right. That would have made the composition a bit more balanced and less crowded up around the word bubble.

I like the woman's hair and her more feminine hands. The style is really solidifying. Thanks for the help with this one, CC! And also thanks to Mr. Illustrated Ghost, who said my inking (with its thick and thin lines) reminded him of the American Denis the Menace cartoons. That comment has helped me to explore the line work more, to great effect. 

Flat Perspective

Well, this worked out well. 

I had bigger ideas for this drawing. I wanted more people around the table, but I knew more people would obscure Doug (the caveman in the middle) eating. I wanted to put other people in the background reacting to him and I still could, but too many people might again pull the viewer's eye from the main action. Recently I've been adding background things and people in a grey tone which pushes them back but still makes them sufficiently present. Technical tip - I draw them in black like everything else, but then drop the opacity down on that layer and voila! They recede into the background.

I think the "breakthrough" in this one came about as I was struggled with the roundness of the table. I thought about other drawings in this series and remembered the the flatness of the perspective and thought I should try that sort of perspective in this one. 

And there (on the right) you have it. Kurt (on the left) looks sufficiently amused, the composition is nice and tight. Brian (on the right) could have been leaning further away as if more disgusted. I I was concerned about how to not draw Doug's... er... well... unmentionables, and so the lighting helped in this case. There are some fine lines which are the original pencil lines which really help define the forms. Kurt could have used a few more on his legs and knee areas to enhance the foreshortening and Doug's knees are also kind of formless, but I'll know that for next time.

'ug's'st day

Like a number of these Caveman drawings, they're not really understandable out of context. So what is the context? Since you asked and 'cause I like you, here you go...

It's Doug's (the caveman's) first day at work. 

I chose to ink the second panel because it is most self contained, though I like the 3rd and 4th panels better. The previous post on this blog shows two designs for the studio's sign that will go over the door in the top left drawing. See?! I am kinda planning this thing!

I like the supervisor's pose and extended hand in the 3rd panel, and I like how Doug is sitting, holding his club and backpack and Doug is nicely drawn in the 4th. He's got pretty severe cheeks, a prominent mouth, chin, nose and brows so he's not so easy to draw in 3/4 but it worked out well.

It's funny how when going from the rough to the inked, one sees the areas that weren't really planned out or thought about. I didn't really plan the receptionist's chair base in the rough, but had to work it out in the final where it looks quite nice. I think I like her face better in the rough than the inked, but if I'd followed the rough exactly, it wouldn't have looked very good - there is sometimes something suggestive in a rough that can't be (or simply isn't) captured in the final. Maybe there are things we think we see, but are only imagining in roughs. 

I like the flat perspective in these though I can't say why. It reminds me of side-scrolling video games. Such "staging" simplifies the telling in that it isolates only what the audience needs to see and know.  

But something I really like is Doug's word bubble in the final drawing.  See how it's a bit wonky or primitive looking? It is apt that a caveman would have a crudely drawn word bubble. GENIUS!

Studio Names

These are logos for a a fictional animation studio in one of my stories, drawn, as you can see, on archive quality Canadian Revenue Agency envelopes.

Tell me which you like, or even better, tell me if you can think up a better name or image or logo. Like most animation studios, it probably should have "toon" or something in the name to suggest animation. Some (already used) names are "Neptoon Studios" and "Adam-ation". 

The dinosaur/gator on the right - "Spoon Toons" - is a reach I know, but on the other hand, just a goofy character would do. 

C'mon, let me hear your ideas, and yes... I might steal the best one!  

The Frame Up

When you were a kid, at the end of the day, did anyone ever ask "What you learned in school today?" I'll tell you what I learned by doing this one, but first, see all that distracting stuff behind drawings 1 & 2?  Try to ignore it - it was on the reverse side of the paper I was using.  Not important!

You can see I had the concept pretty well mapped out right from drawing 1. I did drawing 2 because I wasn't happy with the left character's right hand. I thought he needed to be indicating the plant and I also thought he should be moved a bit to the left. Turns out that hand was more challenging than expected - tough angle and I didn't know what I wanted. When I got to inking, I tried to draw it a few times over but honestly, I wasn't happy with any of them including the one you see. I did consider doing another rough but I felt I couldn't waste any more time on it so I just went with what was finished last.

The nurse has pretty funny hands and the shapes are nice. There probably should have been more medical type stuff around, an IV drip, perhaps a defibrillator, a bag of fertilizer, but again, time was an issue. Too bad, 'cause those elements would be funny.

But back to the first question.  What did I learn?

Look at the difference between drawing 3 and 4. I should have been working and inking within a frame because as you can see some stuff got left out. Well, yes, only the medical chart got left out, but really, I think that detail is gold. Also, the whole thing feels a bit cramped. If I'd had a slightly larger frame, I could have pushed the man's word bubble up which would make it all less cramped.