Whoosh!
Sketch N' Wash pencils on Bristol board
12" x 13 "
I featured this piece in my Sketchbook blog, but I feel that it belongs in my regular portfolio as well. At the beginning of 2007, I was at an impasse. My attempts to draw a comic caused more suffering than art, and I hated my style and felt ready to give up.
I went, quite literally, back to the drawing board. I stopped inking my work and focused instead on the quality of pencil line. In a wonderful class called "The Language of Line," I began to loosen up and I also discovered Sketch N' Wash pencils, which quickly became my favorite medium. I spent hours making anatomy sketches to boost my confidence with the human body, and I copied artists I admired to teach myself some of their tricks. By the end of the year, my artwork was moving in a direction that made me happy.
This character, the Undertaker, plays a small but important role in my comic, and his limited page time needs to show both his gentle side and the power at his command. This is the "power" piece that demonstrated his mastery of his environment.
Click image for larger view.