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Thursday, March 11, 2010
"Boxing Match" or "Ye Olde Timey Political Cartoons"
sunstone
I recently got an interesting commission from Sunstone magazine requesting an "old time looking political cartoon." I'm not entirely sure what the article is about but it involves Utah Senator Reed Smoot (being famous for
1. The longest serving senator in Utah history,
2. A polygamist
3. The Smoot-Hawley act which was infamous for stifling trade and helping instigate the Great Depression) and Elbert Thomas...the man who eventually won Smoot's seat. The request was to have them boxing.
I had just been reading about Thomas Nast (one of my favorite illustrators) and gleefully did a little bit of research into political cartoons around the turn of the last century. Here is what I found. Those men (and they were men) could DRAW. They knew *exactly* what they were drawing and knew exactly how to lay down their lines. To today's eye they probably look tight and decidedly "unwhimsical" but I really admire them and the obvious training these artists had.
If I were *really* going to do this right I should have gotten some parchment and pulled out dusty quill and bottle of Higgins black magic and went to work but alas, I didn't have time for the hours and hours it would have taken.
Still, I'm quite pleased with how it came out. And yes, I very specifically riffed the last frame of Rocky III.
sunstone I recently got an interesting commission from Sunstone magazine requesting an "old time looking political cartoon." I'm not entirely sure what the article is about but it involves Utah Senator Reed Smoot (being famous for
1. The longest serving senator in Utah history,
2. A polygamist
3. The Smoot-Hawley act which was infamous for stifling trade and helping instigate the Great Depression) and Elbert Thomas...the man who eventually won Smoot's seat. The request was to have them boxing.
I had just been reading about Thomas Nast (one of my favorite illustrators) and gleefully did a little bit of research into political cartoons around the turn of the last century. Here is what I found. Those men (and they were men) could DRAW. They knew *exactly* what they were drawing and knew exactly how to lay down their lines. To today's eye they probably look tight and decidedly "unwhimsical" but I really admire them and the obvious training these artists had.
If I were *really* going to do this right I should have gotten some parchment and pulled out dusty quill and bottle of Higgins black magic and went to work but alas, I didn't have time for the hours and hours it would have taken.
Still, I'm quite pleased with how it came out. And yes, I very specifically riffed the last frame of Rocky III.
Monday, February 15, 2010
"Noah Rising" or Abstract Inspirations"
sunstone
I went to Ashleigh Sumner's gallery opening last night. Ordinarily I'm not a real fan of abstract art but I found her work really fascinating. I'd love to watch the process because boy, does she layer on the paint.
I used it as a springboard inspiration for this month's back Sunstone cover. I think it's coming out pretty well.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
"Putting it Together" or "Shot Progression"
sunstone
So I finished up inking and toning the 6 page story for the next issue of Sunstone. Moving on from Zeniff we're now starting to delve into his son Noah.
I don't often use photo reference, mostly because I have to move quickly but there was one frame I had the hardest time getting due to angles and lighting so when Lisa got home I enlisted her help.
I took quite a few photos and wound up using this one as the reference shot. What's interesting is that *because* it came out sightly blurry it was actually more helpful for me in determining shapes rather than getting lost in lines.
I sketched over and over it several times making the adjustments I needed. I couldn't have it scream "photo reference" in the middle of the page. It needed to look like it belonged with everything else. I also worked hard getting Noah in and looking the way I wanted him to.
It was fun starting to play with the light a little bit. I decided with the photo shoot it would feel moody and pensive in the shot to have a single source.
Finally I got the inking and toning done. I think it came out pretty well.
