Evolution of a sketch

HAPPY THANKSGIVING ALL!

As a treat, here’s the evolution of a recent sketch. I was asked to do a character that, on the surface, is an intergalactic hunter; but in reality he’s sort of a tongue-in-cheek type goof.

The first effort was less than spot on- I got the hunter bit, but not so much the silliness of the character.

Cause ever bad guy needs a megaphone-

So I was asked to alter it a bit, hoping for more of a whacky flavor. I wasn’t sure if I should go completely dopey by having him make a non-threatening face or not. I wanted him to seem more crazy than dorky, so I opted for the rabid dog face.

Bad dog- no biscuit

So with approval it was time to move onto inks. I wanted the dialogue he was screaming into the megaphone to be airy in appearance, so I didn’t give it an inked outline, allowing it to float more.

Set in stone, no backing out now

And lastly to color. The problem here is that despite how awesome Copic markers are (nice product placement) the red hues always over saturate the paper. To control things a bit more, I end up applying colors via a colorless blender. Then I set the color down in waves and not straight from the source pen. I have an idea about how to get around this, but that’s for a later post. (If it works) Right now I have to be careful not to saturate the paper with the blender because if that happens then the color bleeds into areas I don’t want it in. It’s a trade off, but for now it’s the solution I’m most comfortable with.

Mama don't take my Kodachrome away!

Now off to eat my weight in turkey!