Throwing a Spanos in the works

So in an effort to post more, and to get ready for the convention season, I’m trying to force myself to do a sketch (or at least a quick tight pencil drawing) every day -or so. This often leads to the trouble of picking subjects, but one thing helps with those decisions, the birthdays of my favorite editors. I’ve done several for my gang of compadres in the UK offices of Titan Books. When my wife and I were in London, that band of rabble quickly became good friends, something we’ve maintained since our return. Recently, Den’s lovely lady Philippa had her birthday, and  he mentioned he had purchased a beautiful Mucha print for her (as if Mucha did any ugly images?), so I decided to whip up a drawing for her. I had gone through a strong period of Mucha-envy after seeing an exhibit of his work in Tulsa (during my days of living in Oklahoma) and went to see it several times. I was more amazed by his pencil drawings than his paintings or posters, mainly for their delicate line work. That was something I tried to emulate in my own work for a long time, but I hadn’t tried a drawing like that in years. What the heck, I did my best. I must say that front hand was a total pain and garnered more time than I wanted to spend on it, but it ha(n)d to be done.

Philippa seemed to like it, and what guy doesn’t want a beautiful girl to consider his drawing of her to be flattering.

Or as I call it "Philucha"