Original Art Sundays No. 92: Surrealist Cowgirls, It Does This, p. 6

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On schedule with the next page of Surrealist Cowgirls.

 

Overall, very happy with this one, and with the way the story is progressing.

There are a couple niggling things that give me grief. The stipple pattern I really like is too light for reproduction, so i have to push it more than I'd care to, either on the page or in levels.

Also, Whalemule's eyes don't look closed. I haven't decided yet if she sleeps with her eyes open, if that's the way it soolks when her eyes are shut, or if I just want to find another way to do it.

Whalemule is such fun to draw.

I also need to decide if that's her name: another contest? Possibly when the issue goes to press and another is in the hopper....

Getting into drawing the rocks. Too bad they're heading out from the steppes in the morning, on the next page!

Next week, another page of A Private Myth.

Inspiration: Batman and Strangers in Paradise

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This is NOT an Original Art Sunday, just a piece I've been playing with for a couple weeks.
Inspired by my friend Ross over at the Brave and the Bold: the Lost Issues, I took a shot at a pastiche cover!
Here's Batman and the Strangers in Paradise girls!

Not completely satisfied with this, but reasonably so. The soft Nick Cardy "painterly" image of the source cover is a bit jarring when juxtaposed with the hard line art of Terry Moore, but here the Match color command is our friend. Katchoo and Francine look more like they "belong" as the colors are more consistent with that palette.
Thematically, this plays on the whole crime lord thing that was one of the less plausible, but quite compelling, subplots of Strangers.
I might take another shot at this with different images sometime down the line, perhaps even draw one from scratch. But I like the collage/pastiche thing a lot too.
These are frustrating, but they are also fun, and serve to keep my chops current between infrequent assignments. Most of my art is traditional line art these days, and it's important to not let any skills atrophy. That's why I still practice my guitar, even though the lump sum of income I've generated in my life as a musician is one dollar.
Of course, there's the whole joy of doing it thing too.
Still have just a touch of inking to do on the next page of the Surrealist Cowgirls, and I will be able to get it done today. Presuming scanner access, look for another post sometime before midnight Central Standard Time.