Some Like It Ruff
I sure do!
The early stages of formulating an idea can be the most intimidating. In fact, I think that those first few pencil strokes, to either write or draw, can make or break the whole thing. Once they have been gotten over with, however, there’s some wonderfully raw material that could develop into almost everything.
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Most of those off-hand sketches are for a rather odd little story I’ve been obsessed with for some while now, and which focuses on the adventures of a twelve-year-old Abraham van Helsing in London. (I love the classics!)
Interpreting the ruff stuff is just as difficult an art as coming up with the basics, though, especially if it’s somebody else’s basics you have to solidify. I’ve got great respect for clean-up and inbetween artists. They are artists - one sure-fire way to make me grumpy is calling them “tracers” while I’m withing earshot.
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When I ruffed out this one I rather hated it. I was close to trashing it. After spending some time inking it in spite of my inner critic chanting, “Waste basket!”, I liked it a little better. I wasn’t taking it very seriously anyway so I messed away with colour, slept over it, gave it a fresh look the next morning and put the execution off. I still think it has many flaws but sometimes, sometimes it’s good to tell oneself that, eh!, perfection is overrated anyway.
The one above was inspired by a Rapunzel idea by another artist about which we talked briefly, and I thought it would be interesting to come up with a different approach.