More Process!

For fans of process posts, here’s a little one with some of the early roughs and pencils from two recent title cards that I really enjoyed drawing and think were particularly successful:

It’s kind of hard to explain how I come up with title cards for each show. After each title card is done, I always think that I’ll never be able to think of another one to draw again, but so far this melodramatic statement has not yet come true. I usually try to find something that we talk about on the show that sounds fun to draw and will make a humorous title card.

One of my favourite title cards I’ve created so far for Sneaky Dragon is from Episode 51, in which Ian and I spent a great deal of time discussing James Bond films, including the newest film in the series, Skyfall. Naturally, that seemed like a great title card image so I immediately went to good old Google Image, typed in “Skyfall” and found this image from the posters (as usual, clicking on the image will open a larger image in a separate window):

Skyfall

As soon as I found this picture, I wanted to make a mirror image of Ian and I shooting each other in the face in gory detail. I copied this image, pressed Control + N (New) in Photoshop, pasted it in, then printed it as large as I could on a letter-sized piece of paper. Then I took that printed image, slapped it down on my light table, and drew this image of me, using the original picture of Daniel Craig as reference:

Sneaky-Dragon-Episode-51_RoughsA

You can see my usual method of working the drawing up using different coloured pencils to create the construction lines. I rarely draw with a lead pencil at this stage of the drawing.

Usually when I’m drawing and I start to get frustrated because things aren’t working out or if I’m feeling like I need to erase a bunch of stuff and refine the drawing, I’ll simply trace it and fix it as I go. This is refreshing because you’re tracing the good stuff and adding more good stuff. (And if you find yourself in the same bind, you can start the process over again.) Since I was drawing on a large 35.5×42.3 cm sheet of tracing paper, I folded it in half and traced this image:

Sneaky-Dragon-Episode-51_RoughsC

As you can see, this isn’t very different, but it is a more refined version of the image above. I’ve cleaned things up around the glasses and added more detail here and there (especially the shoes, which I hadn’t even bothered with in the original rough).

Now, since I wanted to make this a mirror image of futility, I took that drawing, flipped it around and re-traced it, adding Ian’s head to the body, changing the pants and the shoes, and the bullet entry point.

Sneaky-Dragon-Episode-51_RoughsB

You can see the construction lines for Ian’s head and some signs of erasing as I worked it out, but the rest of the drawing is basically a trace of the drawing of me. I did have some trouble working out his hands holding the gun, which were the reverse of mine, so I had to redraw them. I added them to the drawing when I did the final pencils.

Sneaky-Dragon-Episode-56_PencilsB

Here’s the final pencils of Ian getting shot in the mouth. You can see that I’ve changed the hands holding the gun and also moved the drawing along a bit so I could get the blood spatter and skull fragments into the picture. Because of the length of the drawing, I had to tape two pieces of tracing paper together so you can see my leg and foot in this drawing…

Sneaky-Dragon-Episode-56_PencilsA

…and Ian’s foot in this drawing. I also moved this picture along to fit the exploding skull fragments and blood spatter in. The gruesome violence was one of the most important elements in the design.

Sneaky-Dragon-Episode-51_3

I’m quite proud of the inking I did for these drawings (and that’s not always the case). I used Speedball SuperBlack ink and a Robert Simmons #2 sable brush on Strathmore 2-ply smooth bristol. I really like the line I get with the Simmons brush – although I’ll admit it doesn’t hold much ink so you don’t get a lot of lines inked before you’re dipping the brush again. I prefer a smooth finish when I’m inking.

Sneaky-Dragon-Episode-51_1

And here is the final image of Ian getting shot in the face. Cute, hey? After this, I scan the images into Photoshop where they are coloured and readied for the website. (If you’re interested in that process you can follow this link to an older post where I talk about that aspect of the title cards.

Another recent title card I thought was particularly successful and fun to do was Ian and I as Adam and Eve for Episode 58.

As usual, my Friday after recording the show was spent with me consciously and unconsciously trying to think of a good title card image. From the show’s topics, I could have done another James Bond-related one, but I’m not ready to repeat myself yet – after show 100 all bets are off. Since Ian and I spent a little time on the show discussing the Genesis story of creation, I thought that would make a fun image with Ian and I standing in for Adam and Eve and the dragon playing the role of the Serpent.

So, I merrily skipped along to my nearest Google Image and typed in “Adam and Eve”. Most of what turned up wasn’t very suitable. For whatever reason, it seems like the Garden of Eden hasn’t been very inspiring for painters these last few hundred years – most of the images were awkwardly posed or crowded and unappealing. Then I found this picture:

Adam-and-Eve

It was perfect! Adam’s pose was a little drippy, but Eve’s was fine and I loved the way the Serpent was winding down the tree. (I don’t know what happened to the arms and legs he lost when he was cursed by God, but…eh, whatever.) I copied the image, opened it in Photoshop and printed out an enlarged picture I could use as reference.

I taped it to the back of a piece of scrap paper and drew this:

Sneaky-Dragon--Episode-58---Roughs

Usually I work up a drawing in stages, but for some reason this drawing went very smoothly (you can see I basically only used one coloured pencil) – partly because I was tracing the body poses. You can see some construction lines for mine and Ian’s heads and some erasing around the feet. I also tried to add a fig leaf to cover my modesty, but then I had the idea of using a Sneaky Dragon thought balloon. At first, I was thinking I would use a thought balloon  to cover both of us (that’s why I erased and redrew the bush that previously covered him), but I changed my mind when I did the final pencil drawing. You can also see where I tried adding the dragon’s tail, but didn’t think it worked there. I decided to add the tail in the final pencils.

Sneaky-Dragon--Episode-58---Pencils

The final pencils! You can see I changed the bush Ian’s holding so it covered him up and I added the dragon’s tail so it hangs more naturally. From here it was a simple matter of inking. I always draw my final pencils onto tracing paper for inking.

Sneaky-Dragon---Garden-of-Eden

Here are the final inks. For some reason, this composition reminds me of a stained-glass window, which I find very appealing. Everything is ready for final colours and my modesty-saving thought balloon. I taped the pencilled image onto some bristol board and inked with a light table. As usual, I used Speedball Super Black ink and my Robert Simmons #2 sable brush. It’s not a well-known brush, but I love the short bristles and the control they give me. After this, I coloured the image in Photoshop. And that was that!

Well, that’s all the process for this week! I’ll post some new stuff soon!

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