| "X" MARKS THE SPOT... | |
 |
As with all thumbnails, a very simple
scribble, clarified with notes. Click on any illustration for an enlargement. |
| The first sketch from the thumbnail using a template for the letter outline, but no reference material is used at this early stage. Before I finish, I will check my reference files for the animal(s), costumes and, sometimes, posture (not always, since the figures have to fit inside the confines of the letter outline and may have to be distorted anyway). |  |
 |
I decided to put in a parrot for more interest and to break up the crisscross of the X...the parrot also helps to obscure the distortion I had to make to the bear's body. I liked the boots, but I wanted more of the bear to show, so I reluctantly eliminated them. |
| The drawing has been transferred to the final surface, a single-ply bristol board. Most of the white of the paper has been obscured by watercolor (Dr. Martin's dyes). This is basically local color with some purplish color used for modeling the forms. I used reference material for the parrot, but the bear is still a sketch...close, but not there yet. |  |
 |
Detail and further modeling using colored pencil brings the letter to near completion. I made some minor changes in this step, most notably the addition of the ankle bracelets. I noticed that the lower right "leg" of the X didn't have much going for it, one reason being that the other three legs have something yellow in them. So, for balance, I added the ankle bracelets. An added scabbord on the right side also helps...and makes sense of another change -- a second leather belt crossing the first one (helps to define the bear's posture, I think). All that's left now is to add details of highlights, etc. with acrylics. |
|
Of
course, the first thing you notice is that the bear is going the
other way. I think it's because I'm left-handed that I'm continually
designing and drawing with the action going against the direction
in which we read. That's why I will often have the finished product
be a mirror image of all that came before. Luckily, the X is ambidirectional
(!). |
 |
| Top of the page. | |