Another “six-panel” shot; I didn’t actually intend two in a row, but it’s kind of nice to have some room to work–to draw in something other than a tiny little rectangle that leaves extra space up top unless I fill it with words.
Trying to loosen up my inking a bit without making things sloppy. As someone without a very steady hand, I can really move only in two direction: toward a quavering, “neurotic” line (great if I’m an underground comix producer writing my semiautobiography in the 70s, I guess), or toward a sketchier, more ragged but more dynamic output.
I hate that word–“dynamic”–but I keep coming back to it as a goal despite not quite knowing what it is; it’s what causes most of my re-draws in the layout/sketching stage, this weird desire to pump more energy into my pictures without knowing quite how to do that. Right now I’m building up the repertoire of cheap tricks developed by better artists than me: tilted angles, foreshortening, three-point perspective, off-centered shots, hyper-athletic poses. Of course 1) I’m not very good at anatomy or perspective, and 2) WPK, despite the weirdness, is pretty down-to-earth; none of the characters moves like Spider-Man or Neo, so I’m squeezed by the dual concerns of wanting more energy–more “dynamism”–in my art while keeping things from getting too off-the-wall.
Having more fun messing around with color balance, trying to produce “sunset glows” and other nonsense. We’ll see how that works out.
“Vacant cow-before-the-hammer-hits look”… we love you too, Gilgam.