these are. . . different. time went on, the ratio of scrunched up balls to drawings changed drastically, and the paper-attack look lessened. they became less severe as my circumstances settled a little, though subjectively they're still pretty bleak, especially towards the last three or four, by which point. well. i don't want to go there . . .
the selection process for these was part random and part humming and hawing. between this post and the next, last post of these drawings which lead into my newer stuff that i'm far less conflicted about, there are a couple of dozen leftover pieces that i'll post at a later date, i think.
some of these are a little obtuse. some get very stylised. some are more straightforward. . .
anyway. in all their black and white sharpie and paper glory, with commentary:
19.
one of a bunch of owl-mask drawings. i picked this one because of the additional detail. it's not just sharpie and i like the contrast of teh thick lines and thin detail lines and that there's more tone to thios than just black and white.
20 & 21.
he of the striped pajamas again. it should be clear that he really CREPT into the stuff i was producing given how unformed the first few drawings are, even the first one here. they're working towards forming a character. 20 i added because i both love the pure expressionism of the top drawing, and the oddball nonsense of the second - and both on one page.
there's nothing i don't love about 21. and 21 is the first fully formed image of this new odd addition to my rogues gallery of characters. minus the big black wings he was wearing in 15. those have been inherited by the soon to be maskless birdman. make of that what you will. . . also, this marks the beginnings of actual ARCHITECTURE showing up in my drawings instead of plain untouched backgrounds. which is. . . sort of a big thing. . .
22 & 23.
. . . and speaking of architecture. these were random, odd, sketchy. sharpie again, with that more detailed addition of a thinner drawing pen in 23, the more 'complete of the two. i did a bunch of these, and picked two sort of at random to show the difference between the looser ones and the more finished - vaguely - drawings.
24.
a straightforward birdman drawing. but i love this one passionately.
25 & 26.
and it's HIM again. i think there's an odd thing with this character in that as grim as he is, he seems more court jester than grim reaper. i picked these two because i love how gnarly he looks in 25, and how utterly ridiculous and random the notion of him doing his 'sound of music' routine is', even though said drawing is pretty much just a mess of black ink. but come on, wouldn't you rather see a skeleton in stripey PJ's than julie andrews? i know i would. . .
comic relief in hard times? i think so. . .
26 - 33.
i'll leave these without commentary. i wasn't going to post these, and i may NOT keep them up indefinitely, so. they're kind of a return to the darker tone of some of the early drawings in that last post, with reason. take them and interpret them as you will.
That's Dundee! Right? 23 looks like Perth Road........
ReplyDeleteThese are even darker than the others but I know you were going through a lot. I really respect that these are so personal, Iain.
I think you've gone from someone who paints pretty girls to a guy who really is putting his heart and soul out there.
I don't mean painting pretty girls in a bad way but this newer work just feels deeper.
Be proud of yourself! These are amazing :)
yeah, the more personal stuff tends to end up in sketchbooks that only i get to look at. this is just. . . weird. . .
ReplyDeletethat IS dundee, sarah, AND perth road - good for you, you win a prize ;)
i THINK i see what you're getting at. i don't know. i was talking about NOT working from photographs anymore, and i think that's probably a contributing factor to these feeling very different. if you're copying, it's almost a given that a high percentage of what coems out of that is going to be. . . i don't know. i do like painting pretty girls and will continue to do so, but i think my approach has changed a bit BECAUSE of this stuff. . .
Hey! Short-haired Iain Profile Picture! :O
ReplyDeleteYou know how I feel about these. I love them but like the others they remind me of kind of a confusing, messy time in both our lives.
Something you capture spectacularly well.
Never doubt your sheer bloody talent, Iain. And do stay true to what you're doing now.
You are amazing. <3
More really wonderful work. I like how you use just the suggestion of a line or a shadow in some of them - 24 is a great example - and still manage to communicate the composition or anatomy of the subject perfectly. The detail in 19 is also really nice.
ReplyDeleteI did pick up Joe the Barbarian this weekend (wow! more on that later), and I can't help but think of the cover of the first issue when I look at 21, the skeleton man standing with his body at a slight angle. I love the architecture in the background and the little chevron of crosses.
If you're thinking about taking 26-33 down, I don't think you should. They're really good. Heavy, but good. They're an important part of the narrative, and I think you should be proud of them and the fact that you made it through all right.
ah, i see what you mean about the cover of 'joe' (isn't the art brilliant? i keep looking through the books and each time, i see something new, some little detail) oh i WISH i was that good. . .
ReplyDeletei think the thing with these is that they got very basic. not as 'basic' as the ones that i'd BEEN doing that were scrawly and rough, but, there's still not a lot of detail and they're mostly linear. i don't think i could have produced my old, finnicky detailed work if i'd tried, and that turned out to be a good thing - in a lot of ways, i like this stuff more, it feels more. . . honest, maybe.
as to the latter bunch, i think i will leave those up. they're kind of a selection of similar pieces as i think i said, and to some degree they're the least. . . upseting. i think producing them was vital, though. . .