Sketch Fridays #97 – 2023 Holidays

Dec29
by on 29 December 2023
Sketch Fridays #97 – 2023 Holidays

With the day job––and life––being very busy since September, I haven’t had a lot of time to sit and just draw. When I do, it tends to be very loose, observational, and further experimentation on the iPad and its incredible art program, Procreate.

Since the day job started winding down and the holiday season descended upon the world, I finally had a chance to breathe a little. Family visited for the holidays, which resulted in one of my favorite pastimes––extended periods of everybody sitting together and just talking. Though we intermittently look at our phones, tick tack away on laptops, or get up to refill drinks or get more snacks, the conversation is always going. I’m not as participatory as others, but I love to listen and at least have my presence be a part of the interaction.

The original illustration without any Photoshop trickery.

I haven’t had much joy in the doodles I’ve been making digitally lately. As was the case, I usually am trying to doodle during these conversations, which meant my iPad is on my lap as we all talk. At one point, my wife was invested in something or other on her phone, and the angle and the way her hair fell was striking to me (plus, she was sitting still, which makes observational drawing much easier). But my iPad was charging and all I had were the archaic tools of a sketchbook and pens.

I’m not the best at likenesses and I kept my tools to a brush pen, a calligraphy pen, and a corrective pen which, for me, results in relatively messy––but energetic––work. But I found a lot of joy in the act of putting ink on paper again, which is a good sign because I soon need to dive back into Chapter 6 of Long John.

I added some shading and color overlay in Photoshop, but as a drawing on its own, it captures the tone and feeling I enjoy most about the holidays: comfort and tranquility.

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The Real Geoff?

Dec01
by on 1 December 2023
Frank “Shorty” Harris – source: National Park Service

My wife came across a mind-blowing find the other day. She sent me the above image with the simple caption, “This guy reminds me of your Geoff character.” A single look had me astonished…for a few reasons.

First, yes, this dude––Frank “Shorty” Harris––looks a lot like the lovable wandering merchant from the comic. Much less to see him pictured standing with a loaded up mule in a similar manner the overstuffed pack that Geoff carries in the comic.

Second, I’ve been vocal about how Geoff’s design was completely influenced by my wife’s late father, who was the definition of inimitable. I was, apparently, wrong.

Design sketches of Geoff

Though not a salesman, Shorty Harris was instead a very well-known and capable prospector in Nevada and California who spent most of his time in Southern California, though he came out west from New England (much like my wife’s father). He comes across as a colorful and unforgettable character, and all I want to do is learn more about him.

While the visual similarities are still shocking, it’s nice to know that these fiercely independent folks that quietly perforate historical records are more than just the eccentrics that movies and single paragraphs in history books paint them to be––they are archetypes, important and necessary.

Shorty Harris in Death Valley – source: WesternMiningHistory.com
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Sketch Fridays #96 – Beast

Sep29
by on 29 September 2023
Sketch Friday #96 – X-Men’s Beast (Hank McCoy) click for larger version.

“Style” is an interesting word because it can be equally explanatory and a crutch. At its heart, I define an artist’s “style” as the immediately recognizable qualities of that artist––the intrinsic artistic fingerprint that is on all of their work. A Bruce Timm drawing always looks like a Bruce Timm drawing; a Mike Mignola drawing always looks like a Mike Mignola drawing, a Larry Stroman drawing will always look like a Larry Stroman drawing, and so on. This quality shines through even through experimentation with subject, medium, and even, ahem, style.

However, some artists insist on certain aspects of their work being their style when it’s clearly a lack of practice, ability, or knowledge. I think that parses the difference between the two types of artists––an actual artistic style is one that is recognized by others rather than self-declared.

The above drawing of the character “Beast” (known by his friends as Dr. Hank McCoy) from the X-Men was an attempt to play with style. While it ended up being an occasion to dabble in (digital) watercolors, originally I wanted to try my hand at a heavily abstracted drawing, one that disregarded accurate anatomy for design and shape. I like the final drawing, but was a bit displeased that I failed the experiment and, by my estimation, just made another “D. Bethel drawing.” And that’s how I ended up with this dilemma; while I should be reveling in the creation of a delightful new drawing, I instead force myself to wonder if I’m just a hack.

That being said, I do like the very sketchy line of the figure without much attention to traditional rendering or artistic line thickness. It’s a bit more raw than I normally do (though the lines in Long John are often quite sketchy and raw), leaving in legitimate mistakes and errors while still capturing the fullness of form of the character. Despite having a miniature existential crisis, it is a drawing I actually learned a lot from.

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