This was my dog Nick. I had to have him put to sleep a few years ago. It about killed me. I still miss him. He was quite possibly the most awesome dog ever. We think he was part lab, part whippet. A rugby buddy of mine found him on the side of the highway in Alabama as a puppy and gave him to me a couple of years later when he moved to England to play rugby there. Taking that dog was one of the best things I've ever done. I miss you buddy.
Here's another "Frazetta Style" drawing. This one is original, however. I based this off a reference photo I took last summer for some pin-up work I was planning of doing. I'm really enjoying this style, it comes fairly naturally to me. I've always worked very softly and this is definitely helping me push my values more and get a much more dramatic effect. I hope I can bring some of this mojo over into my paintings. We'll see. (...and no, I'm not saying I can draw nearly as well as Frazetta, it's just helped improve my drawing. :) )
2B pencil on 80lb Strathmore Windpower drawing paper. Roughly 90 minutes.
I was at Chicago Comics this evening and picked up this really fantastic book, Frank Frazetta: Rough Work. What makes this book so great is that it's not about Frazetta's finished work, it has a lot of his comps, sketches and rough ink drawings. Looking at this stuff makes you realize what an amazing grasp he had on human anatomy. It's really an inspiring book and I would recommend it to any artist as a wonderful peek into the process of an extremely talented man.
This is my take on one of the drawings in the book. 2B pencil on 80lb Strathmore Windpower drawing paper. Roughly 30 minutes.
My self portrait as a mutated human-space ape hybrid for the Austin Sketch Squad.
In the year 3045, a mad scientist discovers my perfectly frozen body in a glacier and decides to give Mother Nature a genetic slap in the face. He will unleash the Merciless Space Ape upon the Universe! Little does he know that the Space Ape really just wants to sit at home, read a good book, and get caught up on the last 1,000 years of movies. Maybe do some grilling. Have some friends over.
