Lost Shadow: Pages 1 & 2

Lost Shadow has been quite a challenge to draw so far.  I've been trying to get a higher degree of realism than from what I normally draw, in a medium I am mostly unfamiliar with.  I tell ya, ink is unforgiving. 

I have, however, made some progress!  In fact, I have completed the first two pages.  And now that I have found a scanner large enough to scan these sheets, I can show them.

Let's start with page 1.  Click the picture for the full size!:

This page I tried inking with nib pens and an inkwell.  This didn't turn out so hot when I tried to erase the pencil lines since the ink in certain spots came off, specifically in the large shadow blob.  Nib pens are also frustratingly difficult to get straight lines out of, which is especially noticeable on the sidewalk.  It seems to do a wave, and sidewalks in general don't have waves.  I also need to fix line consistency; the distant parts of the sidewalk have to much ink, the result of me using too wide a nib with too much pressure.

This is also where the tracing paper and perspective studies in the earlier posts were used; as you can see, I used my own face to model the dead guy from.  The perspective issues have been hopefully resolved, although I think my right leg is slightly too long.

Of all the things I'm proud of on this page, it's the bushes in the first panel.  Not because they're particularly gorgeous or anything, but because I figured them out entirely on my own.  Just went out, looked at a bush at night under a street lamp, and translated it into ink.



After experiencing great frustration with nib pens, I decided to switch to technical/disposable pens.  That way I wouldn't have to worry about inconsistent line width.



Page 2:

I am MUCH happier with this page.  It looks a lot cleaner, the ink is more even, and it sorta looks like I actually know how to draw.

This is largely because you can easily use a ruler with a technical pen, and that gives you very straight and crisp lines.  They're difficult to make really large, but this page wouldn't be served much by large lines anyways.

I also opted to use a brush pen to fill in large spaces rather than a brush and inkwell.  Sadly, I think I've used up most of the ink in it as a result (it was already old and used, but still).

Of all the things on this page, the people that I've shown it to beforehand really like the raccoon a lot.  It was rough trying to draw a raccoon walking/loping/running since there aren't many pictures of it from this downward tilted angle, but I think it turned out well enough.

Now that I reflect on it, there's this strange sort of balance of realism and abstraction going on.  The bushes are angular blobs containing angular blobs, the texture of the road and sidewalk are hinted at with little dabs and tiny lines, and even my face has a mixture of specific details like the eyebrows mixed with more simple forms like the hair.

I stole the sign from the internet, albeit it has been modified:

I hope no one sues me or anything!