First off, please pardon the scan, as I've had to graft the whole image together because my large format scanner has been in storage since I don't know when. But the fact that I actually had to scan the damn thing in pieces is the whole point of this blog entry.
Anyhoo... a combination of a couple of things brought this image to mind as the next 90 minute exercise that I wanted to do: 1) An entry in Skottie Young's blog about his impassioned affinity and respect for the old-school Image guys (not to mention that great looking 'Grifter' sketch he put up), and 2) Jim Lee's birthday rolled around a couple of days ago. Respect the Jim Lee.
So this past Sunday I started this 'quickie' and...well...it got out of control. Way. Out. Of. Control.
I always had this composition in mind so as it was in my head so it is on the bristol - it's not like I started and just kept adding on and that was the problem. But it's twice the size length-wise than what I would normally do my sketches - basically from a standard 11x14" size now an unwieldy double-page spread. It's just become too much damn drawing for not enough immediate return and I don't know why I did it in the first place. Maybe I was really feeling my oats that morning, but I mean, seriously - ALL the motherf*cking Wildcats?! WTF, Eric! It was fun while I was in the thick of it, but it's come to the point where the concept finishing it up has become a laborious process and I don't think I'm going to have fun doing it. So I think that's it - this is as far as I go for the foreseeable future with this one. The whole point of doing the 90 minute stuff was for fun and for a quick warm-up. This beast, as it has become painfully obvious (at least as it stands now), is no longer either.
But since I hadn't put anything up in a couple of days, I thought it'd be nice to share an ambitious, horrible train wreck put to paper. Well, people *have* asked me how loose do I pencil before I go to ink. Here you go, you inquisitive bunch of crazies; the answer is very, VERY loose.
Okay, I'm gonna go do something else now, like..I dunno...Iron Man or something. Enjoy.
8 comments:
Damn...I would love to see this completed! The design and energy in the blue pencil just screams volumes!
...think about it, Eric...maybe?
-JBeatty
this is pretty damn sweet! So have been the last few entries - Eric, you rock!
Heya Eric. Loovely work as always, and I have a request! Could I get my hands on a higher res version of this if you saved one? I've been doing some studies of your stuff at home using a Pitt Pen and I'd love to have a go at finishing one or two of the other characters there from the blue lines. Not to post or anything, just for personal learning, if you don't mind! Drop me a line at danny.mcgillick |at| gmail.com.
Thanks champ!!
Still love the Jim Lee action, even the All-Star Batman. This one takes me back to the days I wuz just a young kid dreaming of working in the biz....
Train wreck? Hardly.
fianlly the mystery behind the tightness. i like the way you make the transition from loose blue line, to ink. i'm tryin' to move in that direction, with my skills.
nice...
peace out
Very cool to see both the "prelim" and the inks together!
Nice to see the foundation the inks are built on. Thats an ambitious 90 minutes.
I reeeeally wish you'd finish this. The Wildcats (and particularly Grifter) are some of my favorite comics of all time. It's looking sweet.
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